Protection of the marine environment from pollution is a high priority for Malaysia. Spills of oil into our marine and coastal environment have the potential to cause serious impact on the value each of us gets from the sea. It is not always possible to prevent pollution incidents, such as oil spills, occurring and so there is the occasional need to face the consequences of the oil spill. In order to combat pollution from marine oil spills successfully, Malaysia must have an effective response strategy.
Being a maritime nation, the Government places high priority to the preservation of marine resources and environment. Although oil spills incidents are infrequent, the Department of Environment will continue its emphasis on the monitoring and controlling of oil spills in Malaysian waters.
In 1994, the National Oil Spill Control Contingency Plan was reviewed by the National Committee on Oil Spill held in September 1994, at the Maritime Academy of Malaysia (ALAM), Malacca and the National Oil Spill Response Exercise (Oil Combat'94) in November 1994, Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan.
The basic principles underlying the strategy are that:
Where this is of assistance to the On-Scene Commander, the known or suspected spiller will be included, as far as practical, in all phases of the response operation.
Risk assessment underpins all preparation and planning for oil spill response in Malaysia. A national risk assessment for Malaysia shall be carried out to determine:
The assessment did not address the possibility of an unpredictable, catastrophic spill.
The results provided Regional Councils with an indication of the risks they may face within their regions. Regional Councils will further refine their risk profiles in their regional oil spill contingency plans.
The Department of Environment recognizes the need for the national oil spill response capability to reflect the most current risk profile. Unless other factors dictate an earlier timetable, a comprehensive national risk assessment will be carried out every six years. This risk assessment should focus on existing contributions to risk from the various maritime sectors, as well as those new or potential activities, which are reasonably foreseeable.
The Malaysia Oil Spill Response System
Three-Tiered Approach
In line with established international practice, Malaysia has adopted a three-tiered approach to all aspects of oil spill preparation and response.
Local/Industry (Tier 1), Area/Regional Councils (Tier 2) and the Department of Environment directing the National (Tier 3) response efforts, all have clear roles and responsibilities. These Tiers are provided for in the Environment Quality Act 1974 (Amendment 1996) and are detailed in Appendices 1, 2 and 3.
Tier 1 is site-specific and includes most shore-side industry with oil transfer sites, offshore installations and all vessels required to have a shipboard oil pollution emergency plan. It caters for small spill and spill occurs within port limits, oil terminals and depots as well as oil platforms. All Tier 1 sites and vessels are expected to be able to provide a clearly identifiable first response to pollution incidents for which they are responsible. The clean up will be conducted by local authorities or local oil companies.
Tier 2 is provided by Regional Councils and unitary authorities acting as Regional Councils. These agencies are responsible for providing an operational response to oil spill incidents within their regions out to the 12 nautical mile limit of the Territorial Sea.
Regional Councils will respond to oil spills which exceed the clean-up capability of Tier 1. They will also respond to those spills for which no responsible party can be identified. The Department of Environment will offer adequate resources to Regional Councils to ensure that sufficient equipment, personnel training courses and opportunities to exercise their expertise are available for them to competently undertake this role.
Regional Councils also have responsibility for ensuring that industries with oil transfer sites within their region produce appropriate oil spill contingency plans. The Area Operation Committee will be formed to co-ordinate this Regional Oil Spill Combat Operation and it is chaired by an officer appointed by the Director General of Environment.
Tier 3 is the responsibility of the Department of Environment. The Department of Environment manages the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan. When a spill occurs within a region which is beyond the resources of the region, or if the cost to the Regional Council of the response is expected to be huge, the Department of Environment will assume responsibility for managing the spill response. The Department of Environment will also manage the response to any oil spill within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), but outside Regional Council boundaries (the Territorial Sea). Spills which occur outside the EEZ and over the Malaysia Continental Shelf are also the responsibility of the Department of Environment. It is activated also when the spill spreads into waters of neighboring countries.
