Dumping At Sea Act, 1996

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Interpretation.

1.—In this Act, save where the context otherwise requires—

“authorised officer” shall be construed in accordance with section 6 (1) of this Act;

“company” has the same meaning as in the Companies Acts, 1963 to 1990;

“dumping” means—

(a) any deliberate disposal in the maritime area (including side-cast dredging, plough dredging, water injection dredging and other such dredging techniques) of a substance or material from or in conjunction with a vessel or aircraft or offshore installation,

(b) any deliberate disposal in the maritime area of vessels, aircraft or offshore installations,

but does not include—

(i) the disposal in accordance with the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto, or other applicable international law to which Ireland is a party, of a substance or a material incidental to, or derived from, the normal operations of a vessel or aircraft or offshore installation (or its equipment) other than a substance or a material transported by or to a vessel or aircraft or offshore installation for the purpose of disposal of such substance or material or derived from the treatment of such substance or material on such a vessel or aircraft or installation;

(ii) 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;

(iii) placement of a substance or material or vessel or aircraft in the maritime area for a purpose other than the mere disposal thereof, provided that, if the placement is for a purpose other than that for which the substance or material or vessel or aircraft was originally designed or constructed, it is in accordance with the provisions of sections 2 and 5 of this Act;

(iv) the discarding of unprocessed fish or fish offal from fishing vessels;

“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” means—

(a) in the case of a harbour to which the Harbours Act, 1946 , applies, a harbour authority within the meaning of that Act,

(b) in the case of Dún Laoghaire Harbour or a fishery harbour centre to which the Fishery Harbour Centres Act, 1968 , applies or any other harbour under the control of the Minister, the said Minister,

(c) in the case of a harbour under the control of a local authority, the local authority concerned,

(d) in the case of a harbour under the management of Iarnród Éireann–Irish Rail, that company;

“Irish aircraft” means an aircraft registered in the State;

“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 an Irish 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;

“the maritime area” comprises—

(a) the territorial seas of the State, and the seabed and subsoil beneath those seas,

(b) any area for the time being standing designated by order under section 2 of the Continental Shelf Act, 1968 , for the purposes of that Act, and the waters above it, and

(c) any area which lies within a line, every point of which is at a distance of 200 nautical miles from the baselines for the purposes of the Maritime Jurisdiction Acts, 1959 to 1988,and the waters above it, provided that this subparagraph shall not be interpreted as constituting a claim by the State to any area which is under the jurisdiction of any other state and which the State otherwise recognises as being under such jurisdiction;

“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 the Marine;

“offshore activities” means activities carried out in the sea for the purpose of the exploration, appraisal or exploitation of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons;

“offshore installation” means any man-made structure, plant or vessel or parts thereof, whether floating or fixed to the seabed, placed in the sea for the purpose of offshore activities;

“substance or material” includes thing;

“territorial seas of the State” means the territorial seas of the State for the purpose of the Maritime Jurisdiction Acts, 1959 to 1988, and the internal waters of the State for the purposes of those Acts;

“vessel” includes an aircraft which is capable of landing on or taking off from water.