Advisory Councils

Advisory councils

174. (1) The Minister may establish an advisory council in respect of any geographic area for the purpose of advising the Minister with respect to this Part.

Members

(2) Each advisory council is to be composed of no more than seven members who are appointed to the council by the Minister and who, in the Minister's opinion, can represent the communities and interests potentially affected by an oil spill in that area.

Term

(3) Each member of an advisory council is to be appointed for a term of not more than three years and is eligible for reappointment.

President

(4) An advisory council must elect one of its members to be its president.

Honoraria and expenses

(5) The members of an advisory council may be paid the honoraria that the Minister considers appropriate and may be paid any reasonable travel, living and child care expenses incurred by them when engaged on the business of the council while absent from their ordinary place of residence.

Recommen-
dations

(6) An advisory council is to advise and may make recommendations to the Minister.

Meetings in public

(7) Advisory council meetings must be open to the public unless the council is satisfied that a public meeting would not be in the public interest, in which case the meeting or any part of it may be held in private.

Report to Parliament

Review and report by Minister

175. Every five years, the Minister must review the operation of sections 169 to 174 and have laid before each House of Parliament a report setting out the results of the review.

Pollution Prevention Officers

Designation

176. (1) The Minister may designate any persons or classes of persons as pollution prevention officers in respect of vessels, oil handling facilities, response organizations or responses to discharges or threats of discharges, and may limit in any manner the Minister considers appropriate the powers that the officer may exercise under this Part.

Certificate of designation

(2) The Minister must furnish every pollution prevention officer with a certificate of designation and, if the officer's powers are limited under subsection (1), the certificate must specify the powers that the officer may exercise.

Immunity

(3) Pollution prevention officers are not personally liable for anything they do or omit to do in good faith under this Part.

Powers - general

177. (1) A pollution prevention officer may

    (a) direct a vessel, if it is about to enter or is within waters in respect of which this Part applies, to provide the officer with any information that the officer considers appropriate for the administration of this Part;

    (b) direct any vessel that is within or about to enter waters in respect of which this Part applies and that the officer believes on reasonable grounds is carrying a pollutant to proceed through those waters by the route, and at a speed not in excess of the speed, that the officer may specify;

    (c) direct a vessel that is required to have a shipboard oil pollution emergency plan under the regulations to provide information concerning it and its implementation;

    (d) direct the operator of an oil handling facility to provide any document that the operator is required under this Part to have on site;

    (e) direct a response organization to provide any document that the organization is required under this Part to have;

    (f) inspect an oil handling facility to determine whether its equipment and resources meet the requirements of this Part; and

    (g) inspect the equipment and resources of a response organization to determine whether its equipment and resources meet the requirements of this Part.

Powers - discharge of pollutant

(2) If the pollution prevention officer believes on reasonable grounds that a vessel may discharge, or may have discharged, a pollutant, the officer may

    (a) direct a vessel that is within or about to enter waters in respect of which this Part applies to proceed through those waters by the route, and at a speed not in excess of the speed, that the officer may specify;

    (b) go on board and take samples of any substance that the officer believes may be the pollutant;

    (c) if the vessel is within or about to enter waters in respect of which this Part applies, direct the vessel to

      (i) proceed to the place within waters in respect of which this Part applies that the officer may select, by the route and in the manner that the officer may direct, and to moor, anchor or remain there for any reasonable period that the officer may specify,

      (ii) proceed out of waters in respect of which this Part applies by the route and in the manner that the officer may direct, or

      (iii) remain outside waters in respect of which this Part applies; and

    (d) if the officer is informed that a substantial quantity of a pollutant has entered or been discharged in waters in respect of which this Part applies, or if on reasonable grounds the officer is satisfied that a grave and imminent danger of a substantial discharge of a pollutant in those waters exists, declare an emergency zone, of an area that is reasonable with regard to the seriousness of the situation, and

      (i) direct any vessel within that emergency zone to report its position to the officer,

      (ii) direct any vessel not to enter or not to leave the emergency zone, and

      (iii) direct any vessel within the emergency zone in respect of routes, speed limits and pilotage and equipment requirements.

Disposition of samples

(3) An officer who takes a sample under paragraph (2)(b) may dispose of it in any manner that they consider appropriate or may submit it for analysis or examination to a person designated by the Minister of Transport under subsection 229(1).

Certificate or report

(4) A person who has made an analysis or examination may issue a certificate or report that sets out the results of the analysis or examination.

Certificate

(5) Subject to subsections (6) and (7), the certificate or report is admissible in evidence in any proceeding related to an offence under this Part and, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, is proof of the statements contained in the certificate or report without proof of the signature or the official character of the person appearing to have signed it.

Attendance of analyst

(6) The party against whom the certificate or report is produced may, with leave of the court, require for the purposes of cross-examination the attendance of the person who issued it.

Notice

(7) The certificate or report may be admitted in evidence only if the party who intends to produce it has given to the party against whom it is intended to be produced reasonable notice of that intention, together with a copy of the certificate or report.

Assistance to pollution prevention officer

178. (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.

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).

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.

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.

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

Detention

179. (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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

Movement of vessel prohibited

(8) Subject to section 181, no person shall move a vessel that is subject to a detention order made under this section.

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.

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.

Interference with service

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

Direction to move a detained vessel

181. 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.