Sea Pollution (Amendment) Act, 1999

Sea Pollution (Amendment) Act, 1999 Skip to content Disclaimer Feedback Helpdesk Gaeilge Léim go dtí an t-ábhar Séanadh Aiseolas Deasc chabhrach English Gaeilge English Produced by the Office of the Attorney General Táirgthe ag Oifig an Ard-Aighne Home Legislation Acts of the Oireachtas Statutory Instruments Pre-1922 Legislation Constitution External Resources Bills (Houses of the Oireachtas) Iris Oifigiúil / Official Gazette Revised Acts (LRC) Classified List of Legislation (LRC) Translations (acts.ie) Translations (Houses of the Oireachtas) Government Publications for Sale EU Law (EUR-Lex) FAQ Disclaimer Feedback Helpdesk Search Baile Reachtaíocht Achtanna an Oireachtais Ionstraimí Reachtúla Reachtaíocht Réamh-1922 Bunreacht Acmhainní Seachtracha Billí (Tithe an Oireachtais) Iris Oifigiúil Achtanna Athbhreithnithe (CAD) (An Coimisiún um Athchóiriú an Dlí) Liosta Rangaithe Reachtaíochta Aistriúcháin (achtanna.ie) Aistriúcháin (Tithe an Oireachtais) Foilseacháin Rialtais ar Díol Dlí AE (EUR-Lex) CCanna (Ceisteanna Coitianta) Séanadh Aiseolas Deasc chabhrach Cuardach TitleTeideal Year(s) or rangeBliain nó blianta nó raon TypeCineál All Legislation Acts Statutory Instruments Advanced SearchCuardach Casta HomeBaile ActsAchtanna 1999 Sea Pollution (Amendment) Act, 1999 Sea Pollution (Amendment) Act, 1999 Permanent Page URL View by SectionAmharc de réir Ailt View Full ActAmharc ar an Acht Iomlán Bill History Stair Bille Commencement, Amendments, SIs made under the Act Tosach Feidhme, Leasuithe, IRí arna ndéanamh faoin Acht Revised Act Acht Athbh… Open PDFOscail PDF Print Full ActPriontáil an tAcht Iomlán Number 18 of 1999 SEA POLLUTION (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1999 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS Section

Section 1

Interpretation.

Section 2

Preparation and submission of plans to Minister.

Section 3

Oil pollution emergency plans.

Section 4

Authorised officers.

Section 5

Powers of harbour-masters.

Section 6

Giving of directions by Minister.

Section 7

Duty to report oil pollution incident.

Section 8

Minister to prepare plan for preventing and minimising oil pollution damage.

Section 9

Acquisition of equipment and materials by Minister.

Section 10

Provision of assistance by foreign maritime administration.

Section 11

Provision of assistance by Minister outside State.

Section 12

Ships anchored outside harbour.

Section 13

Amendment of section 3 of Principal Act.

Section 14

Detention of ships.

Section 15

Provision relating to offences under Principal Act.

Section 16

Penalties.

Section 17

Application of certain provisions of Principal Act to offences under this Act.

Section 18

Miscellaneous.

Section 19

Short title, collective citation, construction and commencement.

Acts Referred to Continental Shelf Act, 1968 1968, No. 14 Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1995 1995, No. 35 Fishery Harbour Centres Act 1968 1968, No. 18 Foreshore Act, 1933 1933, No. 12 Harbours Act, 1946 1946, No. 9 Harbours Act, 1996 1996, No. 11 Local Government Act, 1941 1941, No. 23 Maritime Jurisdiction Acts, 1959 to 1988 Mercantile Marine Act, 1955 1955, No. 29 Oil Pollution of the Sea (Civil Liability and Compensation) (Amendment) Act, 1998 1998, No. 13 Sea Pollution Act, 1991 1991, No. 27 Sea Pollution Acts, 1991 and 1995 Sea Pollution Acts, 1991 and 1996 Number 18 of 1999 SEA POLLUTION (AMENDMENT) ACT, 1999 AN ACT TO GIVE EFFECT TO THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON OIL POLLUTION PREPAREDNESS, RESPONSE AND CO-OPERATION, 1990, DONE AT LONDON ON THE 30TH DAY OF NOVEMBER 1990, TO AMEND THE SEA POLLUTION ACT, 1991, AND TO PROVIDE FOR RELATED MATTERS. [30th June, 1999] BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:

Interpretation.

