Western Australian Current Regulations

BUSH FIRES REGULATIONS 1954 - REG 24AA

24AA .         Terms used

                In this Part —

        approved fire extinguisher , for an activity, means a device used to extinguish fires that —

            (a)         is suitable to extinguish a fire likely to occur in relation to the activity; and

            (b)         has a capacity of at least 9 kg or 9 L; and

            (c)         complies with the Australian Standards that —

                  (i)         relate to devices that are designed to extinguish a fire likely to occur in relation to the activity; and

                  (ii)         are in force on the day on which the Bush Fires Amendment Regulations 2021 regulation 4(2) comes into operation;

        approved fire hose means a fire hose that is —

            (a)         at least 20 m in length; and

            (b)         at least 19 mm in diameter; and

            (c)         fitted with an adjustable nozzle having a full spray pattern capable of projecting a 6 m jet of water;

        approved pump means a pump that is capable of delivering a minimum of 120 L of water per minute at 700 kPa through an approved fire hose;

        bituminising equipment means a bitumen tanker, bitumen sprayer, bitumen storage unit, mobile asphalt plant, mobile asphalt paver, pavement recycling machine or other similar piece of equipment;

        blasting means the use of explosives on land;

        CALM Act means the Conservation and Land Management Act 1984 ;

        CALM Act land means each of the following categories of land —

            (a)         land, or land and waters, to which the CALM Act applies under the CALM Act section 5;

            (b)         section 8A land as defined in the CALM Act section 3;

            (c)         section 8C land as defined in the CALM Act section 3;

            (d)         land owned by, vested in, or under the care, control and management of, the Executive Body as defined in the CALM Act section 3, whether solely or jointly with another body;

            (e)         land to which the CALM Act section 131 applies;

        catering activity  —

            (a)         means any of, or any combination of, the following undertaken for the purposes of cooking food —

                  (i)         the use in the open air of an appliance that consumes solid fuel;

                  (ii)         the use in the open air of an appliance comprising fire;

                  (iii)         the use in the open air of a cooking process which produces fire (for example, flambéing);

                but

            (b)         does not include the use of a gas appliance as authorised under section 25(1aa) of the Act;

        catering site , in relation to catering activity, means the place at which the catering activity is carried out;

        engine, vehicle, plant, equipment or machinery means any engine, motor vehicle, plant, equipment or machinery that is, or that is activated by, an internal combustion engine;

        essential service means any of the following —

            (a)         water supply, sewerage or drainage services;

            (aa)         rubbish collection or disposal services;

            (b)         electricity or gas services;

            (c)         telecommunications services;

            (d)         public transport services;

        fire danger forecast , in relation to a work site, road site, off‑road site or catering site, means the fire danger forecast issued by the Bureau of Meteorology in Perth for the area in which the site is located;

        fire fighting vehicle means a vehicle that —

            (a)         has 1 or more water storage tanks mounted upon it; and

            (b)         is equipped with an approved fire hose and an approved pump, both of which are in proper working order;

        gas flaring means the controlled release, and burning, of gas from a well, gas processing plant or other industrial facility;

        grading equipment means a grader, bulldozer, scraper or other similar piece of equipment;

        hot work means the operation in the open air of —

            (a)         welding apparatus of any kind; or

            (b)         power operated abrasive cutting discs of any kind;

        off‑road activity  —

            (a)         means the use or operation of any engine, vehicle, plant, equipment or machinery on land on which there is bush or which is under crop or pasture or stubble; but

            (b)         does not include —

                  (i)         the use or operation of any engine, vehicle, plant, equipment or machinery in the circumstances referred to in regulation 24A(3), (4) or (5A); or

                  (ii)         road work;

        off‑road site , in relation to off‑road activity, means the place at which the off‑road activity is carried out;

        private road means —

            (a)         a road or track that is not open to, or used by, the public; or

            (b)         a driveway;

        public authority means —

            (a)         a Minister of the State; or

            (b)         an agency or organisation as those terms are defined in the Public Sector Management Act 1994 section 3(1); or

            (c)         a local government or a regional local government; or

            (d)         a body, whether incorporated or not, or the holder of an office, that is established or continued for a public purpose under a written law and that, under the authority of a written law, performs a statutory function on behalf of the State;

        rail grinding means hot work involving the grinding of tracks for railways for the purpose of constructing, maintaining or repairing the tracks;

        road  —

            (a)         means —

                  (i)         a road as defined in the Road Traffic (Administration) Act 2008 section 4; or

                  (ii)         a private road;

                but

            (b)         does not include any part of a reservation, median strip or traffic island on which there is bush;

        road site , in relation to road work, means the place at which the road work is carried out;

        road work means any of, or any combination of, the following undertaken for the purposes of the construction, maintenance or repair of a road —

            (a)         the lighting, maintenance or use of a fire in the open air to heat bitumen in bituminising equipment;

            (b)         the loading of heated bitumen onto or the unloading of heated bitumen from bituminising equipment;

            (c)         the application of heated bitumen to the surface of the road using bituminising equipment;

            (d)         the grading of the surface of the road using grading equipment;

        suitable spark arrester , in relation to an exhaust system for an engine, equipment or other thing, means a device fitted to the engine, equipment or thing that —

            (a)         prevents sparks from escaping from all or part of the engine, equipment or thing; and

            (b)         complies with Australian Standard AS 1019‑2000 Internal Combustion Engines ‑ Spark Emission Control Devices as in force on the day on which the Bush Fires Amendment Regulations 2021 regulation 4(2) comes into operation; and

            (c)         is maintained in a clean, sound and efficient condition;

        urgent works , in relation to the provision of an essential service, means repairs or maintenance necessary for the continued provision, or restoration, of the service;

        work site , in relation to hot work, means the place at which the hot work is carried out.

        [Regulation 24AA inserted: Gazette 5 Nov 2019 p. 3880‑3; amended: SL 2021/10 r. 4.]

        [Heading inserted: Gazette 5 Nov 2019 p. 3883.]