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Canada Shipping Act, 2001 (S.C. 2001, c. 26)

Assented to 2001-11-01

Marginal note:Assistance to pollution prevention officer
  •  (1) For the purpose of exercising their powers under this Part, a pollution prevention officer may

    • (a) board any vessel or enter any premises or other place at any reasonable time;

    • (b) direct any person to provide reasonable assistance or put into operation or cease operating any machinery or equipment;

    • (c) direct any person to provide any information that the officer may reasonably require in the administration of this Part;

    • (d) direct any person to produce for inspection, or for the purpose of making copies or taking extracts, any log book or other document;

    • (e) take photographs and make video recordings and sketches;

    • (f) use or cause to be used any computer system or data processing system at the place to examine any data contained in, or available to, the system;

    • (g) reproduce or cause to be reproduced any record from the data in the form of a print-out or other intelligible output;

    • (h) take any document or other thing from the place where the inspection is being carried out for examination or, in the case of a document, copying; and

    • (i) use or cause to be used any copying equipment in the place where the inspection is being carried out to make copies of any documents.

  • Marginal note:Limitation

    (2) Living quarters may not be entered under subsection (1) unless they are entered with the consent of the occupant or under the authority of a warrant issued under subsection (3).

  • Marginal note:Authority to issue warrant

    (3) On ex parte application, a justice, within the meaning of section 2 of the Criminal Code, may issue a warrant authorizing a pollution prevention officer to enter living quarters, subject to any conditions that may be specified in the warrant, if the justice is satisfied by information on oath that entry to the living quarters

    • (a) is necessary for any purpose related to the carrying out of the officer’s powers under this Part; and

    • (b) has been refused or there are reasonable grounds for believing that it will be refused.

  • Marginal note:Use of force

    (4) No officer executing a warrant may use force unless they are accompanied by a peace officer and the use of force is specifically authorized in the warrant.

  • Marginal note:Return of documents and things

    (5) Documents or other things taken under paragraph (1)(h) must be returned as soon as feasible after they are no longer required for the inspection or for any proceedings that may result from it.

Detention of Vessels

Marginal note:Detention
  •  (1) If a pollution prevention officer believes on reasonable grounds that an offence under this Part has been committed by or in respect of a vessel, the officer may make a detention order in respect of the vessel.

  • Marginal note:Order to be in writing

    (2) A detention order made under this section must be in writing and be addressed to every person empowered to grant clearance in respect of the vessel.

  • Marginal note:Detention order to be served on master

    (3) Notice of a detention order made under this section in respect of a vessel must be served on the master

    • (a) by delivering a copy of the notice personally to the master; or

    • (b) if service cannot reasonably be effected in the manner provided in paragraph (a), by leaving a copy of the notice with the person who is, or appears to be, in charge of the vessel or, if there is no such person, by fixing a copy of the notice to a prominent part of the vessel.

  • Marginal note:Contents of notice

    (4) The notice must

    • (a) indicate the measures to ensure compliance with this Part that must be taken for the detention order to be rescinded; and

    • (b) if an indictment has been preferred in respect of the offence, indicate the amount and form of security that, pending the outcome of any proceedings related to the indictment, must be deposited with the Minister for the detention order to be rescinded.

  • Marginal note:Foreign state to be notified

    (5) If a vessel in respect of which a detention order is made under this section is registered in a foreign state, that state is to be notified that the order was made.

  • Marginal note:Rescission of orders

    (6) A pollution prevention officer must

    • (a) rescind a detention order made under this section if the officer is satisfied that the measures indicated in the notice referred to in subsection (4) have been taken and, if applicable, security in the amount and form indicated in the notice referred to in that subsection has been deposited with the Minister; and

    • (b) notify, in the form and manner specified by the Minister, the master and the persons referred to in subsection (2) of the rescission.

  • Marginal note:Duty of persons empowered to give clearance

    (7) No person to whom a detention order made under this section is addressed shall, after notice of the order is received by them, grant clearance to the vessel in respect of which the order was made unless they have been notified that the order has been rescinded under subsection (6).

  • Marginal note:Movement of vessel prohibited

    (8) Subject to section 179, no person shall move a vessel that is subject to a detention order made under this section.

  • Marginal note:Liability for expenses

    (9) The authorized representative or, if there is no authorized representative, the owner of a vessel that is detained under this section is liable for all expenses incurred in respect of the detained vessel.

  • Marginal note:Return of security

    (10) The Minister, after proceedings in respect of which security was deposited are concluded,

    • (a) may apply the security to reimburse Her Majesty in right of Canada, either fully or partially, if any of the expenses or any fine has not been paid; and

    • (b) is to return the security, or any part of it that remains if it is applied under paragraph (a), if all expenses and any fine imposed have been paid.

