478 NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE, No. 20 19 FEBRUARY 2009

Recommendation that the Minister not revoke, replace or amend the urgent rule amendment

3. Section 172E(3) of the Act provides that the Commission is not required to comply with section 172E(2)(b) and section 172F (relating to consultation and assessment) before making an urgent rule amendment, if it is considered necessary or desirable in the public interest for the rule amendment to be made urgently.

4. Instead, consultation and the assessment must be carried out within 6 months of the amendment being made.

5. On 18 September 2008, the Minister made an urgent amendment to part J of the Rules by publishing the Notice of Making of Electricity Governance Amendment Rules (No. 65) 2008 and Notice of Reasons for Decision*.

6. The urgent rule amendment was made to resolve an unanticipated issue that arose when new reconciliation rules came into force on 1 May 2008. The new reconciliation rules provide for a change from reconciliation on the basis of differencing to global reconciliation. That change distorted the seasonal adjustment shapes used for the reconciliation of non half-hour electricity volumes.

7. The distortion meant that allowing the process in the Rules to allocate non half-hour volumes of electricity over the 1 May 2008 boundary would have resulted in the inaccurate allocation of volumes between participants, which would have financially disadvantaged participants that were incumbent retailers before 1 May 2008 compared with participants that were independent retailers. The rule amendment resolves the issue by minimising the distortion, and the resulting financial disadvantage to participants that were incumbent retailers.

8. The Commission has assessed the options for achieving the objective of the rule amendment, issued a statement of proposal, and consulted with persons representative of interested persons likely to be substantially affected by the rule amendment. Three submissions were received in relation to the rule amendment.

9. In accordance with section 172E(3)(a) of the Act, having considered the three submissions received, on 16 February 2009 the Commission recommended to the Minister that the Minister not revoke, replace or amend the rule amendment.

10. A copy of the Commission’s recommendation and assessment is available, at no cost, on the Commission’s website at

http://www.electricitycommission.govt.nz/rulesandregs/recommend

Dated at Wellington this 17th day of February 2009.

For and on behalf of the Electricity Commission:

HON DAVID CAYGILL, Chair.

*New Zealand Gazette, 18 September 2008, No. 141, page 3847

au1509

Notice of Recommendation and Assessment

Concerning the Electricity Governance Rules 2003

—Rule Amendment Proposal No. 141, 2009

1. This notice of a recommendation and assessment concerning the Electricity Governance Rules 2003 (“Rules”), Rule Amendment Proposal No. 141 is issued by the Electricity Commission (“Commission”), pursuant to section 172E(3)(a)(iii) of the Electricity Act 1992 (“Act”).

2. Section 172E(3)(a)(iii) of the Act provides that, where rules have been made in reliance upon the urgency provisions in section 172E(3) of the Act, and where the Commission makes a recommendation to the Minister of Energy (“Minister”) to revoke, replace, or amend those rules in accordance with section 172E(3)(a)(ii) of the Act, the Commission must, no later than 10 working days after making the recommendation to the Minister, publicise the recommendation and the assessment completed under section 172F of the Act.

Recommendation

3. On 11 February 2009, the Commission recommended that Rule 6.5A of Technical Code B of Schedule C3 of part C of the Rules (“Rule 6.5A”), which had been made in reliance on the urgency provisions of section 172E(3) of the Act, be amended.

Recommended Amendment to the Rules

4. Rule 6.5A provides a process under which the system operator may issue a notice to one or more participants that has the effect of exempting that participant or those participants from specified requirements relating to the provision of an automatic under-frequency load shedding (“AUFLS”) system.

5. The amendments recommended by the Commission clarify the operation of Rule 6.5A.

6. A copy of the Commission’s recommendation and assessment is available, at no cost, on the Commission’s website

http://www.electricitycommission.govt.nz/rulesandregs/recommend

Dated at Wellington this 11th day of February 2009.

For and on behalf of the Electricity Commission:

HON DAVID CAYGILL, Chair.

au1510

Environmental Risk Management Authority

Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996

Notice of Intention to Apply for Approval of Code of Practice

Pursuant to section 79 of the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 (“the HSNO Act”), the Environmental Risk Management Authority gives notice that Agcarm Incorporated intends to apply for the approval of the Code of Practice for Exempt Laboratories – Manufacturing Research and Development.

This code specifies requirements for exemptions for small scale laboratories involving hazardous substances.

This code is intended to provide a means of compliance with the requirements of section 33 of the HSNO Act and the Hazardous Substances (Exempt Laboratories) Regulations 2001.

While the proposed code references the agricultural and veterinary medicine industries, it has general applicability outside of these industries.

Written submissions in relation to the approval of this code can be made by mail, facsimile or email to:

Code of Practice Submissions, Hazardous Substances Group, ERMA New Zealand, PO Box 131, Wellington.

Facsimile: (04) 914 0433.
Email: dginfo@ermanz.govt.nz

Submissions close on 3 April 2009.