חוק הגז (בטיחות ורישוי) (תיקון מס' 9), התשפ"ד–2023Law on Gas (Safety and Licensing) (Amendment No. 9), 2023 · automatic translation · suggest a correction

Official summary of the law (Knesset)

Gas Law (Safety and Licensing) (Amendment No. 9), 2023, repeals Section 8I of the Gas Law (Safety and Licensing), 1989 (hereinafter – the Law), which concerns the authority of the Safety Supervisor at the Natural Gas Authority regarding natural gas consumption facilities. Natural gas consumption facilities are gas facilities used for the consumption of natural gas, used among other things in industrial plants. In 2015, a reform for connecting industrial plants to the natural gas network was approved by the Knesset as part of the Arrangements Law. The main thrust of the reform was authorizing private bodies as inspection bodies via the National Authority for Laboratory Accreditation, which would be authorized to conduct safety inspections for the installation and operation of natural gas consumption facilities and to issue compliance certificates for these facilities. In this regard, the Law determines that the Standards Institute is also considered an inspection body. Under the provisions of the aforementioned Section 8I, in cases where there is concern that a natural gas consumption facility poses a danger to public safety, the Safety Supervisor at the Natural Gas Authority may order an inspection body, including the Standards Institute, to conduct a compliance inspection of the facility, provided that the body inspecting the facility is not the same body that issued the compliance certificate for the facility. Since it was clear at the time the reform was legislated that the Standards Institute would be the primary inspection body until additional inspection bodies were accredited, Section 8O(b) of the Law established a transitional provision regarding Section 8I, according to which the Safety Supervisor at the Natural Gas Authority may, during the transition period, order the Standards Institute to conduct a compliance inspection of a natural gas facility in the event of a danger to public safety as described, even if the Standards Institute was the body that issued the compliance certificate for that facility. However, since the reform was approved in 2015, only two inspection bodies have been accredited, which, unlike the Standards Institute, are not authorized to inspect all types of natural gas facilities. As a result, the validity of the transitional provision has been extended three times, since without its extension, the Supervisor would not have been permitted to order the Standards Institute to conduct a compliance inspection in the event of danger to the public. Since Section 8I of the Law has hardly been implemented since its enactment, and in light of the fact that the Safety Supervisor at the Natural Gas Authority is not the regulator of the inspection bodies, it was decided to repeal the section, and consequently – also the transitional provision regarding it, set forth in Section 8I(b) of the Law.

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