Marine Liability Act (S.C. 2001, c. 6)

Emergency Funds

Marginal note:Request by Minister of Fisheries and Oceans for funds — $10 million

• 110 (1) If, in the opinion of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, emergency funds are necessary to respond to a significant incident involving the discharge of oil from a ship, the Minister of Transport may, after consultation with the Administrator, direct the amount of funds requested by the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, or a lesser amount, to be charged to the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund to enable the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to respond to the significant incident, to a maximum of $10 million per fiscal year.

• Marginal note:Additional funds — $50 million

  (2) If the maximum amount has been charged to the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund under subsection (1) and, in the opinion of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, additional emergency funds are necessary to respond to a significant incident in that fiscal year involving the discharge of oil from a ship, the Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister of Transport made after consultation with the Administrator, issue an order in council directing the additional funds requested by the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, or a lesser amount, to be charged to the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund to enable the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to respond to the significant incident, to a maximum of $50 million per fiscal year.

• Marginal note:Exclusions

  (3) For greater certainty, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans may not request emergency funds under subsection (1) or (2) for

  • (a) measures taken or to be taken under paragraph 180(1)(a) of the Canada Shipping Act, 2001 in respect only of a discharge of oil by a small vessel that is dilapidated or abandoned; or

  • (b) the carrying out by that Minister of only minor monitoring of measures under paragraph 180(1)(b) of that Act.

• Marginal note:Use of emergency funds

  (4) The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans may use emergency funds only to respond to a significant incident involving the discharge of oil from a ship, including paying third parties. For greater certainty, that Minister may not use such funds for any

  • (a) measures taken or to be taken under paragraph 180(1)(a) of the Canada Shipping Act, 2001 in respect only of a discharge of oil by a small vessel that is dilapidated or abandoned; or

  • (b) measures referred to in subsection 101(1.1).

Marginal note:Reimbursement of amount of emergency funds

• 111 (1) If emergency funds are charged to the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund under subsection 110(1) or (2), the amount of the emergency funds shall be credited to the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund, out of appropriations for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans under an appropriation Act, within two years after the day on which the oil pollution damage resulting from the significant incident occurs or within any longer period agreed to by the Administrator and the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.

• Marginal note:Rights unaffected

  (2) Nothing in subsection (1) affects the rights of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans under sections 51, 71, 77 and 101, Article III of the Civil Liability Convention and Article 3 of the Bunkers Convention with respect to loss and damage suffered, and costs and expenses incurred, in respect of the significant incident.

Marginal note:Claim under section 103

• 111.1 (1) If the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans files a claim with the Administrator under section 103 for loss and damage suffered, and costs and expenses incurred, in respect of the significant incident for which emergency funds were charged to the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund under subsection 110(1) or (2), then, despite subsection 111(1), it is only any portion of the emergency funds that is unused at the time of the filing of the claim that is to be credited to the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund within two years after the day on which the oil pollution damage resulting from the significant incident occurs or within any longer period agreed to by the Administrator and the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.

• Marginal note:Offer of compensation less than zero

  (2) If the offer of compensation made by the Administrator to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans under paragraph 105(1)(b) is less than zero, then, unless that Minister appeals the adequacy of the offer under subsection 106(2), an amount equal to the amount of the offer shall be credited to the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund, out of appropriations for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans under an appropriation Act, within six months after the day on which that Minister receives the offer or within any longer period agreed to by the Administrator and that Minister.

• Marginal note:Offer of compensation refused

  (3) If the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans refuses the offer of compensation made under paragraph 105(1)(b), then, as soon as feasible after that Minister receives the offer, an amount equal to the amount of the emergency funds charged to the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund under subsection 110(1) or (2) shall be credited to the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund, out of appropriations for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans under an appropriation Act, less any unused portion of the emergency funds credited to the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund under subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Definition of offer of compensation

  (4) If emergency funds are charged to the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund under subsection 110(1) or (2), then, for the purposes of sections 105, 106 and this section, offer of compensation means, with respect to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, the amount determined in accordance with the formula

  A – (B – C)

  where

  A

  is the amount that the Administrator assessed under paragraph 105(1)(a);

  B

  is the amount of emergency funds charged to the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund under subsection 110(1) or (2); and

  C

  is the amount of any unused portion of emergency funds credited to the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund under subsection (1).

