Gas Infrastructure (Planning Permit Exemption) Regulations 2013 (TAS)

Gas Infrastructure (Planning Permit Exemption) Regulations 2013

I, the Governor in and over the State of Tasmania and its Dependencies in the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Executive Council, make the following regulations under the Gas Act 2000 .8 July 2013

PETER G. UNDERWOOD

Governor

By His Excellency’s Command,

BRYAN GREEN

Minister for Energy and Resources

1Short titleThese regulations may be cited as the Gas Infrastructure (Planning Permit Exemption) Regulations 2013 . 2CommencementThese regulations take effect on 15 July 2013. 3Prescribed work and criteriaFor the purposes of section 86(2)(b) of the Gas Act 2000  – (a) each item in column 1 of a table in Schedule 1 is a prescribed kind of work and the criteria specified opposite that item in column 2 of the table are the prescribed criteria for that kind of work; and (b) if 2 or more of the items prescribed in column 1 of a table in Schedule 1 describe or apply to any new gas infrastructure development work, the criteria specified opposite each of those items in column 2 of the table are, collectively, the prescribed criteria for that work. 4ExpiryThese regulations expire on 1 July 2014. Schedule 1Prescribed Work and Criteria

Regulation 3

PART 1Interpretation 1.   Interpretation (1)In this Schedule – carriageway, of a road, means the part of the road that is actually used by traffic; desktop assessment, of any matter, means assessing the matter by means other than an on-site survey; gas connection infrastructure means the pipes and equipment that connect a distribution system to a gas supply point; gas distribution infrastructure means any part of a distribution system other than the gas connection infrastructure; native vegetation means a community of native vegetation that – (a) lies outside a commercial forestry plantation, private timber reserve or State forest; and (b) contains, throughout its growth, the complement of native species and habitats normally associated with that vegetation type; planning scheme means a planning scheme within the meaning of the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993 ; road means a road under the control of the Crown, a council or Forestry Tasmania and includes – (a) any associated bridge, culvert, footpath, verge or other development; and (b) the land between the abutting property boundaries on either side of the road or, if no properties abut the road, a 5 metre width each side of the carriageway; sensitive area means any of the following: (a) an area containing sites or relics of Aboriginal cultural heritage or significance; (b) an area of cliff overhangs or caves; (c) forested margins of – (i) button grass; or (ii) heath; or (iii) native grassland plains; (d) a karst area; (e) land within 500 metres of a creek, lake, marshland, river or swamp; (f) land within 500 metres of the high-water mark of a coastline; (g) a major continuous ridgeline; (h) a natural river crossing in a hill area; (i) an outcrop of chalcedony, chert, fine-grained quartzite, fossilised wood, hornfel, mudstone, quartz or spogolite; threatened species has the same meaning as in the Threatened Species Protection Act 1995 ; waterway includes – (a) any defined channel having a perennial or intermittent flow of water; and (b) native vegetation associated with a waterway; wetland includes – (a) any permanent or seasonal swamp or waterlogged area; and (b) native vegetation associated with a wetland. (2)A footnote contained in a table in this Schedule is for information purposes only, not part of the regulations. PART 2Gas connection infrastructure work

Column 1 Work	Column 2 Criteria
1.	Gas connection infrastructure work	The meter for the gas connection will not straddle any title boundary, and –
(a) if any of the work will be in respect of a building 15 metres or less from a road, the meter for the gas connection will be placed –
(i) on a wall of the building that does not face the road; or
(ii) if that is impracticable, so that the meter is not visible from the road or is capable of being screened from the road; and
(b) if any of the work will be on masonry walls of sites identified in a planning scheme as an historic site, place or area –
(i) the meter for the gas connection will be concealed (so as not to be visible on any external wall); and
(ii) the fittings for the gas connection infrastructure will be fixed using non-corrosive fixings inserted into mortar joints

PART 3Gas distribution infrastructure work: roads

Column 1 Work	Column 2 Criteria
1.	Gas distribution infrastructure work on a road (other than its carriageway1) in an area identified in a planning scheme as involving or affecting historic or heritage issues	The work will be carried out in accordance with a conservation plan prepared by a suitably qualified person in accordance with the principles outlined in the "Australia ICOMOS Burra Charter" adopted in 1999 by the body known as the Australia International Council on Monuments and Sites, and –
(a) any gas pipeline associated with the gas distribution infrastructure will not be visible from the road; and
(b) the work will not destroy any significant features related to the historic or heritage significance of the area; and
(c) the work will not destroy or permanently remove any building, tree, rock or stone
2.	Gas distribution infrastructure work on a road (other than its carriageway1) in a sensitive area	It has been established by a survey –
(a) undertaken in consultation with the responsible Department in relation to the Aboriginal Relics Act 1975 ; and
(b) involving a desktop assessment and, if required, an on-site survey –
that no sites or relics of Aboriginal cultural heritage or significance in the area will be disturbed by the work
3.	Gas distribution infrastructure work on a road (other than its carriageway1), being work involving or affecting native vegetation where an on-site or desktop survey conducted by a suitably qualified person (in consultation with the responsible Department in relation to the Threatened Species Protection Act 1995 ) has found that threatened species inhabit or depend on the area around the proposed worksite	The work will be carried out in accordance with a species management or recovery plan prepared by a suitably qualified person, being a plan that –
(a) ensures that impacts on the threatened species are avoided or minimised; and
(b) has been approved by the relevant council
4.	Gas distribution infrastructure work on a road (other than its carriageway1), being work involving or affecting native vegetation where an on-site survey carried out by a suitably qualified person (in consultation with the responsible Department in relation to the Nature Conservation Act 2002 ) has identified the presence of priority State or bioregional (forest and non-forest) vegetation (or both)	The work will be carried out in accordance with a vegetation management plan prepared by a suitably qualified person, being a plan that –
(a) ensures that impacts on the priority State or bioregional (forest and non-forest) vegetation are avoided or minimised; and
(b) has been approved by the relevant council
5.	Gas distribution infrastructure work on a road (other than its carriageway1), or under a waterway, being work –	The work will be carried out in accordance with a soil and water management plan prepared by a suitably qualified person with experience in site management, being a plan that –
(a) involving or affecting soil or water management issues; and	(a) addresses erosion control practices, sediment control practices and site remediation and revegetation programs; and
(b) requiring the disturbance of 250m2 (or a greater area) of land that is serviced by a kerb and gutter stormwater system	(b) has been approved by the relevant council
6.	Gas distribution infrastructure work on a road (other than its carriageway1), being work of a kind that is not specified in another item of this table	The work is within the scope of the authority conferred by the gas entity’s licence
[Note 1: Gas distribution work on the carriageway of a road does not require a planning permit anyway (but may be subject to other controls)]