Malaysia will purchase and maintain oil spill response equipment which will allow it to contain and clean up a spill equivalent to approximately 25,000 tonnes of persistent oil. These equipment are own by Marine Department, Petroleum Industry Malaysia Mutual Aid Group (PIMMAG), Petroleum Association of Japan, BOI Technology Holding Sdn Bhd and others.
If a large oil spill occurs anywhere within Malaysia's area of responsibility, and it is beyond Malaysia's own resources to contain it and clean it up, the Department of Environment will seek and co-ordinate an international response. The National Oil Spill Contingency Plan will be used to plan and carry out a response involving international resources. Co-ordination for foreign assistance will be made by the National Oil Spill Control Committee (NOSCC), in accordance with the respective procedures of the following Regional Oil Spill Contingency arrangements :
The contingency plan for this Tier 3 will be implemented under the direction of the National Oil Spill Control Committee (Cabinet Resolution on June 23, 1976) at the Department of Environment, 13th Floor, Wisma Sime Darby, Kuala Lumpur.
The agencies responsible for all three tiers must produce and maintain both oil spill contingency plans and operational response capabilities.
Clean-Up Strategies
All OSCs are allowed to take whatever action is appropriate to clean up and/or mitigate the effects of a oil spill. In general these actions fall into three main areas.
Monitor the pollution
Under certain circumstances, it may be inappropriate to contain or clean up a spill. Depending on the spill location, and type and volume of oil, the best and most cost-effective response may be to monitor its progress and leave the oil to weather and disperse naturally.
At sea response
Dealing with the oil while it is still afloat will always be preferred to allowing the oil to strand onshore. Operations at sea should give priority to preventing oil reaching sensitive coastal environments.
The major options at sea are: Containment and Recovery using booms and skimmers, Solidification by BOI Treatment, Use of Chemical Dispersant, Use of Absorbent, and In-Situ Burning.
Only chemical dispersant in the 'Inventory List of Approved Dispersant' by DOE is allowed for application in all Malaysian marine waters. The application of these dispersants have to comply with the 'Guideline on Application of Dispersant'. They can only be applied in certain pre-approved areas.
Shoreline response
Once oil has stranded on the shore, the environmental impact and cost of cleaning are often much greater than if the oil were dealt with at sea. Some options available to the SCC are:
Before shoreline cleaning commences, the SCC needs to ensure that there is agreement about which shoreline areas are affected and need to be cleaned, the order in which this will occur, and what methods of cleaning will be employed. For each length of shoreline there will also need to be an agreed set of environmental standards, based on that location's sensitivity to both the oil pollution and cleaning methods, which will determine when cleaning operations begin and end at that location.
Waste disposal
The person or agency responsible for spilling the oil, and hence for any costs associated with clean-up operations, may not always be the legal owner of the oil. In whatever form the oily waste is finally recovered, its ownership remains with the original owner. The OSC may, if practical, consult the original owner of the oil, or their agent, to determine their preferred course of action. However, the ultimate responsibility for determining and carrying out disposal or recovery of all oily waste is solely the responsibility of the OSC.
All waste should be disposed of in an environmentally sensitive manner. Rules and regulations under Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Amendment 1996), governing scheduled waste disposal should be followed.
Financial Arrangements and Funding
The Environmental Fund
Environmental Fund has been established in 1996 as provided for under the Environment Quality Act 1974 (Amendment 1996). One of the purpose of the fund is in preventing or combating a spillage, discharge or dumping of oil. The Fund shall consist of several sources of contribution and one of them is all donations and contributions received from within or outside Malaysia.
Those involve in the exploration, extraction, refining, production, bulk movement, distribution or storage, of oil, shall contribute to this fund. The fund provides money for Malaysia's preparations for oil spill response through the Department of Environment. It also pays the costs of responding to spills where the spiller is unidentified.
