Pollution of Waters by Oil and Noxious Substances Amendment Act 2004
An Act to amend the Pollution of Waters by Oil and Noxious Substances Act 1987
[Royal Assent 17 December 2004]
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:
1Short titleThis Act may be cited as the Pollution of Waters by Oil and Noxious Substances Amendment Act 2004 . 2CommencementThis Act commences on the day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent. 3Principal ActIn this Act, the Pollution of Waters by Oil and Noxious Substances Act 1987 is referred to as the Principal Act. 4Section 3 amended (Interpretation) 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; 5Part II, Division 2AB insertedAfter section 25C of the Principal Act , the following Division is inserted in Part II: Division 2ABPollution by sewage 25CAInterpretation of Division 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. 25CBProhibition on discharge of sewage into State waters (1) If sewage is discharged from a ship into State waters, the master and the owner of the ship 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 authorized officer. (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. 6Section 26 amended (Powers of authorized officers) 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. 7Section 26A amended (Serious maritime casualties: emergency powers of authorized officers) 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 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. 8Section 35 amended (Constitution of State Marine Pollution Committee) 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 (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. 9Section 37 amended (Procedure for spill incidents) 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"; (d) 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. (e) by omitting from subsection (3) "relation to the spill" and substituting "respect of the spill or the oil spill"; (f) by inserting in subsection (3)(d) "or the oil spill" after "spill". 10Schedule 1 amended (The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973) Schedule 1 to the Principal Act is amended by inserting after Annex III the following Annex: [Second reading presentation speech made in:
House of Assembly on 19 OCTOBER 2004
Legislative Council on 17 NOVEMBER 2004]