{"id":"F2019L01279","name":"Fuel Quality Standards (Register of Prohibited Fuel Additives) Guidelines 2019","slug":"fuel-quality-standards-register-of-prohibited-fuel-additives-guidelines-2019","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":440265,"registerId":"F2019L01279-fast-fetch-1775955956235","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Fuel Quality Standards (Register of Prohibited Fuel Additives) Guidelines 2019","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nFuel Quality Standards (Register of Prohibited Fuel Additives) Guidelines 2019\n\nI, Jo Evans, as delegate of the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, make the following guidelines.\n\nDated 20 September 2019\n\nJo Evans\n\nActing Secretary of the Department of the Environment and Energy\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1 Name\n\n2 Commencement\n\n3 Authority\n\n4 Schedules\n\n5 Guidelines for making a decision\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\nFuel Quality Standards (Register of Prohibited Fuel Additives) Guidelines 2003\n\n \n\n1  Name\n\n  This instrument is the Fuel Quality Standards (Register of Prohibited Fuel Additives) Guidelines 2019.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n  This instrument commences on 1 October 2019.\n\n3  Authority\n\n  This instrument is made under section 36 of the Fuel Quality Standards Act 2000.\n\n4  Schedules\n\n  Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.\n\n5  Guidelines for making a decision\n\n (1) The Minister must have regard to the matters mentioned in subsection (2) when deciding whether or not to:\n\n (a) enter a fuel additive, or a class of fuel additives, in the Register; or\n\n (b) remove a fuel additive, or a class of fuel additives, from the Register.\n\n (2) For the purposes of subsection (1), the matters are as follows:\n\n (a) the effect that the fuel additive or class of fuel additives has, or will have, on emissions;\n\n (b) the effect that the fuel additive or class of fuel additives has, or will have, on the operation and durability of engines, fuel and exhaust systems and pollution control systems;\n\n (c) the effect that the fuel additive or class of fuel additives has, will have, or is likely to have, on the environment;\n\n (d) the effect that the fuel additive or class of fuel additives has, will have, or is likely to have, on human health and safety;\n\n (e) the effect that the listing or removal of the fuel additive or class of fuel additives would have on the interests of consumers;\n\n (f) the availability and cost of alternatives to the fuel additive or class of fuel additives;\n\n (g) any existing State or Territory regulation of the fuel additive or class of fuel additives;\n\n (h) any previous decisions made under the Fuel Quality Standards Act 2000 relating to the fuel additive or class of fuel additives;\n\n (i) to the extent reasonably practicable—any international regulations or international standards concerning the fuel additive or class of fuel additives;\n\n (j) to the extent reasonably practicable—any relevant scientific advice and research in relation to the fuel additive or class of fuel additives;\n\n (k) the effect that the fuel additive or class of fuel additives has, or will have, on economic and regional development.\n\nSchedule 1—Repeals\n\n \n\nFuel Quality Standards (Register of Prohibited Fuel Additives) Guidelines 2003\n\n1  The whole of the instrument\n\nRepeal the instrument.\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This instrument repeals the Fuel Quality Standards (Register of Prohibited Fuel Additives) Guidelines 2003 (Schedule 1) and replaces them with a concise framework (s5) that specifies the matters the Minister must have regard to when adding or removing fuel additives or classes from the Register. Mechanically, it centralises decision criteria under the Act (s3) and commences on 1 October 2019 (s2); it therefore alters the governing guidance by removing the prior instrument and instituting the current enumerated considerations."},"complexity_factors":["Delegated decision-making: instrument made under section 36 of the Fuel Quality Standards Act 2000 and published by a delegate (preamble; s3) — introduces administrative discretion over listings.","Multi-factor mandatory regard: Minister 'must have regard to' a broad set of matters (s5(1)–(2)(a)–(k)), requiring evaluation across technical, health, environmental, economic and regulatory dimensions.","Vague/qualitative criteria: many considerations are open-ended (e.g. 'effect', 'likely to have') creating judgment calls rather than bright-line rules (s5(2)(a)–(d), (k)).","Practicability qualifiers: references to international regulations/standards and scientific advice are limited by 'to the extent reasonably practicable' (s5(2)(i),(j)), which affects how exhaustively comparisons must be made.","Inter-jurisdictional interaction: explicit requirement to consider State/Territory regulation (s5(2)(g)) adds complexity where rules differ across jurisdictions.","Backward-looking constraint: decision-making must consider prior decisions under the Act (s5(2)(h)), implicating precedent and record review.","Distributional considerations: criteria require weighing consumer interests, availability/cost of alternatives and economic/regional development (s5(2)(e),(f),(k)), which implicates market and social trade-offs.","Repeal and transition: complete repeal of the 2003 Guidelines (Schedule 1) creates an administrative transition and potential uncertainty about how previous listings/decisions map to the new framework."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument replaces earlier guidelines and sets the factors the Minister (or delegate) must consider when deciding whether to add or remove a fuel additive or class of additives from the prohibited register. It affects businesses and consumers involved in fuel additives — manufacturers, importers, retailers and end users — because listing decisions change what additives are permitted, altering compliance costs, availability and potential impacts on emissions, engines, health and the environment."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation maintains its original narrow purpose: setting decision-making criteria for the fuel additives register. The 2019 version is a straightforward remake of the 2003 guidelines with no expansion of scope or additional regulatory burden."},"complexity_factors":["Very short instrument (approximately 1.5 pages of substantive content)","Only 5 operative sections, with only 1 substantive provision (section 5)","No defined terms section","No cross-references to other legislation beyond the empowering Act citation","Simple list structure (subsection (2) contains 11 straightforward criteria)","No conditional logic, exceptions, or nested provisions","Single repeal schedule with no amendments or complex transitional provisions"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument requires the Minister to follow an 11‑factor checklist when adding or removing fuel additives from the Register of Prohibited Fuel Additives, covering emissions, engine and environmental harm, health and safety, consumer impacts, alternatives, jurisdictional consistency, past decisions, international practice, scientific advice and economic effects.\n\nIt affects fuel manufacturers/importers, the Minister for Energy, and consumers by making bans evidence‑based and transparent, and it replaces the 2003 rules."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/fuel-quality-standards-register-of-prohibited-fuel-additives-guidelines-2019","history":"/api/acts/fuel-quality-standards-register-of-prohibited-fuel-additives-guidelines-2019/history","analysis":"/api/acts/fuel-quality-standards-register-of-prohibited-fuel-additives-guidelines-2019/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/fuel-quality-standards-register-of-prohibited-fuel-additives-guidelines-2019/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/fuel-quality-standards-register-of-prohibited-fuel-additives-guidelines-2019/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/fuel-quality-standards-register-of-prohibited-fuel-additives-guidelines-2019/documents"}}