1.—(1) In this Act— “authorised officer” means a person appointed by the Minister under section 4 , or section 11 of the Energy (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1995 ; “the Convention” means the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation, 1990, done at London on the 30th day of November 1990; “designated area” means an area for the time being designated under section 2 of the Continental Shelf Act, 1968 ; “functions” includes powers and duties and references to the performance of functions include references to the exercise of powers and the carrying out of duties; “harbour authority” means— (a) in the case of a harbour to which the Harbours Act, 1946 , applies, a harbour authority within the meaning of that Act; (b) in the case of a harbour under the control of a company established pursuant to section 7 of the Harbours Act, 1996 , the company concerned; (c) in the case of a fishery harbour centre to which the Fishery Harbour Centres Act, 1968 , applies, the Minister; (d) in the case of a harbour under the control of a local authority, the local authority concerned; or (e) in the case of a harbour under the management of Iarnród éireann — Irish Rail, Iarnród éireann — Irish Rail; “Irish ship” means an Irish ship within the meaning of section 9 of the Mercantile Marine Act, 1955 ; “local authority” means a local authority for the purposes of the Local Government Act, 1941 ; “maritime administration” means a person in a state other than the State performing functions the same as or similar to those performed by the Minister under this Act; “the Minister” means the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources; “offshore unit” means any fixed or floating offshore installation or structure, in the State or a designated area, engaged in gas or oil exploration, exploitation or production activities, or the loading or unloading of oil; “oil handling facility” means a facility in the State or a designated area that presents an oil pollution risk and includes oil terminals, pipelines and other similar facilities; “oil pollution emergency plan”, in relation to a harbour, offshore unit, oil handling facility or an area of seashore in whole or in part within the functional area, or contiguous to the functional area, of a local authority, means a plan approved by the Minister under section 2 ; “oil pollution incident” means any occurrence or series of occurences involving a discharge of oil, or giving rise to circumstances from which it is reasonable to infer that there is likely to be a discharge of oil, from a ship, offshore unit or oil handling facility, and which poses a threat or gives rise to circumstances from which it is reasonable to infer that there is likely to be a threat to the marine environment in the State, a designated area or a prescribed area;

“the Principal Act” means the Sea Pollution Act, 1991 ; “seashore” has the same meaning as it has in the Foreshore Act, 1933 .

Preparation and submission of plans to Minister.

2.—(1) A harbour authority shall, as soon as may be after the commencement of this section, prepare and submit to the Minister a plan for the prevention and minimisation of damage arising out of an oil pollution incident occurring in a harbour under its control.

Oil pollution emergency plans.

3.—(1) Each harbour authority shall, in relation to the harbour concerned, have in place an oil pollution emergency plan.

Authorised officers.

4.—(1) The Minister may appoint such persons or classes of persons as he or she considers appropriate to be authorised officers for the purposes of this Act.

Powers of harbour-masters.

5.—Section 25 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by— (a) the insertion in subsection (1) of the following paragraph: “(aa) take samples of oil, oily mixtures, noxious liquid substances, harmful substances, sewage or garbage from the ship concerned;”, and (b) the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (1): “(1A) A harbour-master may enter any oil handling facility within the harbour in respect of which he is harbour-master and there make inspections and carry out such tests as he thinks fit— (a) in relation to the carrying on of any activities in such facility, including the monitoring and assessment of the effects on the marine environment of such activities, or (b) for the purposes of monitoring and assessing the effects on the marine environment of any oil pollution incident.”.

Giving of directions by Minister.

6.—(1) The Minister may— (a) give a direction in writing to a harbour authority requiring it to make such modifications or alterations to an oil pollution emergency plan approved by him or her in respect of a harbour under its control as he or she deems appropriate, or (b) in relation to a harbour, give a direction (in writing or otherwise) to the harbour authority concerned to do or refrain from doing anything, the doing or refraining from doing of which is, in the opinion of the Minister, necessary or expedient for the purposes of responding to an oil pollution incident in that harbour.

Duty to report oil pollution incident.

7.—The Principal Act is hereby amended by— (a) the substitution of the following section for section 13: “13.—(1) Whenever there is an incident, whether on board or outside a ship— (a) resulting in a discharge, in the State or a prescribed area, of a pollutant or quantity of a pollutant in excess of that permitted under section 10, from a ship, or (b) giving rise to circumstances from which it is reasonable to infer that there is likely to be a discharge, in the State or a prescribed area, of a pollutant or quantity of a pollutant in excess of that permitted under section 10, from a ship, the master of the ship concerned or of any other ship involved in such incident or from which such incident was observed shall forthwith report the matter to the Minister or, where the incident or discharge occurs in a harbour, to the harbour-master of such harbour or person for the time being performing the functions of harbour-master in relation to such harbour.

13B.—(1) Whenever an incident occurs on an offshore unit or an oil handling facility resulting in a discharge of oil, in the State or a designated area, or giving rise to circumstances from which it is reasonable to infer that there is likely to be a discharge of oil in the State or a designated area the person for the time being in charge of the offshore unit or oil handling facility concerned shall forthwith report the matter to— (a) the Minister, or (b) in the case of an oil handling facility in a harbour, to the harbour-master, or person performing, for the time being, the functions of harbour-master in relation to that harbour.

Minister to prepare plan for preventing and minimising oil pollution damage.

8.—(1) The Minister shall prepare a plan specifying the measures to be taken to prevent and minimise damage in the State resulting from discharges of oil from ships, offshore units and oil handling facilities (hereafter in this section referred to as “the plan”).

