Explanatory Statement
Civil Aviation Regulations 1988
Determination – Civil Aviation Order 100.5 – non-application of fuel quantity gauge calibration requirements
Purpose
The instrument makes a determination under paragraph 1.2 of Civil Aviation Order 100.5 (General requirements in respect of maintenance of Australian aircraft) 2011 (CAO 100.5) to disapply the fuel quantity system calibration requirements in clause 6 of Appendix 1 to CAO 100.5 for class A aircraft that have a maintenance program developed under specified “Maintenance Steering Group” (MSG) principles administered by Airlines for America.
Legislation
Section 98 of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 (the Act) empowers the Governor-General to make regulations for the Act and in the interests of the safety of air navigation. Relevantly, the Governor-General has made the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998 (CASR) and Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 (CAR).
Parts 4 and 4A of CAR regulate maintenance on many Australian aircraft, other than aircraft to which Part 42 of CASR applies. These include certain class A aircraft, as defined in subregulation 2 (1) of CAR, that are required to have an approved system of maintenance under regulation 39 of CAR.
Under various provisions of CAR, CASA made CAO 100.5 to prescribe more detailed requirements in relation to the maintenance of aircraft. Paragraph 1.1 of CAO 100.5 states that CAO 100.5 applies to all Australian aircraft in respect of which an Australian certificate of airworthiness is in force, except aircraft to which Part 42 of CASR applies.
Paragraph 1.2 of CAO 100.5 empowers CASA to determine that CAO 100.5, or a specific provision of the Order, does not apply to Australian aircraft specified in the determination.
Subsection 11 of CAO 100.5 gives a direction under regulation 38 of CAR requiring registered operators of aircraft to comply with, and ensure compliance with, the additional maintenance requirements mentioned in Appendix 1 to CAO 100.5. Clause 6 of Appendix 1 to CAO 100.5 regulates maintenance on fuel quantity gauges.
Subsection 98 (5D) of the Act provides that a legislative instrument made under the Act or the regulations may apply, adopt or incorporate any matter contained in any instrument or other writing as in force or existing from time to time, even if the other instrument or writing does not yet exist when the legislative instrument is made.
Background
The additional maintenance requirements for fuel quantity gauges are inappropriate for aircraft with more modern fuel quantity indication systems. Notably, it is not necessary to defuel many more modern aircraft to test the fuel quantity gauge systems; defuelling is required to implement the requirements of clause 6 of Appendix 1.
In addition, transport category aircraft are often maintained according to maintenance programs developed in accordance with the MSG principles administered by Airlines for America, formerly the Air Transport Association of America (ATA). Such maintenance programs make it unnecessary to apply requirements such as those in clause 6 of Appendix 1 to CAO 100.5.
Most transport category aircraft are maintained under Part 42 of CASR, but there are a number of aircraft that are not. These include many private and business jets. Such aircraft are class A aircraft for the purpose of CAR.
CASA proposes to amend CAO 100.5 so that the requirements of clause 6 to Appendix 1 do not apply to class A aircraft maintained in accordance with MSG principles. CASA has assessed the MSG specifications and is satisfied that they provide for appropriate monitoring and maintenance of fuel indication systems.
Until CASA completes the process to amend CAO 100.5, which amendments cover a range of matters, it is desirable for a separate dispensation from the clause 6 requirements to be made so that relevant aircraft can avoid the inefficient clause 6 processes in the short term.
Instrument
The instrument disapplies the clause 6 requirements in Appendix 1 to CAO 100.5 from class A aircraft further specified in the instrument. To take advantage of the disapplication, the approved system of maintenance for the aircraft must incorporate a “manufacturer’s MSG maintenance program”, which is defined in the instrument. Most importantly, the “manufacturer’s MSG maintenance program” must have been approved by a national aviation authority that issued a type certificate for the aircraft and the maintenance requirements of that program must have been developed using the MSG-2 or MSG-3 specifications.
