Western Australia
Liquid Petroleum Gas Act 1956
Reprinted as at 3 October 2000
Reprinted under the Reprints Act 1984 as at 3 October 2000
Liquid Petroleum Gas Act 1956
CONTENTS
1.Short title and citation1
2.Commencement1
3.Amendment of related Acts Schedule1
4.Interpretation1
6.Director must fix standard2
7.Testing of gas3
8.Regulations4
Schedule
Notes
Reprinted under the Reprints Act 1984 as at 3 October 2000
Western Australia
Liquid Petroleum Gas Act 1956
An Act to Regulate the Standard, Sale, and Delivery of Liquid Petroleum Gas; and to amend certain Acts relating to Production and Distribution of Gas.
This Act may be cited as the Liquid Petroleum Gas Act 1956 1.
This Act shall come into operation on a day to be fixed by proclamation 1.
3.Amendment of related Acts Schedule
The Acts mentioned in the respective Parts of the Schedule to this Act are amended and may be cited as prescribed in that Schedule.
In this Act unless the context requires otherwise —
“Director” means the Director of Energy Safety referred to in section 5 of the Energy Coordination Act 1994;
“gas” means liquid petroleum gas;
“liquid petroleum gas” means a liquid which is a mixture of hydro‑carbons basically consisting of Butanes or Butenes or Propane or Propene, or any mixture of all or any of them, and which it is intended to sell;
“person” without affecting the meaning given to the expression, “person” by sections 4 and 26 of the Interpretation Act 1918 2, includes association, firm, and body corporate;
“public notice” means a notice published in the Gazette;
“to sell” means to sell by wholesale or retail or both, and includes to barter, to supply for sale, to receive for sale, to have in possession for sale, to send forward or to deliver for sale, to cause or to suffer or to allow to be sold; and inflections and derivatives of the verb, “to sell” have correlative meanings;
“standard” used in relation to gas, means the standard declared for the time being by the Director.
[Section 4 amended by No. 89 of 1994 s.105.]
[5. Repealed by No. 89 of 1994 s.106.]
(1)The Director shall fix and by public notice declare, the standard for gas for sale in the State.
(2)In fixing the standard, the Director may declare —
(a)as the minimum heating value of gas, the minimum number of megajoules (net) which 1 kilogram of gas must produce by combustion;
(b)as the maximum heating value of gas, the maximum number of megajoules (net) which 1 kilogram of gas must produce by combustion;
(c)that gas must not contain any impurities, or more impurities than the quantity specified in the notice;
(d)that gas must not contain any substance, which, if the gas is used for lighting or heating purposes, is toxic, or harmful to human health or safety;
(e)that the vapour pressure of gas must not exceed that specified in the notice;
(f)that gas must not contain any mixture, or more than the quantity specified in the notice of, any mixture, of hydrocarbons, which cannot be liquified at the pressure referred to in paragraph (e);
(g)that gas must evaporate under conditions specified in the notice, to the extent specified in the notice;
(h)that gas must be of an odour which results from addition to the gas of such agent as the Director, having regard to human health and safety, specifies in the notice; and
(i)any other matter, whether of the same kind as, or a different kind from, any of the matters mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (h) inclusive, as the Director considers necessary or desirable to ensure, as safe, efficient, and satisfactory a supply of gas to consumers as is practicable.
(2a)In fixing the standard, the Director may make declarations as to the matters referred to in subsection (2) so as to apply generally or in a particular case or particular classes of cases.
(3)The Director may by subsequent public notice, from time to time, alter the standard of gas.
(4)The selling of gas which is not, at the time of the sale, of the standard as fixed by the Director is an offence, which is punishable notwithstanding any alteration made by the Director to the standard after the commission of the offence and notwithstanding any other enactment.
Penalty: $100.
[Section 6 amended by No. 12 of 1968 s.2; No. 94 of 1972 s.4 (as amended by No. 19 of 1973); No. 89 of 1994 s.108; No. 78 of 1995 s.65.]
(1)The Director may cause gas to be tested in such manner and by such person, with such powers of entry and inspection, and with such protection from hindrance, obstruction, abuse, and assault, as the regulations prescribe.
[(2) and (3) repealed]
(4)Where the Director causes gas to be tested, the person having the gas for sale shall pay to the Director such fee and such expenses as the regulations prescribe.
Penalty: $100.
(5)Where any fee is, or any expenses are, due to the Director under this section and unpaid, the Director may recover the amount of the fee or expenses or both either in a court of competent jurisdiction as a debt due to the Director, or under subsection (6).
(6)Where a court convicts an offender under subsection (4), the court may, on application being made on behalf of the Director order the amount of the fee or expenses or both to be paid by the offender to the Director, and if the amount is not paid, it is recoverable in the same manner as a penalty.
[Section 7 amended by No. 89 of 1994 ss.107 and 108.]
The Governor may make such regulations as he considers necessary or desirable for giving effect to the objects, or furthering the purposes, of this Act, and without prejudice to the generality of the power conferred by this section may by regulations so made impose a penalty not exceeding $100 for breach of a regulation so made.
