1Short title
This Act may be cited as the Marine Pollution Act 1999.
Bills and explanatory statements from legislation.nt.gov.au; second reading speeches from the NT Parliamentary Record (Territory Stories). Links open the official source in a new tab.
Bill homepage (legislation.nt.gov.au)This Act may be cited as the Marine Pollution Act 1999.
This Act comes into operation on the day or days fixed by the
Administrator by notice in the Gazette.
This Act binds the Crown not only in right of the Territory but also, so far as the legislative power of the Legislative Assembly permits, the Crown in all its other capacities.
This Act applies to:
all ships in coastal waters; and
all ships outside coastal waters that:
are intending to enter the Territory; or
are preparing for a voyage to enter the Territory; or
are on a voyage leaving the Territory; or
discharge a pollutant to which section 9 applies.
This Act does not apply to:
a ship under the control of the Australian Defence Force; or
(b) a warship, naval auxiliary or other ship owned or operated by a foreign country and used, for the time being, only on government, non-commercial service of the country.
(1) The overall purpose of this Act is to protect the Territory's marine and coastal environment by minimising intentional and negligent discharges of ship-sourced pollutants into coastal waters.
(2) This purpose is to be achieved primarily by giving effect to relevant provisions of the following annexes of MARPOL:
Annex I (which deals with pollution by oil);
(b) Annex II (which deals with pollution by noxious liquid substances in bulk);
(c) Annex III (which deals with pollution by harmful substances in packaged form);
Annex V (which deals with pollution by garbage).
The purpose is also to be achieved by:
(a) providing an approach to protecting the Territory's marine and coastal environment from ship-sourced pollutants complementary to the approach of the Commonwealth and the States of the Commonwealth;
making provision about the discharge of sewage from ships;
(c) enabling shipping casualties that are polluting, or threatening to pollute, coastal waters, to be dealt with; and
(d) imposing severe penalties on persons who pollute the Territory's marine and coastal environment in contravention of this Act.
In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
agent, in relation to a ship's owner, see section 8.
analyst means a person:
who is appointed as an analyst under section 11; or
(b) who holds a kind of accreditation that is prescribed in relation to analysts in the Regulations.
approved form means a form approved under section 98A.
authorised officer means a person who is appointed as an authorised officer under section 51.
Chief Executive Officer means the Chief Executive Officer of the Agency allocated primary responsibility for administration of this Act under an Administrative Arrangements Order.
coastal waters means the coastal waters of the Territory, within the meaning of the Coastal Waters (Northern Territory Powers) Act 1980 of the Commonwealth, and includes other waters within the limits of the Territory that are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide.
Commonwealth Navigation Act means the Navigation Act 1912 of the Commonwealth.
condition includes restriction.
discharge means any release, however caused, from a ship of a harmful substance or effluents containing such substances, and includes any escape, disposal, spilling, leaking, pumping, emitting or emptying, but does not include:
(a) dumping within the meaning of the Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Waste and Other Matter, done at London on 13 November 1972;
(b) release of harmful substances directly associated with the exploration, exploitation and associated offshore processing of sea-bed mineral and petroleum resources; or
(c) release of harmful substances for purposes of legitimate scientific research into pollution abatement or control.
discharge expenses means:
the reasonable costs and expenses incurred by the Territory in:
investigating a discharge of a pollutant;
(ii) preventing a discharge or minimising the effects of a discharge of a pollutant;
(iii) treating animals and plants affected by a discharge of a pollutant;
(iv) rehabilitating or restoring the Territory's marine and coastal environment; or
(v) the exercise by an authorised officer of a power under Division 7 of Part 10 of this Act; or
(b) an amount reasonably paid by the Territory under section 84 or by the Chief Executive Officer under Part 12.
environment means land, air, water, organisms and ecosystems and includes:
the well-being of humans;
structures made or modified by humans;
the amenity values of an area; and
economic, cultural and social conditions.
environmental harm means:
any harm to or adverse effect on the environment; or
(b) any potential harm (including the risk of harm and future harm) to or potential adverse effect on the environment,
of any degree or duration.
executive officer, of a corporation, means a person who is concerned with, or takes part in, the corporation's management, whether or not the person is a director or the person's position is given the name of executive officer.
harmful substance has the meaning it has in Part 4.
