Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Port Waste Reception Facilities) (Amendment) Regulations 2009

My Lords, first, let me set these regulations in context: they concern the protection of the marine environment from ship-generated waste. Ships must be able to rely on being able to discharge their waste at reception facilities available in ports. These facilities must be easy to use and cost-effective so as to deter operators from disposing of their wastes at sea. Recognising this, the United Kingdom has had legislation in place for many years to put this principle into effect. After the UK had put its legislation in place, a proposal for European Community legislation was initiated. The UK played an active role in the development of this measure and the outcome was Directive 2000/59/EC on port waste reception facilities. The directive placed a responsibility on ports to provide adequate facilities for the disposal of waste and a responsibility on ship operators to deliver that waste rather than dispose of it at sea. The ship-generated wastes which fall under this directive are oily water, garbage and sewage. This directive was transposed in the UK by the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Port Waste Reception Facilities) Regulations 2003. Article 16 states that the implementation of the directive in respect of sewage would be suspended until 12 months after the entry into force of Annex IV to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution by Ships currently known as MARPOL. This annex is now in force, so we can implement the remaining part of the directive, which are the regulations I am moving today. These regulations also transpose EC Directive 2007/71 which amends the notification form which ships’ masters are required to fill in and send to the harbour authority before they enter the port indicating what quantities of which types of waste they are planning to deliver to the port. Although the transposition date for this directive is June 2009, we have taken the decision to transpose it early as it will bring welcome clarity for the industry on the provisions for disposal of sewage at sea. The regulations will come into force 14 days after the day on which they are made. This will allow some time for the industry to consider the published guidance. The industry has already been extensively consulted and will be fully aware of the new regime. These regulations amend the 2003 regulations, and the amendments include adding sewage in the definition of ship-generated waste. Sewage is defined as: drainage and other wastes from any form of toilets or urinals; drainage from medical premises via wash basins, wash tubs and scuppers located in such premises; drainage from spaces containing living animals; and other waste waters when mixed with any drainage referred to previously. The regulations also include amendments relating to requiring ships to deliver their sewage to port waste reception facilities. The amendment will oblige ports to ensure the availability of some facility for the reception of ship-generated sewage, although this may be as straightforward as providing the contact details for a contractor. As I mentioned earlier, the regulations also amend the notification form in Schedule 2 to the 2003 regulations to include sewage. They take account of the consultation exercises which we have carried out, as well as discussions with the European Commission and other member states. My department conducted a full public consultation exercise in 2005 and a further exercise in 2008. I commend these regulations to the House.