GAS INDUSTRY: DRAFT AMENDMENT BILL OUT FOR COMMENT

GAS INDUSTRY: DRAFT AMENDMENT BILL OUT FOR COMMENT

• 19 January 2024
• Minerals & Energy
• SA Legal Academy

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has called for input by 29 February 2024 on a draft Gas Amendment Bill.

The draft Bill proposes myriad amendments to sections of the principal statute with implications for the energy regulator. In particular, it is proposed that the Act’s section 4 (function of the energy regulator) should be replaced with more substantive provisions among other things:

• empowering the Minister to determine the ‘principles’ that would inform decisions on ‘exclusivity’ applications, and
• requiring the Minister to be consulted on the expropriation of land or any right in or over it.

Additional ministerial powers are also envisaged in respect of:

• section 18 (information to be provided when applying for a licence) in terms of which the Minister would be able to direct the energy regulator to consider a licence application based on ‘additional criteria’ not only reflecting the Act’s overarching objectives but also:
  • the national interest
  • regional growth, or
  • ‘any other social objective’, and
• new gas facilities and services, along with gas and integrated energy projects (in terms of which the Minister would have the final say on and/or influence decisions on a plethora of far-reaching issues).

Other sections in the principal statute for which amendments are proposed include those dealing with:

• licence application and related procedures (including renewal, variation, suspension, cancellation, revocation, cession, assignation and transfer)
• licensing and registration conditions
• tariff regulation and maximum prices
• inspection
• rehabilitation, and
• compliance notices.

Please click the links below for more information:

• draft Bill
• Act

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

0 COMMENTS

LEAVE A COMMENT