The instrument operates by reference to the fact of whether an approved system of maintenance incorporates a “manufacturer’s MSG maintenance program” (incorporated into the aircraft approved system of maintenance) developed in accordance with MSG specifications. The instrument applies in relation to the MSG specifications as they existed at the time the “manufacturer’s MSG maintenance program” was approved.
MSG publishes documents that set out specifications used by aircraft manufacturers during the initial design and ongoing monitoring of maintenance programs for new transport category aircraft. The documents have no direct relevance to an aircraft operator other than as background information about the maintenance system for their aircraft. For the determination, an aircraft operator will need to know that the maintenance program for their aircraft was developed using the MSG specifications: that information accompanies the aircraft certification documents provided with every aircraft.
The MSG specifications are available for purchase from the Airlines for America website at www.airlines.org. The specifications are proprietary to Airlines for America and underpin the foreign manufacturers’ maintenance programs that are not regulated by CASA. It is not practicable for these specifications to be freely available and the referenced manufacturer standards are the most appropriate to be applied in relation to the subject matter of the instrument. However, a registered operator is not required to access the specifications, and needs only understand that the manufacturer’s maintenance program was developed using the specifications. This information will be clear on the face of the manufacturer’s maintenance program that is provided to registered operators with the aircraft.
Legislation Act 2003 (the LA)
Subsection 8 (4) of the LA provides that an instrument is a legislative instrument if it determines the law or alters the content of the law, rather than determining particular cases in which the law is to apply or is not to apply. CASA considers that the instrument alters the content of the law in a specified range of circumstances and is registering the determination as a legislative instrument, rendering it subject to tabling and disallowance in the Parliament under sections 38 and 42 of the LA.
Consultation
CASA has prepared this instrument in response to requests from industry stakeholders for relief from the application of the fuel quantity gauge maintenance requirements, in clause 6 of Appendix 1 to CAO 100.5, to a class of aircraft in circumstances where the maintenance for those aircraft is satisfactorily managed under the aircraft system of maintenance.
In preparing the draft, CASA has consulted the wording with the affected stakeholders to ensure that the issue is properly addressed without introducing further complexities. Industry stakeholders have expressed their satisfaction with the proposal as now drafted.
In these circumstances, CASA is satisfied that no further consultation is appropriate or reasonably practicable for this instrument for section 17 of the LA.
Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR)
The instrument is expected to relieve regulatory burden on the registered operators of class A aircraft that are covered by the instrument. They will be able to apply the manufacturer’s maintenance program, if it is incorporated into the aircraft approved system of maintenance, instead of the fuel quantity gauge additional maintenance requirements in CAO 100.5.
A Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) is not required in this case as the measure in the determination is covered by OBPR’s assessment that a RIS is not required for the measure as proposed for inclusion in amendments to CAO 100.5 (OBPR id: 11547).
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
The Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights at Attachment 1 has been prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011. The instrument does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms, and is compatible with human rights, as it does not raise any human rights issues.
Making and commencement
The instrument has been made by the Director of Aviation Safety, on behalf of CASA, in accordance with subsection 73 (2) of the Act.
The instrument commences on the day after registration and is repealed at the end of 31 October 2020.
[Instrument number CASA 92/17]
Attachment 1
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the
Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
Determination – Civil Aviation Order 100.5 – non-application of fuel quantity gauge calibration requirements
This legislative instrument is compatible with the human rights and freedoms
recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the
Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.
Overview of the legislative instrument
The instrument makes a determination under paragraph 1.2 of Civil Aviation Order 100.5 (General requirements in respect of maintenance of Australian aircraft) 2011 (CAO 100.5) to disapply the fuel quantity system calibration requirements in clause 6 of Appendix 1 to CAO 100.5 for class A aircraft that have an Australian approved system of maintenance that incorporates a manufacturer’s maintenance program developed under specified “Maintenance Steering Group” (MSG) principles administered by Airlines for America.
Human rights implications
This legislative instrument does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms.
Conclusion
This legislative instrument is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues.
Civil Aviation Safety Authority