Maritime Area Planning Act 2021

Obligations on holder of MAC in relation to rehabilitation of maritime area

96. (1) The holder of a MAC shall, before the expiration (if any) of the MAC, rehabilitate that part of the maritime area the subject of the MAC, and any other part of the maritime area, adversely affected by the maritime usage the subject of the MAC.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the obligation under subsection (1) on the holder of a MAC to rehabilitate a part of the maritime area, that obligation may be or include one or more than one of the following:

(a) the decommissioning of infrastructure;

(b) the removal of infrastructure;

(c) the partial removal of infrastructure;

(d) the re-use of infrastructure for the same or another purpose;

(e) the burying or encasing of infrastructure;

(f) the removal of any deposited or waste material.

(3) The obligation under subsection (1) does not relieve the holder of a MAC from applying for and obtaining any other authorisations (whether the authorisation takes the form of the grant of a licence, consent, approval or any other authorisation) required under this Act or any another enactment in order to enable the holder to discharge that obligation.

(4) Subject to subsection (5), the MARA shall not grant a MAC to the applicant for the MAC unless there is a schedule attached to the MAC setting out particulars of how the applicant, if granted the MAC, will discharge the obligation under subsection (1), including particulars of the following:

(a) the proposed programme of rehabilitation;

(b) the proposed date, or the occurrence of the event, on which the programme will start to be implemented and (if no ongoing maintenance is required by the programme) the proposed date on which the programme will have been fully implemented;

(c) the estimated costs of the programme;

(d) the expected timelines for applying for and obtaining the other authorisations referred to in subsection (3) required in order to enable the applicant to discharge that obligation.

(5) Subsection (4) shall not apply to a MAC to which section 75 (1) applies.

(6) (a) The holder of a MAC to which section 75 (1) applies shall, not later than three months before undertaking any development the subject of such permission and which is for the purposes of the maritime usage the subject of the MAC, make an application under section 86 (1) to amend the MAC by way of attaching a schedule to the MAC setting out the particulars specified in paragraph (b) for the purposes of this paragraph.

(b) The particulars specified for the purposes of paragraph (a) are particulars of how the holder of the MAC will discharge the obligation under subsection (1) (being particulars not inconsistent with the development permission referred to in paragraph (a)), including particulars of the following:

(i) the proposed programme of rehabilitation;

(ii) the proposed date, or the occurrence of the event, on which the programme will start to be implemented and (if no ongoing maintenance is required by the programme) the proposed date on which the programme will have been fully implemented;

(iii) the estimated costs of the programme;

(iv) the expected timelines for applying for and obtaining the other authorisations referred to in subsection (3) required in order to enable the holder of the MAC to discharge that obligation.