Marginal note:Interest

111.2 Interest accrues, at a rate determined in accordance with regulations made under paragraph 155.1(6)(a) of the Financial Administration Act, beginning on the day on which the emergency funds were charged to the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund under subsection 110(1) or (2), on any portion of those funds that are required to be credited to the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund under subsection 111(1) or 111.1(1) or (2) and have not been so credited within the time within which they are required to be so credited under that subsection.

Marginal note:Reports

111.3 On request by the Minister of Transport, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans shall provide the Minister of Transport and the Administrator with information about costs and expenses incurred with emergency funds charged to the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund under subsection 110(1) or (2).

Levies To Be Paid to the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund, the International Fund and the Supplementary Fund

Marginal note:Definitions

112 The definitions in this section apply in sections 113, 114.1, 117.1 and 117.3.

contributing oil

contributing oil has the same meaning as in paragraph 3 of Article 1 of the Fund Convention. (hydrocarbures donnant lieu à contribution)

non-persistent oil

non-persistent oil means the oils that are referred to in paragraph 1(a)(ii) of Article 19 of the Hazardous and Noxious Substances Convention. (hydrocarbures non persistants)

Marginal note:Amount of levy

• 113 (1) The levy is 52.38 cents in the year ending on March 31, 2019 in respect of each metric ton of contributing oil or non-persistent oil received or exported, as the case may be, in bulk as cargo.

• Marginal note:Annual adjustment of levy

  (2) The levy referred to in subsection (1) shall be adjusted annually so that the levy in any following year is an amount equal to the product obtained by multiplying

  • (a) the levy that would have been payable in that following year if no adjustment had been made under this section with respect to that following year

  by

  • (b) the ratio that the Consumer Price Index, excluding the food and energy components, for the 12-month period ending on December 31 next before that following year bears to the Consumer Price Index, excluding the food and energy components, for the 12-month period next before that 12-month period.

• Marginal note:Consumer Price Index

  (3) For the purpose of this section,

  • (a) a reference to the “Consumer Price Index, excluding the food and energy components,” for any 12-month period means the average of the Consumer Price Index for Canada, excluding the food and energy components, as published by Statistics Canada under the authority of the Statistics Act, for each month in that 12-month period;

  • (b) the Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, make regulations prescribing the manner in which the average of the Consumer Price Index, excluding the food and energy components, for any 12-month period is to be determined and the manner of expressing any such average that is determined to be a fraction of a whole number;

  • (c) if at any time the Consumer Price Index for Canada, as published by Statistics Canada under the authority of the Statistics Act, is adjusted to reflect a new time basis, a corresponding adjustment shall be made in the Consumer Price Index, excluding the food and energy components, for any 12-month period that is used for the purpose of calculating the levy under this section; and

  • (d) if at any time the Consumer Price Index for Canada, as published by Statistics Canada under the authority of the Statistics Act, is modified to reflect a new content basis, that modification does not affect the operation of this section.

• Marginal note:Adjusted levy to be published annually

  (4) The Minister shall cause the levy referred to in subsection (1) to be published in the Canada Gazette each year as soon as it is adjusted in accordance with this section, and the levy so published is admissible in any proceeding under this Act as conclusive proof of the levy for the year in question.

Marginal note:Imposition and discontinuation of levy

• 114 (1) The Minister, after consultation with the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, may, by order, impose, discontinue or re-impose the levy referred to in section 113, indefinitely or until a time specified in the order.

• Marginal note:Contents of order

  (1.1) An order imposing or re-imposing the levy shall set out

  • (a) the day by which an amount equal to the amount of the levy is to be paid in the year in which the levy is imposed or re-imposed; and

  • (b) in respect of each subsequent year — if any — for which the levy is imposed or re-imposed, a reference date for the purposes of the levy in that year.