Acquisition of equipment and materials by Minister.

9.—The Minister may, alone or jointly with a foreign maritime administration, arrange for the provision, on such terms as he or she considers appropriate, whether by purchasing, leasing, hiring or otherwise, of such equipment and materials as he or she considers necessary or expedient for the carrying out of operations for the prevention or minimising of damage in the State resulting from discharges of oil from ships, offshore units or oil handling facilities, or for the training of persons in the carrying out of such operations.

Provision of assistance by foreign maritime administration.

10.— Where the maritime administration of a party to the Convention provides, pursuant to a request of the Minister, assistance in preventing or minimising damage in the State resulting from a discharge of oil from a ship, offshore unit or oil handling facility, the Minister may, on such terms and conditions as he or she considers appropriate, reimburse such foreign maritime administration for the expenses incurred by it in so providing assistance.

Provision of assistance by Minister outside State.

11.—(1) The Minister may, pursuant to a request from a party to the Convention or the maritime administration thereof, provide assistance in preventing or minimising damage outside the State resulting from a discharge of oil from a ship, offshore unit or oil handling facility, including the provision of equipment, materials or technical advice, or the carrying out of operations to prevent or minimise such damage.

Ships anchored outside harbour.

12.—(1) The master of a ship at anchor at a place in the State other than a harbour shall immediately notify the Minister of the fact and of the place at which it is at anchor.

Amendment of section 3 of Principal Act.

13.—Section 3 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by— (a) in subsection (1)— (i) the insertion in the definition of “maritime casualty” of “pollution,” after the words “resulting in”, and (ii) the insertion of the following definition: “‘prescribed area’ means an area outside the State prescribed by the Minister for the purposes of this Act;”, (b) the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (2): “(2A) A reference in this Act to the State includes a reference to— (a) the inland waters of the State, (b) the territorial seas of the State, and the seabed and subsoil beneath those seas, and (c) any area lying within a line, every point of which is 200 nautical miles from the baselines for the purposes of the Maritime Jurisdiction Acts, 1959 to 1988, and the waters above it, provided that this paragraph shall not be construed as constituting a claim by the State to any area that— (i) is under the jurisdiction of a state other than the State, and (ii) the State recognises as being under such jurisdiction.”, and (c) the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (3): “(3) A reference in this Act to a country other than the State includes a reference to the territorial seas and inland waters of that country.”.

Detention of ships.

14.—The Principal Act is hereby amended by— (a) the substitution in section 22 of the following subsection for subsection (2): “(2) Without prejudice to any other power conferred on an inspector under this Act, an inspector to whom this section applies may, if he is satisfied that a ship (or any fitting or equipment thereon) does not comply with a certificate referred to in subsection (1) or is so defective that the ship is not fit to put to sea without presenting a serious threat to living marine resources, detain a ship, or take a ship to such place in the State as he considers appropriate, and there detain it until such time as any directions given by him under this section in relation to the ship have been complied with”, (b) the substitution in section 24 of the following subsection for subsection (1): “(1) Whenever an inspector or a harbour-master has reasonable cause to believe that a ship has caused or may cause pollution and the ship is in the State, he may stop and detain the ship, or take it to such place in the State as he considers appropriate and there detain it.” (c) the substitution of the following section for section 39: “39.—(1) Where an inspector or harbour-master has, in the exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 22(2) or 24 detained a ship and the persons on board the ship at a port or other place in the State, any inspector, or the harbour-master concerned, who suspects that a person on board the ship has committed an offence under this Act shall (unless he is proceeding under section 39A), as soon as may be, apply to a judge of the District Court for an order authorising the continued detention of the ship and those persons, and the said judge may grant an order authorising such detention for a period of 48 hours if he is satisfied that the applicant inspector or harbour-master has such a suspicion as aforementioned.

Provision relating to offences under Principal Act.

15.—The Principal Act is hereby amended by— (a) the substitution in section 29(a) of “£1,500” for “£1,000”, and (b) the substitution of the following section for section 31: “31.—Where an offence under this Act is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of any director, manager, secretary or other officer of such body corporate or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, that officer or person shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he were guilty of the first-mentioned offence.”.

Penalties.

16.—A person who commits an offence under this Act shall be liable— (a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,500, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or to both, or (b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £10,000,000, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or to both.

Application of certain provisions of Principal Act to offences under this Act.

17.—Sections 30 (other than subsection (2)), 31, 32 and 33 of the Principal Act shall apply to this Act as they apply to the Principal Act, subject to the necessary modifications.

Miscellaneous.

18.—Subsections (1), (2), (3) and (4) of section 2 of the Oil Pollution of the Sea (Civil Liability and Compensation) (Amendment) Act, 1998 , are hereby repealed.

Short title, collective citation, construction and commencement.

19.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Sea Pollution (Amendment) Act, 1999.

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