Sea Pollution (Amendment) Act, 1999

Minister to prepare plan for preventing and minimising oil pollution damage.

8.—(1) The Minister shall prepare a plan specifying the measures to be taken to prevent and minimise damage in the State resulting from discharges of oil from ships, offshore units and oil handling facilities (hereafter in this section referred to as “the plan”).

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the plan shall provide for—

(a) the placing, at such places in the State as may be specified therein, of such equipment and materials to be used in connection with the removal, degrading or disposal of discharges of oil into the sea or onto land as may be specified in the said plan,

(b) the training of such persons or classes of persons as may be specified in the plan in the use of equipment and materials to which paragraph (a) applies, and generally in the carrying out of operations to prevent and minimise damage in the State resulting from discharges of oil from ships, offshore units or oil handling facilities,

(c) the conducting of exercises by such persons or classes of persons and at such intervals as are specified in the plan to ensure the greater effectiveness of measures taken to prevent or minimise damage in the State resulting from discharges of oil from ships, offshore units or oil handling facilities,

(d) the maintenance and improvement of co-operation and communication between persons required to comply with such provisions of the plan as are specified in a direction of the Minister under subsection (3), and

(e) the co-ordination of the activities of persons to which paragraph (d) applies, when carrying out operations to prevent and minimise damage in the State resulting from a discharge of oil from a ship, offshore unit or oil handling facility.

(3) The Minister may, by direction in writing, require such persons as he or she considers appropriate to comply with such provisions of the plan as are specified in the direction.

(4) The plan shall be published in such manner as the Minister considers appropriate.

(5) A person who fails to comply with a direction of the Minister under this section shall be guilty of an offence.