BALTIC SEAENVIRONMENT PROCEEDINGS No. 59 - Helcom

to the trip to be undertaken, should be requested to empty the
deposits at the reception facility before leaving. If the
captain is not willing to cooperate the destination port is
informed. Port authorities might then put pressure on such a
ship by indirect measures, before it leaves the port, for
instance by a stricter general control.
Upon arrival at the destination port a second inspection will
take place. The juridical action that can be taken depends on
the local possibility for reverse burden of proof. This means
that if the ship cannot prove to have disposed of its wastes
at a reception facility, it will be taken guilty of non
compliance with the MARPOL treaty.
It is important to note that the MARPOL 73/78 convention does
not state any requirements for the treatment of the wastes
received in a reception installation, but only for the
discharse (and thus reception). The treatment of wastes
received in a port reception installation is the
responsibility of the national government. The construction
and operation of a treatment facility for ships' wastes
therefore has to comply with national legislation and local
regulations. Especially important in this respect are the
local standards for effluent concentrations.
Important for the international effect of the prevention of
pollution from ships is that national environmental acts
should not allow the disposed waste to be discharged to the
sea again. Strict maximum discharge concentrations for the
treatment facilities are essential. In any case these
discharge standards should be at least as strict as the
discharge standards which MARPOL 73/78 requires for ships.
The same applies for other further treatment methods on shore
as landfill or incineration.
The national legislation developed for the implementation of
MARPOL 73/78 may not be appropriate for the control of
discharges from land-based sources of marine pollution such as
reception and treatment facilities. The manual provides
direction on legislative and regulatory development for both
MARPOL 73/78 ratification and reception facility operation.
Legislation alone will not ensure that pollution is reduced or
prevented; enforcement of the legislation is essential to
compliance.
The level of effort put towards achieving compliance with
regulations for reception and treatment facilities should be
equivalent to the number of facilities operating and the
volume of waste received and processed by the facilities.
The use of a manifest system for tracking of wastes received,
transported and treated if utilised, should provide the
necessary information on which to base a compliance and
enforcement program. In addition, licences issued to
reception, transportation, storage and treatment companies
should include conditions for reporting, on a regular basis,
164