Marine Pollution Act 1999

agent, in relation to a ship's owner, see section 8.

analyst means a person:

(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:

(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:

environmental harm means:

(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:

(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:

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;

(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;

oil tanker means a ship constructed or adapted primarily to carry oil in bulk in its cargo space and includes:

(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

public place means any place that:

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;

serious environmental harm means environmental harm that is more serious than material environmental harm and includes environmental harm that:

(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

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.