OPGGS Environment Regulations remake coming in January

As of 10 January 2024, the new Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Environment) Regulations 2023 (2023 Environment Regulations) instrument will come into force having undergone a remake.

The current Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Environment) Regulations 2009 have been remade into the 2023 Environment Regulations in essentially the same form with no substantive changes to policy.

The revisions are limited to minor amendments to provide consistency with current drafting practices, simplify language, and restructuring and renumbering of regulatory provisions for ease of navigation.

To support the regulatory changes, a concordance table has been published which provides a readily accessible ‘before and after’ for each provision of the 2009 Environment Regulations.

Titleholders intending to submit environment plans (EP) close to the January 2024 changeover are encouraged to reference the new 2023 Environment Regulations provisions.

However, NOPSEMA acknowledges this may be inconvenient with some EPs that are well progressed and close to being finalised.

For any submissions made close to 10 January that reference the 2009 Environment Regulations, these references will be managed by NOPSEMA as part of the EP assessment process.

Further information on the remade environment regulations can be obtained via the Explanatory Statement.