National Transport Commission (Road Transport Legislation — Mass and Loading Regulations) Amendment Regulations 2006 (No. 1)¹

I, PHILIP MICHAEL JEFFERY, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, make the following Regulations under the National Transport Commission Act 2003.

Dated 15 February 2006

P. M. JEFFERY

Governor-General

By His Excellency’s Command

JAMES ERIC LLOYD

1              Name of Regulations

                These Regulations are the National Transport Commission (Road Transport Legislation — Mass and Loading Regulations) Amendment Regulations 2006 (No. 1).

2              Commencement

                These Regulations commence on the day after they are registered.

3              Road transport legislation —mass and loading

                For section 7 of the National Transport Commission Act 2003 (the NTC Act), Schedule 1 sets out road transport legislation, in the form of amending Regulations, about vehicle mass and loading.

Note 1   The road transport legislation set out in Schedule 1 does not have the force of law (see paragraph 7 (2) (a) of the NTC Act).

Note 2   These Regulations must be made in accordance with the Agreement (see subparagraph 3 (b) (ii) of the NTC Act).

Note 3   These Regulations are not subject to disallowance — see the Legislative Instruments Act 2003, subsection 44 (2) (table, item 44) and the Legislative Instruments Regulations 2004, regulation 8 and Schedule 2 item 7.

Note 4   These Regulations are not subject to sunsetting — see the Legislative Instruments Act 2003, subsection 54 (2) (table, item 51) and the Legislative Instruments Regulations 2004, regulation 9 and Schedule 3 item 4.

Note 5   The text set out in Schedule 1 is that of the Road Transport Reform (Mass and Loading) Regulations (Amendment) (Statutory Rules 1996 No. 342). Those Regulations were approved in draft form by the Ministerial Council for Road Transport on 12 September 1996.

Note 6   The making of the Road Transport Reform (Mass and Loading) Regulations (Amendment) was notified in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette on 24 December 1996. No date was ever fixed under subregulation 1.1 of those Regulations.

4              Amendment of National Transport Commission (Road Transport Legislation — Mass and Loading Regulations) Regulations 2006

                Schedule 1 amends the text set out in Schedule 1 to the National Transport Commission (Road Transport Legislation — Mass and Loading Regulations) Regulations 2006 as if a reference in Schedule 1 to a provision of the Road Transport Reform (Mass and Loading) Regulations were a reference to the corresponding provision in that text.

Schedule 1        Text of the Road Transport Reform (Mass and Loading) Regulations (Amendment)

(regulations 3 and 4)

1.             Commencement

1.1           These Regulations commence on a day or days specified by the Commonwealth Minister for the time being administering the Road Transport Reform (Vehicles and Traffic) Act 1993, by notice in the Gazette.

2.             Amendment

2.1           The Road Transport Reform (Mass and Loading) Regulations are amended as set out in these Regulations.

3.             New regulations 12 and 13

3.1           After regulation 11:

insert

12            Failure to comply with certain exemption conditions

                If:

                (a)    a person is prosecuted for an offence under these Regulations; and

               (b)    the offence relates to the failure of a vehicle or combination to comply with a mass or dimension limit specified in these Regulations; and

                (c)    an exemption has been given under any Regulations made under the Act that is subject to the condition that the vehicle or combination complies with a greater mass or dimension limit than the mass or dimension limit referred to in paragraph (b); and

               (d)    at the time of the alleged offence, the vehicle or combination was travelling:

                          (i)    on a route other than a route on which the vehicle or combination was permitted to travel under a condition of the exemption; or

                         (ii)    at a time other than a time at which the vehicle or combination was permitted to travel under a condition of the exemption; or

                         (iii)    accompanied by fewer than the number of pilot or escort vehicles required under a condition of the exemption; or

                        (iv)    with an aggregate mass that is more than 10% in excess of the limit allowed under a condition of the exemption;

                        the exemption must be disregarded for the purposes of the prosecution.

13            Declaring buses to be complying buses

         (1)   This regulation applies to a bus with 2 or 3 axles and a single steer axle that:

                (a)    is not fitted with a compliance plate in accordance with the Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989; or

               (b)    is fitted with a compliance plate in accordance with that Act but the compliance plate indicates that the bus was manufactured before 1 July 1994.

         (2)   The vehicle registration authority may declare that a bus equipped with an approved air suspension system is a complying bus for the purposes of these Regulations if the vehicle registration authority is satisfied that the bus meets:

                (a)    the emergency exit specifications in ADR 44; and

               (b)    the rollover strength specifications in ADR 59; and

                (c)    the occupant protection specifications in ADR 68.

4.             Schedule (Mass and loading requirements)

4.1           Subclause 1.2 (6):

omit the subclause, substitute

         (6)   The sum of the mass on the axle groups and single axles on a vehicle or combination must not exceed:

                (a)    in the case of a complying bus without a trailer:

                          (i)    if the complying bus has 2 axles — 16.0 tonnes; and

                         (ii)    if the complying bus has a rear tandem axle group fitted with single tyres on one axle and dual tyres on the other axle — 20.0 tonnes; and

                         (iii)    if the complying bus has a rear tandem axle group fitted with dual tyres on both axles — 22.5 tonnes; and

               (b)    in the case of a combination consisting of a complying bus and a trailer — the sum of the mass limit specified for the bus in paragraph 1.2 (6) (a) and the mass limits of the axle groups and single axles of the trailer as provided in Table 1; and

                (c)    in any other case — the sum of the mass limits of the axle groups and single axles as provided in Table 1.

4.2           Table 1 (Mass Limits for Single Axles and Axle Groups):

omit

substitute

4.3           Table 1 (Mass Limits for Single Axles and Axle Groups):

omit

substitute

4.4           Table 1 (Mass Limits for Single Axles and Axle Groups):

omit

substitute

4.5           Subclause 4.1 (1):

Insert the following definitions

ADR (Australian Design Rule) means a national standard under the Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989, as amended and in force from time to time.

approved air suspension system, in relation to a vehicle, means a suspension system in which:

                (a)    vertical movement between each axle and the body of the vehicle is controlled by variations in the pressure of air in an air spring; and

               (b)    the proportion of the vehicle’s mass that is borne by the air spring remains substantially constant despite variations in the pressure of air in the air spring.

complying bus means:

                (a)    a bus with 2 or 3 axles and a single steer axle that:

                          (i)    is fitted with a compliance plate in accordance with the Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989 indicating that the bus was manufactured during or after July 1994; and

                         (ii)    meets the emergency exit specifications in ADR 44; and

                         (iii)    meets the rollover strength specifications in ADR 59; and

                        (iv)    meets the occupant protection specifications in ADR 68; and

                         (v)    is equipped with an approved air suspension system; or

               (b)    a bus that is the subject of a declaration under regulation 13 or under a corresponding law of another State or Territory.

1.       All legislative instruments and compilations are registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments kept under the Legislative Instruments Act 2003. See www.frli.gov.au..