Explanatory Statement
Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998
Exemption — issue of export airworthiness approvals
Legislation
Subsection 98 (1) of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 (the Act) provides that the Governor‑General may make regulations for the Act and the safety of air navigation.
Subregulation 21.329 (3) of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998 (CASR 1998) provides that a used aircraft must have undergone an annual, or 100 hour, type inspection in accordance with Part 4A of the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 (CAR 1988) before an export airworthiness certificate can be issued for a class 1 product.
Helicopter Resources Pty Ltd (the operator) are about to embark on a maintenance project on a Sikorsky S76C aircraft with nationality and registration mark VH-BKS (the aircraft) and requires an export certificate of airworthiness for the aircraft. The aircraft does not meet the requirements of subregulation 21.329 (3) of CASR 1998. The operator has applied for an exemption against the requirements to enable the aircraft to be exported to the Republic of Korea.
Exemption from CASR 1998
Under subregulation 11.160 (1) of CASR 1998, CASA may grant an exemption from compliance with a provision of CASR 1998. Under regulation 11.160 (3), CASA may grant an exemption of its own initiative. Under subregulation 11.170 (3), in deciding whether to grant an exemption, CASA must regard as paramount the preservation of an acceptable level of safety. Under subregulation 11.205 (1), CASA may impose conditions on an exemption if this is necessary in the interests of the safety of air navigation. Under regulation 11.210, it is an offence to fail to comply with a condition of an exemption.
Under regulation 11.225 of CASR 1998, an exemption must be published on the World Wide Web. Under subregulation 11.230 (1), an exemption ceases on the day specified within it (but no longer than 2 years after its commencement), or if no day is specified, 2 years after commencement.
Exemption and conditions
The instrument, therefore, exempts the operator from the requirement of an annual, or 100 hour, type inspection. The exemption is subject to the condition that the inspection be carried out in accordance with Chapter 5 of the Sikorsky S76C Airworthiness Limitations and Inspection Requirements SA4047-76C-2-1.
Legislative Instruments Act
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. Regulation 11.215 of CASR 1998 declares an exemption of this kind to be a disallowable instrument. 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 as the instrument is required to enable an export certificate of airworthiness to be issued to enable the aircraft to be placed on the Republic of Korea aircraft register.
Commencement and making
The instrument commences on the day after it is registered and stops having effect at the end of June 2010.
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 EX45/10]