Each financial year the Department of Environment produces a financial plan for expenditure from the Fund. This is referred to the Environmental Fund Committee and National Oil Spill Control Committee for advice and then recommendation for approval to the Minister of Science, Technology and the Environment. The Minister of Science, Technology and the Environment approves the Department of Environment's planned expenditure from the fund and arranges for an audit of the previous year's expenditure. The fund must at all times maintain a minimum balance, in order to ensure that some funds are available to initiate a spill response. If needed, emergency access to more funding will be sought through arrangements in place between the Department of Environment and Ministry of Finance.
The shipping industry is levied according to a formula based on the particular risk of a spill from their operation. A levy is also applied, on a case-by-case basis, to offshore oil transfer facilities, depending on their location, type or risk profile.
To ensure that the burden of funding remains equitable, the Environmental Fund will be reviewed, in consultation with NOSCC, as each national risk assessment is completed. If the risk profile of the contributing maritime sectors has changed, then the relative proportion of their contribution to the Fund will change to reflect more closely their contribution to the risk.
The Spiller Pays Principle
Wherever possible the full cost of any spill response and clean-up operation should be sought from the spiller. All efforts will be made at both regional and national levels to ensure that costs are recovered. Measures employed will include: the early detection of spills; the collection of evidence needed for the successful prosecution of offenders; and the development and maintenance of information systems to ensure that all costs are recorded and accounted for.
Letter of Guarantee
Having due regard to the extent of pollution and the estimate of the likely cost of clean-up operations, the Area Co-coordinator concerned should obtain a Letter of Guarantee from the owner, agent or operator of the source of spill or where not practicable, cash in lieu thereof. The Letter of Guarantee shall be for such sum which, in the opinion of the Area Co-coordinator, would be adequate to meet the cost of clean up and spill control.
The Letter of Guarantee should be made out in the name of the Director-General of Environment, Malaysia and dispatched by registered post as soon as possible. The validity period of the letter of guarantee shall no be less than one year.
Evidence Collection and Prosecution
Both the Environment Quality Act 1974 (Amendment 1996) and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) 1984 have marine pollution offence provisions. Regional Councils and the Department of Environment will use these provisions to undertake prosecutions for marine pollution offences and to seek recovery of the costs of responding to those incidents.
To assist Regional Councils, the Department of Environment will provide a manual recommending best practices for evidence collection, prosecution and cost recovery.
Strategy Review
This strategy shall be formally reviewed at least every three years by the Director General of Environment. In between each formal review it may be necessary to issue updates should circumstances change.
Yeow Toh Ch'ng, David (July 23, 1999)
AGREEMENT [AGR] and INPROGRESS [INPROG]
January 31, 1994, a Memorandum of Understanding on an ASEAN Oil Spill Response Action Plan (OSRAP) was signed by the Government of Malaysia to participate in the ASEAN Preparedness and Response Program (OSPAR) sponsored by the Government of Japan. Under the program, Malaysia was given a total of RM2 million for the acquisition of oil spill equipment to be located at Port Klang, Johor Bharu, Penang and Labuan. Further, the Government of Japan through the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Japan (MITI) and the Petroleum Association of Japan (PAJ) agreed to establish yet another oil spill equipment stockpile to be based in Port Klang with the intention to strengthen the oil spill combating capabilities of the region.
MALAYSIA and REGIONAL [REGION]
The public of Malaysia quite clearly expects that, in the event of an oil spill, everything that can reasonably be done to protect, preserve and restore all of those values and uses, which define the marine and coastal resources, will be done.
The purposes of the strategy are to:
International Response Arrangements
A catastrophic spill in Malaysia waters will require international assistance and co-operation.
Malaysia will enter into mutual aid agreements with other countries and agencies as it sees appropriate. The memorandum of understanding achieved are as below :
Request for foreign assistance shall be made via the National Oil Spill Control Committee or the Area Operation Committee, depending on the level of the contingency plans. However, the Area Operation Committee shall inform the National Oil Spill Control Center for the purpose of co-ordination. Application for equipment assistance involving transboundary movement should be forwarded to the Royal Customs and Excise Department and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through their respective representatives in the committees concerned to accelerate the process of entry. Meanwhile, application for foreign expertise will be channeled to the Immigration Department. In this case, sufficient details of equipment including type of equipment, serial number, model number, etc. including the expertise background should be enclosed.
