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Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) 0807OS
Passenger Transport Services: terminology in and application of new CASR Parts 119, 121, 129, 131, 133 and 135

Background

In February 2007, CASA’s Director of Aviation Safety approved an updated version of a Regulatory Policy Notice titled CASA’s Industry Sector Priorities and Classification of Civil Aviation Activities (no. CEO-PN001-2004, Issue 2). The updated policy established three broad groupings of aviation activities:
• Passenger Transport
• Aerial Work, and
• General and Freight-only activities,
and sets out the regulatory hierarchy of those in terms of CASA oversight.

The Passenger Transport grouping above is the focus of NPRM 0807OS. The proposals in the NPRM relate only to the applicability of new CASR Parts that address Passenger Transport activities, definitional issues, and how the CASR Operational Parts relate to each other.

The NPRM does not address the specific standards that will apply to Passenger Transport activities. For information on the operational and technical standards, readers will have to refer to the NPRM for the particular CASR Part that they are interested in.

It is not the intent of the NPRM to seek comment on CASA’s policy on the Classification of Civil Aviation Activities and related decisions made by CASA’s Director of Aviation Safety. The intent of this NPRM is to consult with the aviation community and the public on how to implement and apply the policy only in those CASR Parts that address Passenger Transport activities.

Key changes (as proposed in December 2008)

  • New CASR Parts 119, 121, 129, 131, 133 and 135 will apply generally to Passenger Transport services that are provided to the public (are ‘publicly available’), whether or not they are conducted for hire or reward.
  • The term ‘publicly available’ will be defined and interpreted to include services that are notified, advertised, or otherwise held out as available to the public.
  • New CASR Parts 119, 121, 129, 131, 133 and 135 will be drafted also to authorise CASA to require, by legislative instrument, additional types of passenger-carrying activities to comply with the requirements of these Parts. This would enable CASA to protect ‘passengers’ by responding quickly to innovative and unforeseen arrangements put in place by operators and ensure appropriate standards are applied to all passenger-carrying activities that warranted regulation to that level.
  • It is proposed to use new CASR Parts 132 (aeroplanes) and 134 (rotorcraft) for the regulation of any publicly-available services that do not warrant regulating to the level of CASR Parts 119, 121, 129, 131, 133 and 135, based on risk considerations and/or the informed consent of participants engaging in these activities. It is also proposed to use Parts 132 and 134, if necessary, to regulate operations that are not provided to the public, but which require regulations that are more stringent than the general operating (baseline) rules set out in CASR Part 91, e.g. the transport of significant numbers of employees on company aircraft.

How to respond

Comment period now closed.

Additional information

Contact Grant Mazowita
email grant.mazowita@casa.gov.au