PART I | Short title and commencement |
1. This Act may be cited as the Gas Act and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint*.| * Please refer to various commencement dates as indicated above. |
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2. | (1) | In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —| “Appeal Panel” means a panel established by the Minister under section 83; |
“appointed day” means —| (a) | in relation to this Act, the date of commencement of this Act; and | | (b) | in relation to a particular provision of this Act, the date of commencement of that provision; |
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| “authorised officer” means any person authorised by the Authority under section 3(2); |
| “Authority” means the Energy Market Authority of Singapore established under the Energy Market Authority of Singapore Act 2001; |
| “check meter” means any subsidiary device used to verify the readings taken by a meter; |
| “connect”, in relation to any premises, means connect to a gas main of a gas transporter, whether directly or by means of a gas service pipe, and “disconnect” and “re-connect” have corresponding meanings except that they also include discontinuing or restoring, as the case may be, the conveyance of gas to the premises; |
“consumer” means a person —| (a) | to whose premises gas is shipped; or | | (b) | whose premises are connected to a gas pipeline network for the purpose of obtaining a supply of gas; |
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| “convey” means the transmission or distribution of gas by means of gas pipes, and “conveying”, “conveyed”, and “conveyance” shall be construed accordingly; |
“direct access customer” means a person who has an arrangement with —| (a) | a gas transporter for the conveyance of gas to his premises through the gas pipeline network of that gas transporter; or | | (b) | a person other than a gas transporter for the shipping of gas to his premises and has the benefit, under the arrangement, of identifiable rights for the conveyance of gas to his premises through the gas pipeline network to which his premises are connected; |
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| “document” includes electronic records; |
| “electronic records” has the same meaning as in the Electronic Transactions Act (Cap. 88); |
| “exempt gas transporter” means a person who is granted an exemption under section 8; |
| “gas” means natural gas and town gas, but does not include liquefied petroleum gas; |
| “gas appliance” means any appliance in which gas is consumed, either for domestic requirements (including for cooking, heating or cooling purposes) or for industrial or commercial requirements (including for powering a gas engine or as feedstock in a chemical process); |
| “gas fitting” includes any pipe, valve, meter, regulator or other device for the control, measurement and use of gas; |
| “gas installation” means a discrete grouping of gas fittings linking a gas service pipe to a gas appliance; |
| “gas licence” means a gas retailer’s licence and a gas transporter’s licence; |
| “gas licensee” means a gas retailer and a gas transporter; |
| “gas main” means any gas pipe used for the distribution of gas from a gas transmission pipeline to a consumer but does not include a gas service pipe or an internal pipe; |
| “gas mains network” means a network of interconnected gas mains and related equipment; |
| “gas pipeline network” means a gas transmission network, a gas mains network and gas service pipes, and “gas pipeline” shall be construed accordingly; |
| “gas plant” means any valve, regulator, plant, pipe, equipment or apparatus used for, or for purposes connected with, the production, processing, conveyance, storage or shipping of gas; |
| “gas retailer” means a person holding a gas retailer’s licence; |
| “gas retailer’s licence” means a licence granted under section 7(3)(b); |
| “gas service isolation valve” means a valve, located at or near the boundary line of any property or the apron of any building, used by a gas transporter to isolate the supply of gas to that property or building; |
| “gas service pipe” means a pipe or any part thereof, other than a gas main, used for the purpose of conveying gas from a gas main to a gas service isolation valve, and includes any pipe owned by a gas transporter which is used for the purpose of conveying gas from the gas service isolation valve to the meter at a consumer’s premises; |
| “gas service work” means any work carried out on any gas installation or gas appliance, in whole or in part, including any design, construction, installation, commissioning, erection, testing, repair, addition, alteration or maintenance work; |
| “gas service worker” means a person carrying on the activities referred to in section 11(1); |
| “gas supply system” means all gas pipeline networks, gas plants and other related equipment owned or operated by all gas transporters for the purpose of supplying gas to consumers; |
| “gas tightness” means the freedom from leak when a gas pipeline network, gas installation or gas fitting is tested at the appropriate test pressure; |
| “gas transmission pipeline” means a bulk transmission pipeline or interconnected transmission pipeline, together with equipment (including gas reception facilities, pressure regulating and control valves) used for the conveyance of gas to a directly connected consumer or a gas mains network, and “gas transmission network” shall be construed accordingly; |
| “gas transporter” means a person holding a gas transporter’s licence; |
| “gas transporter’s licence” means a licence granted under section 7(3)(a); |
| “hotwork” means any work on a non-isolated gas pipeline network involving the use of a local source of ignition and includes welding, gas-cutting, grinding, chipping, and any process capable of generating heat, sparks or both, which may be capable of igniting flammable vapour or any other combustible material; |
| “information” includes information contained in electronic records; |
| “internal pipe” means any pipe, not being a gas pipeline, used for the purpose of conveying gas from a gas service pipe to a gas appliance, including a gas fitting inserted therein but excluding a meter; |
| “licensed gas business” means the business of a gas licensee in carrying on the activity in respect of which it holds a gas licence; |
| “licensed gas service worker” means a person who is licensed under section 12(3); |
| “meter” means any device for computing the volume of gas supplied or amount of energy supplied, for charging purposes, but does not include a check meter; |
“natural gas” means any mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons which is conveyed by gas pipes and is composed of —| (a) | predominantly methane; and | | (b) | as to the remainder, varying amounts of other hydrocarbons and other combustible and non-combustible gases; |
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| “occupier” means the person in occupation of any premises and includes the person having the charge, management or control of the premises either on his own account or as agent for another person, but does not include a lodger; |
| “premises” means any building, structure or other place to which gas is, or is to be, conveyed; |
| “production” means the production of gas from a production well or a manufacturing plant; |
| “public safety” means the obviation of danger to the general public and to any public place or public property; |
| “regulations” means regulations made under this Act; |
| “relevant gas main”, in relation to a gas transporter, means a gas main under the control of that gas transporter which is in the area specified in its gas transporter’s licence and is used for conveying gas to any premises; |
| “relevant gas retailer”, in relation to a consumer, means any gas retailer who supplies the consumer with gas conveyed to his premises and who has made arrangements in pursuance of which gas is conveyed to those premises; |
| “retail” means the shipping and supply of gas to a consumer other than a direct access customer, and “retailer and retailing” shall be construed accordingly; |
| “shipping”, in relation to gas, means arranging with a gas transporter for gas to be introduced into, conveyed by and taken out of a gas pipeline network operated by the gas transporter, and “ship” and “shipper” shall be construed accordingly; |
| “street” includes any road, highway, square, footway or passage, whether a thoroughfare or not, over which the public has a right of way, the way over any public bridge, and any road, footway or passage, open court or open alley, used or intended to be used as a means of access to 2 or more holdings, whether the public has a right of way thereover or not; and all channels, sewers, drains, tunnels, ditches and reserves at the side of any street shall be deemed to be part of the street; |
| “supply”, in relation to gas, means the physical delivery of gas to a consumer’s premises; |
| “town gas” means any substance in a gaseous state which is conveyed in gas pipes and is manufactured from petrochemical feedstock, and has hydrogen as one of its main constituents. |
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