PART 4Gas distribution infrastructure work: land other than roads

Column 1 Work	Column 2 Criteria
1.	Gas distribution infrastructure work on land (other than a road) in an area identified in a planning scheme as involving or affecting an historic site, place or area	The work will not affect any part of the historic site, place or area
2.	Gas distribution infrastructure work on land (other than a road) in a sensitive area	It has been established by a survey –
(a) undertaken in consultation with the responsible Department in relation to the Aboriginal Relics Act 1975 ; and
(b) involving a desktop assessment and, if required, an on-site survey –
that no sites or relics of Aboriginal cultural heritage or significance in the area will be disturbed by the work
3.	Gas distribution infrastructure work (other than on a road) involving or affecting native vegetation where an on-site or desktop survey conducted by a suitably qualified person (in consultation with the responsible Department in relation to the Threatened Species Protection Act 1995 ) has found that threatened species inhabit or depend on the area around the proposed worksite	The work will be carried out in accordance with a species management or recovery plan prepared by a suitably qualified person, being a plan that –
(a) ensures that impacts on the threatened species are avoided or minimised; and
(b) has been approved by the relevant council
4.	Gas distribution infrastructure work involving or affecting prime agricultural land (which is agricultural land that is classified or capable of being classified as Class 1, 2 or 3 land using the class definitions and methodology from the "Land Capability Handbook", K.E. Noble, Department of Primary Industry, Tasmania, 1992)	Any ground-level structure associated with the work will not be sited on a part of the land that is in actual agricultural use
5.	Gas distribution infrastructure work (other than on a road) involving or affecting soil and water management issues –	The work will be carried out in accordance with a soil and water management plan prepared by a suitably qualified person with experience in site management, being a plan that –
(a) on land lying less than 40 metres from a waterway or wetland; or	(a) ensures that the transport of pollutants that may impact on water quality and aquatic ecology will be minimised; and
(b) on land having a gradient of, or more than, one in four; or	(b) addresses erosion control practices, sediment control practices and site remediation and revegetation programs; and
(c) under a waterway	(c) has been approved by the relevant council
6.	Gas distribution infrastructure work involving the clearing of 500m2 or more of contiguous native vegetation	All Zone A Landscape Priority Areas in the vicinity of the worksite have been identified by a suitably qualified person following the visual management system methods outlined in –
(a) "The Forest Landscape - Visual Management System", Forestry Commission Tasmania, 1983; and
(b) "A Manual for Forest Landscapes", Forestry Commission Tasmania, 1990 –
and the work will be carried out in accordance with the requirements of those visual management system methods
7.	Gas distribution infrastructure work involving the clearing of less than 100m2 of any kind of vegetation on sloping land	The slope is less than 20% (1:5)
8.	Gas distribution infrastructure work (other than on a road) involving or affecting native vegetation where an on-site survey carried out by a suitably qualified person (in consultation with the responsible Department in relation to the Nature Conservation Act 2002 ) has identified the presence of priority State or bioregional (forest and non-forest) vegetation (or both)	The work will be carried out in accordance with a vegetation management plan prepared by a suitably qualified person, being a plan that –
(a) ensures that impacts on the priority State or bioregional (forest and non-forest) vegetation are avoided or minimised; and
(b) has been approved by the relevant council
9.	Gas distribution infrastructure work (other than on a road) of a kind that is not specified in another item of this table	The work is within the scope of the authority conferred by the gas entity’s licence and will be carried out in accordance with a weed and vegetation disease management plan, being a plan that has been –
(a) prepared by a suitably qualified person; and
(b) approved by the relevant council

Displayed and numbered in accordance with the Rules Publication Act 1953.

Notified in the Gazette on 10 July 2013

These regulations are administered in the Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the regulation) These regulations –

(a) prescribe the gas infrastructure development work that, providing it meets certain criteria prescribed in these regulations, does not require a planning permit under the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993 ; and (b) are made consequentially on the repeal of the Gas Infrastructure (Planning Permit Exemption) Regulations 2003 under section 11 of the Subordinate Legislation Act 1992 .