IMO means the International Maritime Organization.
MARPOL has the meaning it has in section 7.
master, in relation to a ship, means the person having lawful command or charge of the ship, but does not include a person not belonging to the ship who has lawful conduct of the ship.
material environmental harm means environmental harm that:
is not trivial or negligible in nature;
(b) consists of an environmental nuisance of a high impact or on a wide scale;
(c) results, or is likely to result, in not more than $50,000 or the prescribed amount (whichever is greater) being spent in taking appropriate action to prevent or minimise the environmental harm or rehabilitate the environment; or
(d) results in actual or potential loss or damage to the value of not more than $50,000 or the prescribed amount (whichever is greater).
n mile means an international nautical mile.
noxious liquid substance has the meaning it has in Part 3.
obstruct includes:
assault, threaten, abuse, insult, intimidate or hinder; and
attempt to obstruct.
occupier, in relation to a place, includes a person who reasonably appears to be the occupier, or in charge, of the place.
oil means petroleum of any form and includes:
(a) any liquid hydrocarbon mixture occurring naturally in the earth whether or not treated to render it suitable for transportation, including crude oil from which certain distillate fractions may have been removed or added;
sludge and oil refuse;
(c) any oil used in connection with the propulsion and auxiliary machinery of the ship in which that oil is carried;
(d) refined products, other than petrochemicals, that are subject to the provisions of Annex II of MARPOL;
substances listed in Appendix 1 to Annex II to MARPOL; and
a mixture with any oil content.
oil tanker means a ship constructed or adapted primarily to carry oil in bulk in its cargo space and includes:
a ship designed to carry either oil or solid cargoes in bulk; and
(b) any ship constructed or adapted primarily to carry a cargo of noxious liquid substances in bulk when it is carrying a cargo or part cargo of oil in bulk.
owner, in relation to a ship, see section 8A.
owner, in relation to a seized object, includes the person from whom the object is seized unless the authorised officer concerned is aware of its actual owner.
person in control, in relation to a ship, includes the person who has, or reasonably appears to have, command or charge of the ship.
place includes land and premises but does not include a ship.
pollutant means any substance which, if introduced into the sea, is liable to create hazards to human health, to harm living resources and marine life, to damage amenities or to interfere with other legitimate uses of the sea, and includes any substance subject to control by MARPOL and sewage.
premises includes:
(a) a building or other structure or part of a building or other structure; and
land where a building or other structure is situated.
public place means any place that:
the public is entitled to use;
is open to the public; or
is used by the public,
whether or not on payment of money.
related Territory interests means the Territory interests directly affected or threatened by a maritime casualty as defined in section 81 and includes:
(a) maritime coastal, port or estuarine activities, including, for example, fishing activities, that are an essential means of livelihood for persons;
tourist attractions; and
the health of Territorians and the wellbeing of the Territory.
serious environmental harm means environmental harm that is more serious than material environmental harm and includes environmental harm that:
is irreversible or otherwise of a high impact or on a wide scale;
(b) damages an aspect of the environment that is of a high conservation value, high cultural value or high community value or is of special significance;
(c) results or is likely to result in more than $50,000 or the prescribed amount (whichever is greater) being spent in taking appropriate action to prevent or minimise the environmental harm or rehabilitate the environment; or
(d) results in actual or potential loss or damage to the value of more than $50,000 or the prescribed amount (whichever is greater);
sewage has the meaning it has in Part 5 and includes human wastes.
ship:
(a) means a vessel of any type whatsoever operating in the marine environment and includes hydrofoil boats, air-cushion vehicles, submersibles, floating craft and fixed or floating platforms; and
includes an aircraft when it is on the surface of the water.
tonnage means the tonnage of a ship determined in accordance with the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships.
Note for subsection (1)
The Interpretation Act 1978 contains definitions and other provisions that may be relevant to this Act.
