Explanatory Statement
Civil Aviation Regulations 1988
Exemption — navigation and anti-collision lights
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.
Subregulation 207 (2) of the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 (CAR 1988) provides that an Australian aircraft shall not be used in any class of operation unless it is fitted with such instruments and is fitted with or carries such equipment, including emergency equipment, as the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) approves or directs.
Subregulation 5 (1) of CAR 1988 provides that whenever CASA is empowered by CAR 1988 to give directions or approvals, it may do so in Civil Aviation Orders (the CAOs).
Paragraph 3 of Appendix V to Civil Aviation Order 20.18 requires that aircraft must have 2 landing lights except when engaged in private and aerial operations and charter operations not carrying passengers for hire and reward when it must have 1 light.
Subregulation 195 (1) of CAR 1988 requires that the pilot in command and the operator of an aircraft must comply with the rules requiring lights to be displayed in relation to the aircraft at night and in conditions of poor visibility.
Subregulation 196 (1A) provides that the operator and pilot in command of an aeroplane in flight, or operating on the manoeuvring area of a land aerodrome, must ensure that the lights required by this regulation to be displayed on the aeroplane are displayed.
Subregulation 196 (3) provides that unless CASA otherwise directs, an aeroplane in flight or operating on the manoeuvring area of a land aerodrome shall display, in addition to navigation lights, an anti-collision light consisting of a flashing red light. The exemption will permit U C Aviation Pty Ltd (the operator) to carry out covert surveillance without displaying some of the required lights. To mitigate against the risks associated with such operations, conditions have been imposed.
Legislative Instrument Act
Subregulation 308 (4) of CAR 1988 declares an exemption to be a disallowable instrument. Under subparagraph 6 (d) (i) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 (the LIA), an instrument is a legislative instrument for section 5 of the LIA if it is declared to be a disallowable instrument under legislation in force before the commencement of the LIA. The exemption is, therefore, a legislative instrument and it is subject to tabling and disallowance in the Parliament under sections 38 and 42 of the LIA.
Consultation
Consultation under section 17 of the LIA has not been undertaken in this case. The instrument is an exemption requested for covert surveillance and border protection operations. Similar instruments have been issued to some other operators.
The instrument comes into effect on the day after it is registered. It stops having effect at the end of 31 March 2012.
The exemption has been made by the Director of Aviation Safety, on behalf of CASA, in accordance with subsection 73 (2) of the Act.
[Instrument number CASA EX20/10]