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Make
provision about transfers of cargo at sea; to provide for environmental
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safeguards in relation to such
transfers; and for connected purposes.
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Be
it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by
and with the advice and
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consent of the Lords Spiritual
and Temporal, and Commons, in this present
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Parliament assembled, and by
the authority of the same, as follows:—
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1
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Regulation
of cargo transfers
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(1)
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Section 130 of the Merchant
Shipping Act 1995 (c. 21) (regulation of transfers
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between ships in territorial
waters) is amended as follows.
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(2)
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After subsection (4) insert—
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“(4A)
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In making regulations under
this section, the Secretary of State shall
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5
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apply
the following principles—
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(a)
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cargo transfers of oil and oil
products in United Kingdom
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waters
shall be prohibited except within such areas as the
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Secretary
of State shall designate in regulations;
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(b)
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a transfer or programme of transfers
shall be considered as an
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10
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“oil
handling facility” for the purposes of the Merchant
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Shipping
(Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-
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operation
Convention) Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998/1056);
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(c)
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a transfer or programme of transfers
shall be considered as a
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“plan
or project” for the purposes of the Conservation (Natural
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15
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Habitats
&c.) Regulations 1994 (S.I. 1994/2716);
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(d)
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a transfer or programme of transfers
may be considered an
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Annex
II project (under the heading “surface storage of fossil
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fuels”)
for the purposes of the Marine Works (Environmental
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Impact
Assessment) Regulations 2007 (S.I. 2007/1518); and
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20
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(e)
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cargo transfers required in
case of emergency shall be exempt
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from
paragraphs (a) to (d) above.”
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Reglations under section 130
of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 must be made
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within a period of six months
beginning on the date on which this Act is
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5
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In section 313 of the Merchant
Shipping Act 1995 (definitions) there is inserted
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at the appropriate place—
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“emergency” has
the meaning assigned to it by section 1 of the Civil
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Contingencies Act 2004 (c. 36);
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“United Kingdom waters”
means any part of the sea within the seaward
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10
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limits of United Kingdom territorial
waters for the purposes of the
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Territorial Sea Act 1987 (c.
49).
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This Act may be cited as the
Environmental Protection (Transfers at Sea) Act
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15
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