Oil Tanker Moratorium Act (S.C. 2019, c. 26)

Short title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

2 The following definitions apply in this Act.

authorized representative

authorized representative has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Canada Shipping Act, 2001. (représentant autorisé)

crude oil

crude oil means any liquid hydrocarbon mixture that occurs naturally in the earth — including a liquid hydrocarbon mixture from which distillate fractions have been removed or to which distillate fractions have been added — whether or not it has been treated to render it suitable for transportation. (pétrole brut)

Indigenous peoples of Canada

Indigenous peoples of Canada has the meaning assigned by the definition aboriginal peoples of Canada in subsection 35(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982. (peuples autochtones du Canada)

marine installation

marine installation means an installation that is used or is capable of being used in the loading or unloading of oil to or from vessels and that is on, or is connected to, land. (installation maritime)

master

master has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Canada Shipping Act, 2001. (capitaine)

Minister

Minister means the Minister of Transport. (ministre)

oil

oil means petroleum in any form, including crude oil, fuel oil, sludge, oil refuse and refined products. (hydrocarbure)

oil tanker

oil tanker means a vessel that is constructed or adapted to carry oil in bulk in liquid form in its hold. (pétrolier)

owner

owner, in relation to a vessel, means the registered owner of the vessel or, in the absence of registration, the person having for the time being, either by law or by contract, the rights of the owner of the vessel in respect of its possession and use. (propriétaire)

persistent oil

persistent oil means an oil, or an oil of a class of oils, set out in the schedule. (hydrocarbure persistant)

vessel

vessel has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Canada Shipping Act, 2001. (bâtiment)

Application

Marginal note:Binding on Her Majesty

• 3 (1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act is binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province.

• Marginal note:Exclusion

  (2) This Act does not apply to vessels under the direction or control of the Minister of National Defence.

Rights of Indigenous Peoples of Canada

Marginal note:Rights of Indigenous peoples

3.1 For greater certainty, nothing in this Act is to be construed as abrogating or derogating from the protection provided for the rights of the Indigenous peoples of Canada by the recognition and affirmation of those rights in section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

Duty of Minister

Marginal note:Duty to consider — adverse effects

3.2 When making a decision under this Act, the Minister must consider any adverse effects that the decision may have on the rights of the Indigenous peoples of Canada recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

Prohibitions

Marginal note:Mooring or anchoring at port, etc.

• 4 (1) It is prohibited for an oil tanker that is carrying crude oil or persistent oil, or any combination of the two, in an amount greater than 12 500 metric tons, in bulk in its hold, to moor or anchor at a port or marine installation that is in Canada, on the coast of British Columbia, north of 50°53′00′′ north latitude and west of 126°38′36′′ west longitude.

• Marginal note:Unloading

  (2) It is prohibited for an oil tanker that is carrying crude oil or persistent oil, or any combination of the two, in an amount greater than 12 500 metric tons, in bulk in its hold, to unload any of that oil at a port that is within the area described in subsection (1) or to a marine installation that is within that area.

• Marginal note:Loading

  (3) It is prohibited for an oil tanker to load into its hold any crude oil or persistent oil that is at a port or marine installation that is within the area described in subsection (1) if, when the loading is about to begin, the oil tanker is carrying crude oil or persistent oil, or any combination of the two, in an amount greater than 12 500 metric tons, in bulk in its hold, or if loading it would result in the oil tanker carrying, at any time, crude oil or persistent oil, or any combination of the two, in bulk in its hold, in an amount greater than 12 500 metric tons.

• Marginal note:Transport to port, etc.

  (4) It is prohibited for any person or any vessel to transport, by water, any crude oil or persistent oil — that an oil tanker is carrying in its hold — from the oil tanker to a port or marine installation that is within the area described in subsection (1) for the purpose of aiding the oil tanker to circumvent the prohibition in subsection (2).

• Marginal note:Transport from port, etc.

  (5) It is prohibited for any person or any vessel to transport, by water, any crude oil or persistent oil from a port or marine installation that is within the area described in subsection (1) to an oil tanker for the purpose of aiding the oil tanker to circumvent the prohibition in subsection (3).

Marginal note:Exception

• 5 (1) Subsection 4(1) does not apply to an oil tanker that moors or anchors at a port or marine installation

  • (a) to ensure the safety of the oil tanker;

  • (b) to render assistance to a vessel in distress or if necessary after rendering that assistance; or

  • (c) to obtain emergency medical assistance for any person on board the oil tanker.

• Marginal note:Exception — Canada Shipping Act, 2001

  (2) Section 4 does not apply in respect of a vessel carrying out an activity in order to comply with a direction given under subsection 111(2) or 114(2), paragraph 180(1)(c) or 189(1)(d) or subsection 211(3) of the Canada Shipping Act, 2001.

Exemptions

Marginal note:Ministerial exemption

• 6 (1) The Minister may, by order, exempt an identified oil tanker from the application of any of subsections 4(1) to (3) on any terms and for any period that he or she considers appropriate, if he or she is of the opinion that the exemption is essential for the purpose of community or industry resupply or is otherwise in the public interest.

• Marginal note:Non-application of Statutory Instruments Act

  (2) The Statutory Instruments Act does not apply to an order made under subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Publication

  (3) After making an order under subsection (1), the Minister must make it accessible to the public on the Internet or by any other means that he or she considers appropriate.

Administration and Enforcement

Reporting Requirement

Marginal note:Pre-arrival information

• 7 (1) The master of an oil tanker that is constructed or adapted to carry more than 12 500 metric tons of oil in bulk in liquid form in its hold must report pre-arrival information to the Minister, in accordance with subsections (2) and (3), before the oil tanker moors or anchors at a port or marine installation that is within the area described in subsection 4(1).

