Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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PROTECTION OF THE SEA (PREVENTION OF POLLUTION FROM SHIPS) REGULATIONS(AMENDMENT) 1992 NO. 101

STATUTORY RULES 1992 No. 101

Issued by authority of the Minister for Shipping and Aviation

Protection of the Sea, (Prevention of Pollution from Ships Act 1983

Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Regulations (Amendment)

Subsection 33(1) of the Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Act 1983 (the Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of the Act.

The Act, together with the Navigation, Act 1912, gives effect to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 (MARPOL). The Annexes of MARPOL, relating to prevention of pollution by specific classes of substances (such as oil and chemicals), are given further detailed effect by the Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Regulations (the Regulations) and by orders made under the Act.

Subsections 11(6) and (7) of the Act provide that reports of the discharge of oils, or of oily mixtures, from a ship are to be in accordance with the prescribed form. Subsections 22(6) and (7) of the Act provide that reports of the discharge of liquid substances, or of mixtures containing liquid substances, from a ship are to be in accordance with the prescribed form.

Subsections 26B(8) and (9) of the Act provide that reports of the discharge of harmful substances from a ship are to be in accordance with the prescribed form.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO), of which Australia is a council member, has, by resolution, adopted standard formats for reporting incidents involving harmful substances and marine pollutants.

The amendments to the Regulations give effect to this resolution for Australian purposes by providing that the formats adopted by the IMO are, for the purposes of the Act, the prescribed forms for reporting incidents.

Details of the amendments to the Regulations are as follows:

Regulation 1 identifies the Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Regulations as the Regulations being amended.

Regulation 2 inserted definitions of "harmful substances report" and "marine pollutants report" into the Regulations.

Regulation 3 substituted a new section 6 to provide that the prescribed form for a harmful substances report is in Schedule 1 of the Regulations. The previous regulation 6 prescribed one form for reporting discharges of both harmful substances and marine pollutants.

Regulation 4 inserted a new regulation 6A to provide that the prescribed form for a marine pollutants report is in Schedule 2 of the Regulations.

Regulation 5 omitted previous Schedule 1 which was the prescribed form for a Pollution Report for the discharge of a harmful substance or a marine pollutant, and inserted new Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 which are, respectively, the prescribed forms for harmful substances reports and for marine pollution reports.

The amending Regulations came into operation on the date of their notification in the Gazette.