The Australian state of Canberra has entered the next phase of the development of national legislation which would see minimum energy efficiency standards implemented across the country.

The Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards (GEMS) Bill, has entered industry consultation. The Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency is calling for comments on the draft from interested parties, marking the third round of formal industry consultation since the draft bill began in 2009.

The GEMS Bill would introduce legislation for minimum energy and performance standards and labeling requirements for energy-consuming products – something that is only currently regulated by individual state and territory laws.

The Department says Australia’s existing Equipment Energy Efficiency (E3) program “places standards and labeling requirements on a range of appliances and equipment types.”

It says the objectives of the new national legislation are:-

• To capture and streamline existing administrative and compliance arrangements of the E3 program;
• To introduce new features to improve national consistency;
• To allow for the coverage of a wider range of products and equipment types.

The consultation document outlines some of the main changes being proposed in the GEMS Bill, including:-

• Giving the scheme a Commonwealth legislative basis;
• A national Regulator to take responsibility of all registration, compliance and enforcement activity;
• A requirement for corporate registrants to provide annual data on sales and imports.

Written submissions for the draft are invited by 18 August.

www.climatechange.gov.au/government/submissions/~/media/submissions/gems/industry-exposure-draft-of-bill-consultation-paper-pdf.pdf