• Marginal note:Information to be reported

  (2) The pre-arrival information that must be reported in respect of an oil tanker is the following:

  • (a) its name;

  • (b) its country of registry;

  • (c) its owner’s name;

  • (d) its operator’s name;

  • (e) its master’s name;

  • (f) the name of the port or the marine installation;

  • (g) the type and the amount of any oil that it is carrying in bulk in its hold; and

  • (h) the type and the amount of any oil to be unloaded from or loaded into its hold at the port or the marine installation.

• Marginal note:Time of reporting

  (3) The pre-arrival information must be reported

  • (a) at least 24 hours before the oil tanker moors or anchors at the port or the marine installation; or

  • (b) as soon as possible after the oil tanker departs from its last port of call, if there is less than 24 hours between the moment the oil tanker departs from that port and the moment the oil tanker is expected to moor or anchor at the port or the marine installation.

• Marginal note:Change in pre-arrival information

  (4) If there is any change in the pre-arrival information reported under this section, the master of the oil tanker must report the change to the Minister without delay.

Marginal note:Direction not to moor or anchor

8 If the Minister has reasonable grounds to believe that the master of an oil tanker has failed to comply with subsection 7(1) or (4), the Minister may direct the oil tanker not to moor or anchor at a port or marine installation that is within the area described in subsection 4(1).

Designated Persons

Marginal note:Designation

• 9 (1) The Minister may designate any person or member of a class of persons for the purposes of the administration and enforcement of this Act.

• Marginal note:Certificate of designation

  (2) The Minister must provide every designated person with a certificate of their designation.

• Marginal note:Immunity

  (3) A designated person is not personally liable for anything they do or omit to do in good faith under this Act.

Powers

Marginal note:Direction to provide information — oil tankers

• 10 (1) A designated person may direct an oil tanker that is within the area described in subsection 4(1) to provide any information that the designated person reasonably requires for the purposes of this Act if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the oil tanker is or will be

  • (a) unloading any oil from its hold at a port that is within that area or to a marine installation that is within that area; or

  • (b) loading into its hold any oil that is at a port or marine installation that is within that area.

• Marginal note:Direction to provide information — persons and vessels

  (2) A designated person may direct a person or a vessel to provide any information that the designated person reasonably requires for the purposes of this Act if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person or the vessel is or will be transporting, by water,

  • (a) from an oil tanker that is within the area described in subsection 4(1) to a port or marine installation that is within that area, any oil that the oil tanker is carrying in its hold; or

  • (b) from a port or marine installation that is within the area described in subsection 4(1) to an oil tanker that is within that area, any oil.

Marginal note:Authority to enter a place

• 11 (1) A designated person may, for a purpose related to verifying compliance with this Act, enter

  • (a) any vessel that is at a port or marine installation that is within the area described in subsection 4(1), if the designated person has reasonable grounds to believe that the vessel is carrying oil as cargo;

  • (b) any marine installation that is within the area described in subsection 4(1), if the designated person has reasonable grounds to believe that oil is located there; and

  • (c) any other place, if the place is at a port that is within the area described in subsection 4(1) and the designated person has reasonable grounds to believe that there is, located in that place, oil that is to be loaded onto a vessel as cargo or oil that was unloaded from a vessel that was carrying it as cargo.

• Marginal note:Living quarters

  (2) A designated person is not permitted to enter living quarters without the occupant’s consent.

• Marginal note:Powers on entry

  (3) The designated person may, for the purpose referred to in subsection (1),

  • (a) examine anything in the place;

  • (b) use any means of communication in the place or cause it to be used;

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

  • (d) prepare or cause to be prepared any record, in the form of a print-out or other intelligible output, from the data;

  • (e) use any copying equipment in the place or cause it to be used;

  • (f) conduct tests or analyses of anything in the place;

  • (g) take measurements or samples of anything in the place;

  • (h) take photographs or make recordings or sketches of anything in the place;

  • (i) remove anything from the place for the purpose of examination, testing or copying;

  • (j) direct any person to put anything in the place into operation or to cease operating it; and

  • (k) prohibit or limit access to all or part of the place or to anything in the place.

• Marginal note:Entry on private property

  (4) The designated person and any person accompanying them may enter private property – other than a dwelling-house – and pass through it in order to gain entry to the place. For greater certainty, they are not liable for doing so.

• Marginal note:Stoppage or relocation

  (5) A designated person may, for the purpose of entering a vessel that is at a port or marine installation that is within the area described in subsection 4(1), direct the master

  • (a) to stop the vessel or proceed to the place that the designated person may select, and to moor or anchor or remain there; or

  • (b) to not move the vessel.

General

Marginal note:Duty to assist

12 The owner, the operator, the master and any agent or charterer of a vessel that is entered under subsection 11(1) and the owner and the operator of a marine installation or any other place that is entered under that subsection, as well as every person who is found there, must give a designated person who is carrying out powers or functions under section 11 all reasonable assistance and provide them with any information that they may reasonably require.

Marginal note:Disposition of samples

• 13 (1) A designated person who takes a sample under paragraph 11(3)(g) may dispose of it in any manner that they consider appropriate or may submit it for analysis or examination to any person the Minister considers appropriate.

• Marginal note:Certificate or report

  (2) 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.

• Marginal note:Certificate or report admissible in evidence

  (3) Subject to subsections (4) and (5), the certificate or the report is admissible in evidence in any prosecution for an offence under this Act and, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, is proof of the statements contained in it without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed it.

• Marginal note:Attendance of person

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

• Marginal note:Notice

  (5) The certificate or the 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 the report.