Explanatory Statement
Civil Aviation Act 1988
Civil Aviation Order 95.32 Amendment Order (No. 1) 2005
Section 98 of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 (the Act) empowers the Governor-General to make regulations for the purposes of the Act and in the interests of the safety of air navigation.
Regulation 5 of the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 (CAR 1988) empowers CASA to issue any direction or notification or give permission, approval or authority in Civil Aviation Orders.
Subregulation 308 (1) of CAR 1988 provides that CASA may exempt an aircraft or persons associated with the operation of an aircraft from compliance with specified provisions of CAR 1988.
Amendments to Part 21 of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998 (CASR 1998), commenced on 20 December 2005, introduce a new certification category of aircraft called light sport aircraft (LSA). The amendments also amend CAR 1988 to define the operating limitations for LSA consequential to the amendments made to CASR 1998 Part 21.
The amendments to the Regulations:
- introduce a special certificate of airworthiness for production LSA
- introduce an experimental certificate for kit-built LSA
- introduce an experimental certificate for production LSA that cannot meet the LSA standards for a special certificate of airworthiness for LSA
- align the requirements for issuing a certificate of airworthiness for LSA and operating LSA with the same practices applied by the United States Federal Aviation Administration.
This amendment to Civil Aviation Order 95.32 gives effect to the amendments to the Regulations. The Order is amended so that it now also applies to LSA weight-shift control aeroplanes registered with the Hang Gliding Federation of Australia Incorporated, LSA weight-shift control aeroplanes and LSA powered parachutes registered with Recreational Aviation Australia Incorporated, and for which the owner holds a current special certificate of airworthiness or experimental certificate.
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. Subregulation 308 (4) of CAR 1988 declares an exemption to be a disallowable instrument. The instrument 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
Consultations under section 17 of the LIA was undertaken through the Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) process. CASA published an NPRM 0313CS — Airworthiness Requirements for Light Sport Aircraft – Proposed Amendment to CASR Part 21, on 25 June 2003. Responses to the NPRM closed 29 August 2003. Respondents agreed to the proposed changes. Following closure of the NPRM process, consultation continued through the Standards Consultative Committee Recreational Aviation subcommittee.
The Office of Regulation Review does not require a Regulation Impact Statement as the amendment is minor and of a machinery nature.
The instrument has been made by the Director of Aviation Safety, on behalf of CASA, in accordance with subsection 84A (2) of the Act.
[Civil Aviation Order 95.32 Amendment Order (No. 1) 2005]