LegalizeDumping at Sea Act , 1981
1 Definitions.
1.—In this Act, save where the context otherwise requires—
“authorised officer” means a person appointed to be an authorised officer under section 4 of this Act;
“company” has the same meaning as in the Companies Act, 1963;
“dumping”, in relation to a substance or material, means deliberately disposing (including disposing by deliberate combustion for the purpose of thermal destruction) at sea of the substance or material from, or in conjunction with, a vessel, aircraft or marine structure (other than any such disposal that is incidental to or derived from the normal operation of a vessel, aircraft or marine structure (or its equipment) that is not constructed or adapted wholly or mainly for the purpose of the disposal at sea of substances or materials) but does not include the discharge, for the purpose of dispersing or otherwise altering the distribution or character of any mineral oil on the surface of the sea, of a substance or material designed or intended for use for the purpose aforesaid and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;
“functions” includes powers and duties and a reference to the performance of a function includes a reference to the exercise of a power and the carrying out of a duty;
“harbour authority” has the same meaning as in the Harbours Act, 1946;
“Irish aircraft” means an aircraft registered in the State;
“Irish marine structure” means a marine structure owned by or leased to an individual resident in the State or owned by or leased to a company;
“Irish vessel” means a ship which is an Irish ship within the meaning of the Mercantile Marine Act, 1955, or a vessel which is owned by, leased or chartered to, an individual resident in the State or a company, and is not registered under the law of another country;
“the London Convention” means the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter done at London on the 29th day of December, 1972, as amended by the Consultative Meeting of Contracting Parties to the Convention on the 12th day of October, 1978;
“marine structure” means a platform or other man-made structure at sea, whether fixed or floating;
“master”, in relation to a vessel, means the person having the command or charge of the vessel for the time being;
“the Minister” means the Minister for Transport;
“the Oslo Convention” means the Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping from Ships and Aircraft done at Oslo on the 15th day of February, 1972;
“sea” includes any area submerged at mean high water springs, an estuary or an arm of the sea and the tidal waters of any channel, creek, bay or river;
“substance or material” includes thing;
“territorial seas of the State” means the territorial seas of the State for the purposes of the Maritime Jurisdiction Act, 1959, and the internal waters of the State for the purposes of that Act.
2 Restrictions on dumping at sea.
2.—(1) If any substance or material—
(a) is dumped in the territorial seas of the State,
(b) is dumped anywhere in the sea outside the territorial seas of the State and the vessel, aircraft or marine structure concerned in the dumping is an Irish vessel, an Irish aircraft or an Irish marine structure, or
(c) is loaded on to a vessel, aircraft or marine structure in the State or in the territorial seas of the State for dumping,
the master and the owner of the vessel, or the pilot in command and the owner of the aircraft, or the person in charge and the owner of the structure, as the case may be, and any other person who causes or permits the dumping or loading shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) It shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove—
(a) that the commission of the offence was due to a mistake or to the act or default of another person or to an accident or some other cause beyond his control and that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of such an offence by himself or any person under his control, or
(b) that the dumping or loading concerned took place under and in accordance with a permit under section 3 of this Act, or, in the case of dumping to which subsection (1) (b) of this section relates, under and in accordance with a permit granted by another State that is party to the Oslo Convention or the London Convention.
(3) (a) Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1) of this section shall not apply in relation to dumping, if it is reasonably necessary for the purpose of securing the safety of a vessel, aircraft or marine structure or of saving life.
(b) Dumping for a purpose specified in paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be reported to the Minister by the master of the vessel, pilot in command of the aircraft, or person in charge of the marine structure, concerned, as the case may be, as soon as may be, but not later than 7 days after it takes place.
(c) A person who contravenes paragraph (b) of this subsection shall be guilty of an offence.
3 Permits in relation to dumping.
3.—(1) (a) The Minister may, after consultation with the Minister for the Environment, the Minister for Fisheries and Forestry, the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Tourism and the Minister for Energy, grant, or refuse to grant, a permit, in relation to a specified vessel, aircraft or marine structure, to a person who applies to the Minister therefor authorising the dumping of a specified quantity of a specified substance or material in a specified place within a specified period of time or the loading on to that vessel, aircraft or marine structure, of a specified quantity of a specified substance or material at a specified place within a specified period of time, being a substance or material that is intended to be dumped from the vessel, aircraft or marine structure.
