Div 3Interpretation

Division 3—Interpretation 4—Interpretation (1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears— Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary has the same meaning as in the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary Act 2005; administrative penalty—see section 136; approved form means a form approved by the Minister; associated facilities—see section 56(2); authorised activity means a regulated activity authorised by a licence; authorised officer means a person appointed as an authorised officer under section 8; competitive tender region means a part of the State designated as a competitive tender region under section 16; department means the department of the Public Service assigned to assist the Minister in the administration of this Act; discretionary condition of a licence means a condition that is imposed at the discretion of the Minister under this Act; easement includes the statutory easement under the Natural Gas Authority Act 1967; energy resource means— (a) a regulated substance; or (b) a regulated resource; or (c) a resource reasonably necessary for, or incidental to, undertaking a regulated activity; environment includes— (a) land, air, water (including both surface and underground water and sea water), organisms, ecosystems, flora and fauna; and (b) buildings, structures and other forms of infrastructure and cultural artefacts; and (c) existing and potential land use; and (d) public health, safety or amenity; and (e) the heritage, aesthetic or cultural values of an area; and (f) the economic or social impact on an area; ERD Court means the Environment, Resources and Development Court; facility means any of the following that are reasonably necessary for, or incidental to, undertaking a regulated activity: (a) a pipeline or flowline; (b) a road or access track; (c) a borrow pit for construction purposes; (d) any equipment to be used in undertaking a regulated activity (including production testing equipment); (e) a water disposal pond; (f) a well; (g) an airstrip; (h) a power line; (i) telecommunications infrastructure, other than mobile telecommunications equipment; (j) permanent fencing; (k) drilling and well intervention equipment; (l) a camp; (m) any other thing brought within the ambit of this definition by the regulations, but does not include any thing excluded from the ambit of this definition by the regulations; former licensee includes a person who held a licence under the repealed Act; geothermal energy means thermal energy contained in subsurface rock or other subterranean substances; GST means the tax payable under the GST law; GST component means a component attributable to a liability to GST; GST law means— (a) A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 (Cwth); and (b) the related legislation of the Commonwealth dealing with the imposition of a tax on the supply of goods and services; joint venture includes a partnership; land includes an estate or interest in land or right in respect of land; leading performance criteria means criteria used to give an early warning that a control or other strategy necessary for compliance with a statement of environmental objectives— (a) is absent; or (b) may fail or be failing; licence means— (a) a speculative survey licence; or (b) an exploration licence (in any of its 4 categories—see section 21); or (c) a retention licence (in any of its 4 categories—see section 28); or (d) a production licence (in any of its 4 categories—see section 34); or (e) a preliminary survey licence; or (f) a pipeline licence; or (g) an associated activities licence; or (h) a special facilities licence; mandatory condition of a licence means a condition that must be imposed under a provision of this Act; marine park has the same meaning as in the Marine Parks Act 2007; Murray-Darling Basin has the same meaning as in the Murray-Darling Basin Act 1993; natural gas means petroleum that is, or would be, gaseous, at Standard Temperature and Pressure; natural reservoir means a part of a geological structure (including one that has been artificially modified)— (a) in which a regulated substance has accumulated; or (b) which is suitable for the storage of a regulated substance; owner of land means each of the following (insofar as may be relevant in the circumstances of the particular case): (a) a person who holds an estate in fee simple in the land; (b) a person who holds a lease or licence over the land issued by the Crown; (c) a person who is in possession of the land under a lease registered in the Lands Titles Registration Office or deposited in the General Registry Office and noted against the land; (d) a person who has, by statute, the care, control or management of the land; (e) a person who holds a tenement over or in relation to the land (including in relation to a stratum of the land), other than a speculative survey licence or a preliminary survey licence; (ea) a person who holds a licence under the Hydrogen and Renewable Energy Act 2023; (f) without limiting a preceding paragraph, a person in actual possession of the land under a right of exclusive possession; (g) a person who— (i) holds native title in the land; or (ii) is the registered representative of claimants to native title within the meaning of the Native Title (South Australia) Act 1994, (with