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TASMANIA
__________
POLLUTION OF WATERS BY OIL AND
NOXIOUS SUBSTANCES AMENDMENT BILL
2004
__________
CONTENTS
1. Short title
2. Commencement
3. Principal Act
4. Section 3 amended (Interpretation)
5. Part II, Division 2AB inserted
Division 2AB - Pollution by sewage
25CA. Interpretation of Division
25CB. Prohibition on discharge of sewage into State
waters
6. Section 26 amended (Powers of authorized officers)
7. Section 26A amended (Serious maritime casualties:
emergency powers of authorized officers)
8. Section 35 amended (Constitution of State Marine
Pollution Committee)
9. Section 37 amended (Procedure for spill incidents)
10. Schedule 1 amended (The International Convention for
the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973)
[Bill 37]-VI
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POLLUTION OF WATERS BY OIL AND
NOXIOUS SUBSTANCES AMENDMENT BILL
2004
(Brought in by the Minister for Environment and
Planning, the Honourable Judith Louise Jackson)
A BILL FOR
An Act to amend the Pollution of Waters by Oil and
Noxious Substances Act 1987
Be it enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania,
by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative
Council and House of Assembly, in Parliament assembled,
as follows:
Short title
1. This Act may be cited as the Pollution of Waters by Oil
and Noxious Substances Amendment Act 2004.
Commencement
2. This Act commences on the day on which this Act
receives the Royal Assent.
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Principal Act
3. In this Act, the Pollution of Waters by Oil and Noxious
Substances Act 1987* is referred to as the Principal Act.
Section 3 amended (Interpretation)
4. Section 3(1) of the Principal Act is amended by
inserting after paragraph (d) in the definition of
"authorized officer" the following paragraph:
(e) the Director;
Part II, Division 2AB inserted
5. After section 25C of the Principal Act, the following
Division is inserted in Part II:
Division 2AB - Pollution by sewage
Interpretation of Division
25CA. Unless the contrary intention appears, an
expression that is used in this Division and in Annex
IV to the Convention (whether or not any meaning is
assigned to the expression in that Annex) has the
same meaning in this Division as in that Annex.
Prohibition on discharge of sewage into State
waters
25CB. (1) If sewage is discharged from a ship into
State waters, the master and the owner of the ship
*No. 95 of 1987
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Substances Amendment
are each guilty of an offence and are each liable on
summary conviction to -
(a) if the offender is a natural person - a
fine not exceeding 2 500 penalty units;
or
(b) if the offender is a body corporate - a
fine not exceeding 10 000 penalty units.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to the
discharge of sewage from a ship -
(a) if the discharge complies with Marine
Order, Number 96 in force under
sections 33(1)(a), 33(1)(c) and 34(1) of
the Protection of the Sea (Prevention of
Pollution from Ships) Act 1983 of the
Commonwealth and sections 267ZF,
425(1) and 425(1AA) of the Navigation
Act 1912 of the Commonwealth; or
(b) for the purposes of securing the safety of
the ship or saving life at sea; or
(c) if the sewage escaped from the ship in
consequence of damage, other than
intentional damage, to the ship or its
equipment, and all reasonable
precautions were taken, after the
occurrence of the damage or the
discovery of the discharge, for the
purpose of preventing or minimising the
escape of the sewage; or
(d) if the discharge was for the purpose of
taking any action in order to minimise
the damage from pollution and was
approved by an authorised officer.
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(3) For the purpose of subsection (2), damage
to a ship or to its equipment is taken to be
intentional damage if, and only if, the damage arose
in circumstances in which the master or owner of
the ship -
(a) acted with intent to cause the damage;
or
(b) acted recklessly and with knowledge
that damage would probably result.
Section 26 amended (Powers of authorized officers)
6. Section 26 of the Principal Act is amended as follows:
(a) by omitting subsection (5);
(b) by omitting subsection (6) and substituting the
following subsection:
(6) In this section, "approved
interpreter" means a person who is
accredited as an interpreter by the Telephone
Interpreter Service managed by the
Commonwealth.
Section 26A amended (Serious maritime casualties:
emergency powers of authorized officers)
7. Section 26A of the Principal Act is amended by
omitting subsection (1) and substituting the following
subsection:
(1) If an authorized officer is satisfied on
reasonable grounds, following a maritime casualty
or an act related to a maritime casualty, that the
maritime casualty or the act, by its nature or
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2004 Pollution of Waters by Oil and Noxious No. s. 8
Substances Amendment
magnitude, constitutes grave and imminent danger
to State waters, the coastline or another part of the
State's physical environment or the related interests
of the State, the authorized officer may assume
control of the ship, boarding it if necessary with or
without assistants and equipment, and take critical
action in accordance with this section.
Section 35 amended (Constitution of State Marine
Pollution Committee)
8. Section 35 of the Principal Act is amended as follows:
(a) by omitting from subsection (2) "The" and
substituting "Subject to subsection (2A), the";
(b) by inserting the following subsection after
subsection (2):
(2A) If the chairman of the Committee
considers that the circumstances of an
incident warrant it, he or she may direct that,
for the purpose of responding to that
incident -
(a) the person referred to in
subsection (2)(b) is to be excluded
from the Committee; or
(b) a particular representative of a
body referred to in subsection
(2)(c) is to be excluded from the
Committee; or
(c) a particular body referred to in
subsection (2)(c) is to be excluded
from the Committee; or
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Substances Amendment
(d) more than one representative of
any body referred to in subsection
(2)(c) is to be included in the
Committee; or
(e) one or more representatives of a
body not referred to in subsection
(2)(c) are to be included in the
Committee.
Section 37 amended (Procedure for spill incidents)
9. Section 37 of the Principal Act is amended as follows:
(a) by inserting "or oil spill" after "spill" in the
definition of "incident controller" in subsection
(1);
(b) by inserting the following definition after the
definition of "incident controller" in subsection
(1):
"oil spill" means a discharge into State
waters of any one, or any
combination, of the following
(whether in bulk, packaged or
another form):
(a) oil within the meaning of
Annex 1 to the Convention;
(b) an oily mixture within the
meaning of Annex 1 to the
Convention;
(c) by omitting from subsection (2) "The" and
substituting "Subject to subsection (2A), the";
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2004 Pollution of Waters by Oil and Noxious No. s. 10
Substances Amendment
(d) by inserting in subsection (2) "or an oil spill"
after "spill";
(e) by inserting the following subsection after
subsection (2):
(2A) Subsection (2) does not apply if the
Director -
(a) is satisfied that an oil spill of less
than 10 tonnes has occurred, or is
likely to occur, from any source
mentioned in subsection (2); and
(b) reasonably believes that there is
no serious threat or danger to
State waters, the coastline or
another part of the State's
physical environment or the
related interests of the State.
(f) by omitting from subsection (3) "relation to the
spill" and substituting "respect of the spill or
the oil spill";
(g) by inserting in subsection (3)(d) "or the oil
spill" after "spill".
Schedule 1 amended (The International Convention
for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973)
10. Schedule 1 to the Principal Act is amended by
inserting after Annex III the following
Annex:
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Government Printer, Tasmania 21