North-west Marine Parks Network Management Plan 2018

SUPPLEMENTARY EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Issued by the authority of the Minister for the Environment and Energy

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

North-west Marine Parks Network Management Plan 2018

Background

The North-west Marine Parks Network Management Plan 2018-2028 (Management Plan), made under Section 370 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), sets out the management arrangements for the North-west Marine Parks Network (the Network) including how certain recreational and commercial activities otherwise prohibited under the EPBC Act or controlled under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Regulations 2000 (EPBC Regulations) may be carried out in the North-west Network. The Management Plan also sets out programs and actions that the Director of National Parks will implement during the life of the plan to work toward the dual objective of biodiversity conservation and ecologically sustainable use within the Network.

The Network includes the following Australian Marine Parks declared under Section 344 of the EPBC Act:

Shark Bay Marine Park

Carnarvon Canyon Marine Park

Ningaloo Marine Park

Gascoyne Marine Park

Montebello Marine Park

Dampier Marine Park

Eighty Mile Beach Marine Park

Roebuck Marine Park

Mermaid Reef Marine Park

Argo-Rowley Terrace Marine Park

Kimberley Marine Park

Ashmore Reef Marine Park

Cartier Island Marine Park

The details of the Management Plan is set out in the Explanatory Statement for the Management Plan.

Purpose

The purpose of this Supplementary Explanatory Statement is to set out the details of how the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (the Convention) is incorporated into the Management Plan, and how the Convention is or may be made readily and freely available to persons interested in or affected by the Management Plan.

Incorporation of the Convention into the Management Plan

The Convention deals with preventing and minimising the discharge of ship-generated pollution into the sea. Regulation 12.14 and 14A of the EPBC Regulations make it an offence to dump waste from a vessel in an Australian Marine Park, unless done in accordance with a Management Plan in effect for that Marine Park or if some other exemption set out in Division 12 of the EPBC Regulations applies.

The Management Plan, at Section 4.2.1.2, provides that waste from the normal operations of vessels to which the Convention applies, may be discharged from those vessels in all zones in the Network, other than Sanctuary Zones, in accordance with the requirements of the Convention.

The Management Plan incorporates the Convention as it is in force on the date of commencement of the Plan on 1 July 2018.

Accessing the Convention

The Convention is freely and readily available to persons interested in or affected by the Management Plan from the United Nations Treaty Collection at:

https://treaties.un.org/pages/showDetails.aspx?objid=0800000280291139