(2) If a penalty is specified at the foot of a provision of this Act to be:
(a) an environmental offence level 1, 2, 3 or 4 – an offence against the provision is designated to be an environmental offence level 1, 2, 3 or 4, respectively, within the meaning of the Environmental Offences and Penalties Act 1996; or
(b) a number of penalty units – the penalty is to be determined by reference to the Penalty Units Act 2009.
(3) A reference in this Act to the Act is to be taken to include a reference to the Regulations.
MARPOL is the International Convention for the
Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973:
as corrected by the procès-verbal of rectification dated 13 June 1978;
as modified and added to by the 1978 Pollution Protocol relating to the Convention; and
as affected by any amendment made under article 16 of the
Convention and accepted by Australia.
If an amendment is made under article 16 of the Convention and accepted by Australia, the amendment is of no effect for the purposes of this Act until the Minister gives notice of the amendment in the Gazette.
(1) An agent of a ship owner is the person who, for or on behalf of the owner:
makes an arrangement for berthing the ship; or
(b) makes an arrangement for loading or unloading cargo on or from the ship; or
(c) makes an arrangement for the carriage of cargo on or from the ship; or
makes an arrangement for the ship to load bunkers or stores; or
(e) performs any other function in relation to the ship's husbandry; or
(f) makes an arrangement for, or in connection with, repairs of the ship; or
(g) performs any other function in relation to the ship under this Act.
(2) An arrangement made or function performed under subsection (1) is made or performed for a ship that:
is on a voyage that is intended to enter the Territory; or
is in the Territory; or
is on a voyage that is intended to leave the Territory; or
discharges a pollutant to which section 9 applies.
(3) An arrangement made or function performed for a ship mentioned in subsection (2)(a) or (c) includes any arrangement made or function performed that is preparatory to the voyage.
Subject to this section, a person is the agent of a ship owner:
(a) for the duration of the ship's voyage to enter the Territory, including any preparatory period for the voyage; or
for the time the ship is in the Territory; or
(c) for the duration of the ship's voyage to leave the Territory, including any period of the voyage that takes place outside coastal waters.
(5) The person or the ship owner may give the Chief Executive Officer written notice that:
the person is no longer the ship owner's agent; or
(b) the person will not be the ship owner's agent by a time specified in the notice.
A notice given under subsection (5) by the person must:
be in the approved form; and
(b) include evidence that the person is no longer the ship owner's agent or will not be the ship owner's agent by the time specified; and
(c) if the person's appointment as the ship owner's agent expired – specify the date for which the person's appointment expired; and
(d) if known to the person – specify the person who is or will be appointed to be the ship owner's agent after the person's appointment expired or expires.
A notice given under subsection (5) by the ship owner must:
be in the approved form; and
(b) specify the person who is or will be appointed to be the ship owner's agent after the agent's appointment expired or expires.
(1) An owner, in relation to a ship, means any of the following:
a person who owns the ship;
(b) a person who exercises, or purports to exercise, a power of an owner, or a person who performs, or purports to perform, a function of an owner;
(c) a person who operates the ship or causes or allows the ship to be operated by someone else;
a person who has exclusive possession of the ship;
a person who has overall control and management of the ship;
a person who is a demise or sub-demise charterer of the ship;
a person who is a time charterer of the ship;
a person who has a beneficial interest in the ship;
a person who is registered as the owner of the ship.
(2) Subsection (1) applies irrespective of whether the ship is mortgaged, chartered, leased or hired.
The discharge of a pollutant, whether or not in packaged form, that happens outside coastal waters is taken to be a discharge into coastal waters under this Act if the discharged pollutant enters coastal waters.
The discharge is taken to happen when the discharged pollutant enters coastal waters.
The Chief Executive Officer may, in writing, delegate to a person, including the person from time to time holding, acting in or performing the duties of an office, designation or position, any of his or her powers and functions under this Act, other than this power of delegation.
A power or function delegated under this section, when exercised or performed by the delegate, is to be taken to have been exercised or performed by the Chief Executive Officer.
A delegation under this section does not prevent the exercise of a power or the performance of a function by the Chief Executive
Officer.
The Chief Executive Officer may appoint a person who, in his or her opinion, is appropriately qualified, to be an analyst.
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