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The Pollution of Waters by Oil and Noxious Substances
(Amendment) Bill 2013
CLAUSE NOTES
Clause 1 Short Title
The Pollution of Waters by Oil and Noxious Substances Amendment
Act 2013.
Clause 2 Commencement
The Act will commence on the day on which it received Royal Assent
Clause 3 The Principal Act is
The Pollution of Waters by Oil and Noxious Substances Act 1987
[No.95 of 1987].
Clause 4 Section 3 amended "Interpretation"
(a),(b) The definition of "State waters" is amended to align with a
2012 amendment to the definition of "the sea near a State" in the
Protection of the Sea (Prevention of Pollution from Ships) Act 1983
[Cwlth], for which the State Act is "mirror" legislation.
Both amendments confirm that the State's responsibility for
implementing and enforcing Australia's obligations under the
International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships,
London 1973 (the Convention), is limited to waters within 3 nautical
miles seaward of the baselines by which the Territorial Sea of
Australia is defined for the purposes of international law, as well as to
waters landward of those baselines.
The amendments remove an ambiguity that could have suggested that
Tasmania's responsibility extends to the 12 nautical mile limit.
Clause 5 Section 25CB amended "Prohibition on discharge of sewage into
State waters"
Subsection (2) provides for circumstances where the offence provision
of s.25CB(1) does not apply. Subsection (2)(ab) is inserted to provide
that the offence provision does not apply to vessels that Annex IV of
the Convention does not apply to, provided that any discharge from
such vessels complies with a sewage management directive issued by
the Director. Vessels to which Annex IV applies include ships of 400
gross tonnes or more on international voyages, and ships authorised to
carry more than 15 persons gross, on international voyages.
Clause 6 Section 25CC inserted "Sewage Management Directives"
(1) The Director may issue a directive after consulting with the
Director of Public Health.
(2) A directive must specify if it applies to vessels generally, and
waters generally, or only to certain vessels and waters. The intent is
to ensure that a directive may include a range of vessels, and apply to
a range of waters.
(3) A directive may include a range of provisions, including for
example -
the application of different constraints to vessels of various
person-carrying-capacities;
discharge to State waters of different locations or environmental
sensitivities;
no-discharge zones;
limited discharge zones;
treatment standards;
any other requirement the Director considers necessary for
ensuring the protection of public health and the aquatic
environment from pollution by sewage from vessels.
(4) confirms the intent that a single directive may address the
requirements and constraints of a range of vessels, in a range of
waters, and apply differently in relation to different vessels in those
waters.
(5) Public notice must be given of the making of a directive, and of
where it may be obtained.
(6) A directive may specify the date on which it takes effect, such date
being not sooner than the day of the public notice, or if no date is
specified, it takes effect on the day after the day of the public notice.
The intent is to allow for the commencement in stages if that is
deemed appropriate.
END