Dumping At Sea Act, 1981
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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 | ||
1. Total amount and average composition of matter dumped (e.g. per year). | ||
2. Form, e.g. solid, sludge, liquid, or gaseous. | ||
3. 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). | ||
4. Toxicity. | ||
5. Persistence: physical, chemical and biological. | ||
6. Accumulation and biotransformation in biological materials or sediments. | ||
7. Susceptibility to physical, chemical and biochemical changes and interaction in the aquatic environment with other dissolved organic and inorganic materials. | ||
8. Probability of production of taints or other changes reducing marketability of resources (fish, shellfish, etc.). | ||
B—Characteristics of dumping site and method of deposit | ||
1. 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). | ||
2. Rate of disposal per specific period (e.g. quantity per day, per week, per month). | ||
3. Methods of packaging and containment, if any. | ||
4. Initial dilution achieved by proposed method of release. | ||
5. Dispersal characteristics (e.g. effects of currents, tides and wind on horizontal transport and vertical mixing). | ||
6. 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). | ||
7. Bottom characteristics (e.g. topography, geochemical and geological characteristics and biological productivity). | ||
8. Existence and effects of other dumpings which have been made in the dumping area (e.g. heavy metal background reading and organic carbon content). | ||
9. 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 | ||
1. Possible effects on amenities (e.g. presence of floating or stranded material, turbidity, objectionable odour, discolouration and foaming). | ||
2. Possible effects on marine life, fish and shellfish culture, fish stocks and fisheries, seaweed harvesting and culture. | ||
3. 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). | ||
4. 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. | ||
1. 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.). | ||
2. 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). | ||
3. 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. |