(b) In deciding whether to grant or refuse a permit under this subsection, the Minister shall take into consideration—
(i) the provisions of Annex III (the text of which is set out in Part I of the Table to this section) to the London Convention, and
(ii) if the permit, if granted, would relate to a place in the area to which the Oslo Convention applies, the provisions of Annex III (the text of which is set out in Part II of the Table to this section) to the Oslo Convention.
(2) A person who applies to the Minister for a permit under this section shall furnish to the Minister such information as the Minister may consider necessary for the purpose of the exercise of his functions under this section, including, where so requested by the Minister, information that will satisfy the Minister that there is no suitable alternative means of disposal of the substance or material concerned.
(3) A permit under this section may include such conditions as the Minister thinks appropriate.
(4) The Minister may, after consultation with the Minister for the Environment, the Minister for Fisheries and Forestry, the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Tourism and the Minister for Energy, revoke or amend a permit under this section whenever he thinks it appropriate to do so.
(5) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance and after consultation with the Minister for Fisheries and Forestry, charge, in respect of an application for a permit under this section, a fee of such amount as, in the opinion of the Minister, is appropriate having regard to the cost of any tests and investigations to be carried out for the purpose of enabling the Minister to decide whether to grant or refuse the application.
(6) The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance and after consultation with the Minister for Fisheries and Forestry, in a case where he proposes to grant a permit to a person under this section, charge the person (in addition to any fee paid by the person under subsection (5) of this section) a fee of such amount as, in the opinion of the Minister, is appropriate having regard to the cost of any monitoring, surveys and examinations carried out or to be carried out for the purpose of enabling the Minister to determine where dumping may take place and to assess the effects of the dumping to which the permit will relate on the marine environment and the living resources which it supports.
(7) A person who, in relation to an application for a permit under this section, makes a statement to the Minister that is false or misleading in a material respect shall be guilty of an offence unless he shows that he did not, and could not reasonably have been expected to, know that the statement was false or misleading in a material respect.
(8) In relation to the application of this Act to substances, devices, apparatus and products to which the Nuclear Energy (An Bord Fuinnimh Núicléigh) Act, 1971, or any order under section 6 thereof applies—
(a) references in this section (other than in this subsection) and in sections 2 (3) (b) and 5 (1) of this Act to the Minister shall be construed as references to the Minister for Energy and to An Bord Fuinnimh Núicléigh as his agent, and
(b) references in this section (other than in this subsection) to the Minister for Energy shall be construed as references to the Minister,
and a permit granted by the Minister for Energy or An Bord Fuinnimh Núicléigh under this section authorising any dumping or loading shall be deemed, for the purposes of any such order, to be a licence under that order authorising that dumping or loading.
(9) (a) The Minister shall cause to be established and kept a register and shall cause to be entered in the register particulars of all permits granted under this section.
(b) The register kept under this section shall be open to inspection by the public at all reasonable times.
TABLE
PART I
Annex III to the London Convention
Provisions to be considered in establishing criteria governing the issue of permits for the dumping of matter at sea, taking into account Article IV (2), include:
A—Characteristics and composition of the matter
Total amount and average composition of matter dumped (e.g. per year).
Form, e.g. solid, sludge, liquid, or gaseous.
Properties: physical (e.g. solubility and density), chemical and biochemical (e.g. oxygen demand, nutrients) and biological (e.g. presence of viruses, bacteria, yeasts, parasites).
Toxicity.
Persistence: physical, chemical and biological.
Accumulation and biotransformation in biological materials or sediments.
Susceptibility to physical, chemical and biochemical changes and interaction in the aquatic environment with other dissolved organic and inorganic materials.
Probability of production of taints or other changes reducing marketability of resources (fish, shellfish, etc.).
B—Characteristics of dumping site and method of deposit
Location (e.g. co-ordinates of the dumping area, depth and distance from the coast), location in relation to other areas (e.g. amenity areas, spawning, nursery and fishing areas and exploitable resources).
Rate of disposal per specific period (e.g. quantity per day, per week, per month).
Methods of packaging and containment, if any.