• Marginal note:Reference date

  (1.2) In any year referred to in paragraph (1.1)(b), the day by which an amount equal to the amount of the levy is to be paid is the 60th day after the reference date, or any other day after the reference date that is specified in the order imposing or re-imposing the levy.

• Marginal note:Annual adjustment of levy unaffected

  (2) The discontinuation of the levy under subsection (1) does not affect the operation of section 113.

Marginal note:Amount of levy — general rules

• 114.1 (1) For the purposes of paragraphs (2)(a) to (d), the amount to be paid under those paragraphs in respect of the levy for a given year is determined by the following rules:

  • (a) in the year in which the levy is imposed or re-imposed by order made under subsection 114(1),

    • (i) the number of metric tons of oil is the number that was required to be reported in the most recent information return that, on the day on which the order is made, was required to be filed under section 117.1, and

    • (ii) the levy referred to in subsection 113(1), as adjusted under subsection 113(2), is the levy that is in effect on the day on which the order is made; and

  • (b) in any subsequent year for which the levy is imposed or re-imposed by the order,

    • (i) the number of metric tons of oil is the number that was required to be reported in the most recent information return that, on the reference date set out in the order for that year, was required to be filed under section 117.1, and

    • (ii) the levy referred to in subsection 113(1), as adjusted under subsection 113(2), is the levy that is in effect on the reference date set out in the order for that year.

• Marginal note:Obligation to pay

  (2) If a levy determined in accordance with section 113 is imposed or re-imposed by an order made under subsection 114(1), then the following persons shall pay to the Receiver General an amount equal to the amount of the levy:

  • (a) every person who is referred to in Article 10 of the Fund Convention;

  • (b) every person who is a receiver and receives, in a calendar year, more than 20 000 metric tons — or, if any lesser quantity is fixed by regulations made under paragraph 125(b), that quantity — of non-persistent oil in bulk as cargo;

  • (c) every person who exports, in a calendar year, more than 150 000 metric tons — or, if any lesser quantity is fixed by regulations made under paragraph 125(b), that quantity — of contributing oil in bulk as cargo; and

  • (d) every person who exports, in a calendar year, more than 20 000 metric tons — or, if any lesser quantity is fixed by regulations made under paragraph 125(b), that quantity — of non-persistent oil in bulk as cargo.

• Marginal note:Definition of person

  (3) In subsection (2), person includes two or more persons who are associated persons.

• Marginal note:Definition of associated persons

  (4) In subsection (3), associated persons means

  • (a) persons who are deemed to be associated persons under section 60, in the case of persons who are referred to in Article 10 of the Fund Convention;

  • (b) persons who are deemed to be associated persons under section 74.3, in the case of persons who are receivers; and

  • (c) persons each of whom is an affiliate of the other as defined in section 2 of the Canada Business Corporations Act, in the case of persons who export.

• Marginal note:Exporter — agent or mandatary

  (5) For the purposes of paragraph (2)(d), if the person who exports the oil acts as an agent or mandatary for another person who is in Canada and the agent or mandatary discloses the principal or mandator to the Administrator, then the principal or mandator is deemed to be the exporter.

• Marginal note:Exception — receiver

  (6) No amount is payable by a person referred to in paragraph (2)(b) in respect of a shipment of non-persistent oil in bulk as cargo in respect of which an amount will be payable by a person referred to in paragraph (2)(d).

Marginal note:Additional levy

• 114.2 (1) If an amount is charged to the Consolidated Revenue Fund under section 93.1, the Minister may, by order, impose an additional levy — whether or not he or she has made an order under subsection 114(1) imposing or re-imposing a levy — that the Minister specifies in the order on every person referred to in paragraphs 114.1(2)(a) to (d), in which case each of those persons shall pay to the Receiver General, in accordance with the order, an amount equal to the amount of the additional levy.

• Marginal note:Revocation

  (2) If such an order is made, the Minister shall revoke it as soon as feasible after an amount equal to the amount charged to the Consolidated Revenue Fund under section 93.1 has been credited to the Consolidated Revenue Fund out of amounts standing to the credit of the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund and the Minister is satisfied that the terms and conditions in relation to the charging of that amount under that section have been met.