18Criteria for draft site plans—general

18 Criteria for draft site plans—general

(1) The draft site plan must be appropriate for the nature and scale of the proposed operations for the plan. (2) The draft site plan must demonstrate, on the basis of available data and current technical knowledge, that if the proposed operations are undertaken in accordance with the plan, the formation will be safe and secure for the permanent storage of: (a) any greenhouse gas substances that are already stored in the formation; and (b) the greenhouse gas substances that are proposed to be injected into and stored in the formation. (3) The draft site plan must demonstrate all of the following for the proposed operations that are operations for the injection or permanent storage of a greenhouse gas substance: (a) that the geological risks associated with the operations have been identified; (b) that new geological risks associated with the operations will be identified as they arise; (c) that increases in the levels of existing geological risks associated with the operations will be identified as they arise; (d) that the risks mentioned in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) will be eliminated or reduced to as low as is reasonably practicable; (e) that if a risk mentioned in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) is reduced but not eliminated, the remaining risk will be acceptable.

Note: An example of a geological risk associated with the operations is the risk of the substance migrating beyond the boundary of the proposed licence area for the licence application.