these subparagraphs being in the alternative); (h) a person of a class brought within the ambit of this definition by the regulations; petroleum means a naturally occurring substance consisting of a hydrocarbon or mixture of hydrocarbons in gaseous, liquid or solid state but does not include coal or shale unless occurring in circumstances in which the use of techniques for coal seam methane production or in situ gasification would be appropriate or unless constituting a product of coal gasification (whether produced below or above the ground) for the purposes of the production of synthetic petroleum; pipeline means a pipe or system of pipes for conveying a regulated substance from place to place and includes— (a) tanks, machinery and equipment necessary for, or associated with, its operation; and (b) a part of a pipeline; pipeline land means an interest in land (including an easement) acquired for the construction, maintenance or operation of a transmission pipeline; private land means land alienated from the Crown by the grant of an estate in fee simple or a possessory interest conferring a right to exclusive possession of the land; producing a regulated resource means— (a) in the case of geothermal energy—releasing geothermal energy for an industrial or commercial purpose; and (b) in the case of a natural reservoir—using the natural reservoir for the storage of a regulated substance; producing a regulated substance means recovering or releasing a regulated substance from a natural reservoir in which it has been contained in the course, or as a result, of operations carried out by a person (and production is taken to occur when it reaches ground level); prospectivity of an area means its potential for the discovery of regulated resources; public land means any land that is not private land; record includes the following: (a) a document; (b) geological samples; (c) samples of water or a regulated substance; regulated activity—see section 10; regulated resource means— (a) a naturally occurring underground accumulation of a regulated substance; or (b) a source of geothermal energy; or (c) a natural reservoir; or (d) any other thing brought within the ambit of this definition by the regulations; regulated substance means— (a) petroleum; or (b) hydrogen sulphide; or (ba) hydrogen, including a hydrogen compound or other substance that is a by‑product of the creation of hydrogen; or (c) nitrogen; or (d) helium; or (e) carbon dioxide; or (ea) any other substance that naturally occurs in association with petroleum; or (f) any substance declared by regulation to be a substance to which this Act applies; relevant Act means— (a) in relation to the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary—the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary Act 2005; or (b) in relation to a marine park—the Marine Parks Act 2007; or (c) in relation to a River Murray Protection Area or the Murray‑Darling Basin—the River Murray Act 2003; relevant court means— (a) where the amount or value of the claim to which the proceedings relate is $150 000 or less—the Warden's Court; or (b) in any other case—the Supreme Court; relevant Minister means— (a) in relation to the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary—the Minister to whom the administration of the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary Act 2005 is committed; or (b) in relation to a marine park—the Minister to whom the administration of the Marine Parks Act 2007 is committed; or (c) in relation to a River Murray Protection Area or the Murray‑Darling Basin—the Minister to whom the administration of the River Murray Act 2003 is committed; repealed Act means the Petroleum Act 1940; River Murray Protection Area means a River Murray Protection Area under the River Murray Act 2003; specially protected area means— (a) the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary; or (b) a marine park; or (c) a River Murray Protection Area; tenement means a lease, licence or other right relating to exploration for, or the production, recovery, management, conveyance, processing or delivery of, minerals or regulated resources (as the case requires) under any of the following: (a) this Act; (b) the Mining Act 1971 or the Opal Mining Act 1995; (c) the Cooper Basin (Ratification) Act 1975, the Roxby Downs (Indenture Ratification) Act 1982 or the Stony Point (Liquids Project) Ratification Act 1981; (d) any other Act brought within the ambit of this definition by the regulations; transmission pipeline means a pipeline for conveying a regulated substance from place to place, but does not include— (a) a pipeline located within the site of an industrial plant; or (b) a pipeline that forms part of a gas distribution system within a city, town or other centre of population or industry; or (c) if a pipeline extends beyond State boundaries—the parts of the pipeline located outside the State; or (d) a pipeline of a kind excluded from the ambit of this definition by the regulations. (2) A reference in this Act to a regulated substance extends to a mixture of substances of which the regulated substance is a constituent part. (3) For the purposes of this Act, the storage of a regulated substance may include circumstances where it is intended that the regulated substance be held indefinitely in a natural reservoir.