PART I PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL

1. —This Act may be cited as the Oil Pollution of the Sea Act, 1956 .

2. —This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister shall by order appoint, and different days may be appointed for the purposes of different provisions, including different Parts of the Schedule.

3. —In this Act—

"barge" includes a lighter or like vessel;

"Convention of 1954" means the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil, 1954;

"discharge" in relation to oil or an oily mixture means any discharge or escape howsoever caused;

"harbour authority" means—

( a ) in the case of a harbour to which the Harbours Act, 1946 (No. 9 of 1946), applies, the harbour authority under that Act,

( b ) in the case of a harbour under the control and management of the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, the Commissioners, and

( c ) in any other case, the person entitled to charge rates in respect of vessels entering or using the harbour;

"harbour master" includes a person appointed by a harbour authority for the purpose of enforcing the provisions of this Act;

"inspector" means a surveyor of ships or a person appointed under section 20;

"master", in relation to a vessel, means the person having the command or charge of the vessel for the time being;

"mile" means a nautical mile of six thousand and eighty feet;

the "Minister" means the Minister for Industry and Commerce;

"oil" means oil of any description, and includes spirit produced from oil, and coal tar;

"occupier", in relation to anything which has no occupier, means the owner, and, in relation to a railway wagon or road vehicle, means the person in charge of it;

"petroleum spirit" means petroleum to which the Petroleum Acts, 1871 and 1879, apply;

"place on land" includes anything resting on the bed or shore of the sea or inland waters and also includes anything afloat, other than a vessel, if anchored or attached to the bed or shore;

"prescribed" means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister;

"transfer" in relation to oil means transfer in bulk;

other terms have the same meanings as in the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894.

4. —(1) This Act does not apply to a vessel of the Irish Naval Service, wholly manned by personnel of the Service.

(2) The Minister may exempt any vessels or classes of vessels from any of the provisions of this Act or of regulations thereunder, either absolutely or subject to such conditions as he thinks fit.

5. —Every order and regulation made under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling it is passed by either House within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the instrument has been laid before it, the instrument shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under it.

6. —(1) Fees under this Act shall be taken and collected in such manner as the Minister for Finance may from time to time direct and shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of the Minister for Finance.

(2) The Public Offices Fees Act, 1879, shall not apply in respect of such fees.

7. —The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

8. —The Oil in Navigable Waters Act, 1926 (No. 5 of 1926), is hereby repealed.