EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

 

Select Legislative Instrument 2010 No. 40

 

Issued under the authority of the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government

 

Protection of the Sea (Shipping Levy) Act 1981

 

Protection of the Sea (Shipping Levy) Amendment Regulations 2010 (No. 1)

 

Section 9 of the Protection of the Sea (Shipping Levy) Act 1981 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of sections 6 and 7 of the Act. Section 6 of the Act enables the regulations to prescribe the rate of levy and section 7 enables the regulations to prescribe a minimum amount of levy payable for a ship for a quarter.

 

The Act imposes a quarterly levy on ships of 24 metres or more in length and having on board a quantity of 10 tonnes or more of oil in bulk as fuel or cargo. The rate of levy is currently prescribed in the Protection of the Sea (Shipping Levy) Regulations 1982 (the Principal Regulations) for the purposes of section 6 of the Act. Previously a quarterly levy of 11.25 cents per ton of the tonnage of a ship was imposed.

 

The amending Regulations amend the Principal Regulations to increase the quarterly levy to 14.25 cents per ton on all ships to which the Act applies, effective from 1 April 2010. The minimum levy prescribed in the Principal Regulations for the purposes of section 7 of the Act remains at its current level of $10.

 

The levy is payable once in every quarter that a ship to which the Act applies is in an Australian port. The levy is used to fund the operations and management of the National Plan to Combat Pollution of the Sea by Oil and other Noxious and Hazardous Substances (the National Plan). Since 1 July 2007, the levy has also been used to fund the National Maritime Emergency Response Arrangements.

 

The National Plan has incurred costs as a result of the fuel oil spill from the Pacific Adventurer incident off Queensland in March 2009. The increase in the levy will be used to fund the expected shortfall in the actual clean-up costs that were not able to be recovered from the shipowner. The increase is expected to raise revenues of approximately $4.5 million per annum.

 

The amending Regulations are a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

 

Consultation was held at the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) Advisory Committee meeting in October 2009. There was no objection to the proposed increase from the Advisory Committee. The members of the AMSA Advisory Committee represent a broad cross-section of the Australian shipping industry.

 

The amending Regulations commence on 1 April 2010.