Marginal note:Interference with service

 No person shall wilfully interfere with the service of a notice of a detention order.

Marginal note:Direction to move a detained vessel

 The Minister may

  • (a) on application made by the authorized representative or, if there is no authorized representative, the owner of a detained vessel in the form and manner specified by the Minister, permit the master to move it in accordance with the directions of the Minister;

  • (b) on application made by the owner of a dock or wharf or by the person in charge of a harbour at which a detained vessel is situated in the form and manner specified by the Minister, direct the person who is, or appears to be, in charge of the vessel to move the vessel in accordance with the directions of the Minister; and

  • (c) if a person to whom a direction is given under paragraph (b) does not comply with it and the Minister is satisfied that the applicant for the direction has sufficient insurance in place to cover any incident that may arise from the moving of the vessel, authorize the applicant to move the vessel in accordance with the Minister’s directions and at the expense of the authorized representative or, if there is no authorized representative, the owner.

Response Measures

Marginal note:Minister may take necessary measures
  •  (1) If the Minister believes on reasonable grounds that a vessel or an oil handling facility has discharged, is discharging or is likely to discharge a pollutant, the Minister may

    • (a) take the measures that the Minister considers necessary to repair, remedy, minimize or prevent pollution damage from the vessel or oil handling facility, including, in the case of a vessel, the removal or destruction of the vessel and its contents, and may sell or otherwise dispose of the vessel and its contents;

    • (b) monitor the measures taken by any person to repair, remedy, minimize or prevent pollution damage from the vessel or oil handling facility; or

    • (c) if the Minister considers it necessary to do so, direct any person or vessel to take measures referred to in paragraph (a) or to refrain from doing so.

  • Marginal note:Application of proceeds of disposition

    (2) The proceeds from the sale or other disposal of a vessel or its contents under paragraph (1)(a) must be applied towards meeting the costs and expenses incurred in taking the measures under that paragraph, and any surplus must be paid to the vessel’s owner or the owner of the contents of the vessel, as the case may be.

  • Marginal note:Compensation

    (3) Compensation shall be paid by Her Majesty in right of Canada for the services of any vessel or person, other than a vessel or the operator of an oil handling facility that had discharged, was discharging or was likely to discharge a pollutant, that has complied with a direction issued under paragraph (1)(c).

Marginal note:Civil or criminal liability
  •  (1) A person who is directed to take or refrain from taking measures under paragraph 180(1)(c) is not personally liable, either civilly or criminally, in respect of any act or omission in the course of complying with the direction or doing anything incidental to it, unless it is shown that the person’s conduct was not reasonable in the circumstances.

  • Marginal note:Civil or criminal liability

    (2) Response organizations and persons who have been designated in writing by the Minister as approved responders are not personally liable, either civilly or criminally, in respect of any act or omission occurring or arising during the course of a response operation unless it is shown that the act or omission was committed with the intent to cause loss or damage, or recklessly and with the knowledge that loss or damage would probably result.

  • Marginal note:Exception

    (3) Nothing in subsection (1) exempts or lessens the liability of the owner of a vessel for the occurrence that necessitated the response operation.

  • Definition of “response operation”

    (4) In this section, “response operation” means the activities undertaken following a discharge, or a grave and imminent threat of a discharge, from a vessel, including activities related to or connected with surveillance of and assessing areas of pollution, mobilizing and demobilizing response equipment and resources, protective booming, containment, recovery, dispersal or destruction of the pollutant, shoreline mitigation and restoration, transporting and disposing of recovered pollutant or waste materials and planning and supervising activities related to the response operation.

Regulations

Marginal note:Regulations

 The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, make regulations for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Part, including regulations

  • (a) respecting the circumstances in which operators of oil handling facilities shall report discharges or anticipated discharges of pollutants, the manner of making the reports and the persons to whom the reports shall be made;

  • (b) respecting the issuance, amendment, suspension, reinstatement, cancellation or renewal of certificates referred to in section 169;

  • (c) respecting the purposes for which fees may be charged in relation to an arrangement referred to in paragraph 167(1)(a) or 168(1)(a) and the manner in which response organizations and persons who make an application under subsection 169(1) must calculate proposed fees before notifying the Minister of the fees under subsection 170(1);

  • (d) respecting the establishment by response organizations of committees of persons who have arrangements with them and the provision to the committees of information regarding fees and proposed fees; and

  • (e) prescribing anything that by this Part is to be prescribed.

 

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