Initial dilution achieved by proposed method of release.
Dispersal characteristics (e.g. effects of currents, tides and wind on horizontal transport and vertical mixing).
Water characteristics (e.g. temperature, pH, salinity, stratification, oxygen indices of pollution—dissolved oxygen (DO), chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)—nitrogen present in organic and mineral form including ammonia, suspended matter, other nutrients and productivity).
Bottom characteristics (e.g. topography, geochemical and geological characteristics and biological productivity).
Existence and effects of other dumpings which have been made in the dumping area (e.g. heavy metal background reading and organic carbon content).
In issuing a permit for dumping, Contracting Parties should consider whether an adequate scientific basis exists for assessing the consequences of such dumping, as outlined in this Annex, taking into account seasonal variations.
C—General considerations and conditions
Possible effects on amenities (e.g. presence of floating or stranded material, turbidity, objectionable odour, discolouration and foaming).
Possible effects on marine life, fish and shellfish culture, fish stocks and fisheries, seaweed harvesting and culture.
Possible effects on other uses of the sea (e.g. impairment of water quality for industrial use, underwater corrosion of structures, interference with ship operations from floating materials, interference with fishing or navigation through deposit of waste or solid objects on the sea floor and protection of areas of special importance for scientific or conservation purposes).
The practical availability of alternative land-based methods of treatment, disposal or elimination, or of treatment to render the matter less harmful for dumping at sea.
PART II
Annex III to the Oslo Convention
Provisions governing the issue of permits and approvals for the dumping of wastes at sea.
Characteristics of the waste
(a) Amount and composition;
(b) Amount of substances and materials to be deposited per day (per week, per month);
(c) Form in which it is presented for dumping, i.e. whether as a solid, sludge or liquid;
(d) Physical (especially solubility and specific gravity), chemical, biochemical (oxygen demand, nutrient production) and biological properties (presence of viruses, bacteria, yeasts, parasites, etc.);
(e) Toxicity;
(f) Persistence;
(g) Accumulation in biological materials or sediments;
(h) Chemical and physical changes of the waste after release, including possible formation of new compounds;
(i) Probability of production of taints reducing marketability of resources (fish, shellfish, etc.).
Characteristics of dumping site and method of deposit
(a) Geographical position, depth and distance from coast;
(b) Location in relation to living resources in adult or juvenile phases;
(c) Location in relation to amenity areas;
(d) Methods of packing, if any;
(e) Initial dilution achieved by proposed method of release;
(f) Dispersal, horizontal transport and vertical mixing characteristics;
(g) Existence and effects of current and previous discharges and dumping in the area (including accumulative effects).
General considerations and conditions
(a) Interference with shipping, fishing, recreation, mineral extraction, desalination, fish and shellfish culture, areas of special scientific importance and other legitimate use of the sea;
(b) In applying these principles the practical availability of alternative means of disposal or elimination will be taken into consideration.
4 Powers of authorised officers.
4.—(1) (a) The Minister may appoint an officer of the Minister or, with the consent of the Minister for Fisheries and Forestry, an officer of that Minister of the Government, to be an authorised officer.
(b) The Minister for Energy may appoint an officer of that Minister of the Government or of An Bord Fuinnimh Núicléigh to be an authorised officer and an authorised officer appointed under this paragraph may exercise the powers of an authorised officer under this Act only in so far as this Act applies in relation to substances, devices, apparatus and products to which the Nuclear Energy (An Bord Fuinnimh Núicléigh) Act, 1971, or any order under section 6 thereof applies.
(c) A harbour authority may appoint an officer of the authority to be an authorised officer and an authorised officer appointed under this paragraph may exercise the powers under this Act of an authorised officer in, but only in, the harbour of the authority.
(d) The Commissioners of Public Works may appoint an officer of the Commissioners to be an authorised officer and an authorised officer appointed under this paragraph may exercise the powers under this Act of an authorised officer in, but only in, a harbour of the Commissioners.
(e) Córas Iompair Éireann may appoint an officer of Córas Iompair Éireann to be an authorised officer and an authorised officer appointed under this paragraph may exercise the powers of an authorised officer under this Act in, but only in, a harbour managed by Córas Iompair Éireann.
(2) An authorised officer may, for the purposes of this Act—
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