Malaysia will assist with response to overseas incidents in accordance with any mutual aid agreements or international conventions to which it is a party. All requests for assistance will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the National Oil Spill Control Committee.
Primarily 1 (Malaysia) but possible to include other ASEAN members
Law
Under the Environmental Quality Act, 1974 the Director General of Environment is required to prepare and maintain the Malaysia Oil Spill Response Strategy.
The Director General of Environment is given the responsibility to control all aspects of marine pollution. Specific to oil spill control whether it is caused from ship or other sources, the Director-General of Environment shall enforce :
and for the protection and preservation of the marine environment within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the Director-General of Department of Environment shall enforce :
In addition, marine pollution control is also being governed by the following legislation :
a. Geographic Domain: Asia
This strategy applies to oil spills within the internal waters of Malaysia, Malaysia marine waters and those waters beyond the outer limit of the exclusive economic zone of Malaysia but over the continental shelf of Malaysia. It includes the Straits of Malacca, South China Sea and Brunei Bay, offshore Sabah, Sarawak and Sulawesi Sea close to Sabah and other areas of Malaysian waters.
b. Geographic Site: Sotheast Asia
c. Geographic Impact: Malaysia
All regions will be provided with sufficient oil spill response equipment and opportunities to have their personnel trained so that they can successfully respond to a small local spill. Areas with higher risk profiles will be allocated more equipment. Some spills are too severe to be dealt with by locally available resources. In these cases, all regions must be capable of initiating a response to the spill while awaiting the arrival and deployment of outside assistance.
YES
TROPICAL RAINY FOREST AND SAVANNA [TROP]
Regulatory standard [REGSTD]
Indirect [IND]
a. Directly Related to Product: YES [Oil]
b. Indirectly Related to Product: NO
c. Not Related to Product: NO
d. Related to Process: YES Pollution Sea [POLS]
OIL
In 1994, 14 oil spill incidents were reported as shown in Figure 1 Most the incidents reported were due to oil sludge discharges, oily water discharges, leakages during transfer and tanker cleaning activities. A major incident that occurred on January 15, 1994, when the Department of Environment of Malaysia detained a Liberian registered tanker, the Arabian Sea, for alleged pollution in the Straits of Malacca. The tanker had on board oily sludges amounting to about 900 tones. However, the tanker was released on February 2, 1994, when the tanker owner deposited a banker's guarantee for the sum of RM500,000 as security to compensate and reimburse the Malaysian Government for all expenses incurred in mitigating the pollution caused by the tanker. On February 25,1994, the tanker was allowed by the Ministry of Environment, Singapore, to sail into Singapore for repair and for proper disposal of their sludges.
HIGH
Environmentalists think that one of the main causes of oil spills is a combination of aging shipping fleets and single-lined hulls. Enviromentalists recommend the use of double-hulls to help prevent oil spills. However, oil companies disagree because every ton of steel used to construct another hull on new ships is one less ton of oil which the ship will be able to transport.
Oil and Gas [OILGAS]
MALAYSIA and MANY
Pollution Sea [POLS]
Malaysia's coastal and marine environment contains many species, habitats and other resources that could be severely affected by oil pollution. The most sensitive areas are coastal, where oil can strand on the foreshore. It is the responsibility of industry and Regional Councils to identify in their contingency plans those areas most threatened by oil pollution and those areas to have the priority during clean-up operation.
Within the next three years it is expected that Regional Councils and the Department of Environment will begin to develop maps showing environmental sensitivity to pollution from oil spills for the entire coast of Malaysia.
Name: Many
Type: Many
Diversity: Many
IUCN status: Vulnerable [VULNER]
The diversity and species affected by oil pollution is practically countless. Examples are crabs, abalones, turbine shells, edible algaes, and seaweeds. Other forms of wildlife are also affected such as seabirds, auks, and many other types of fish.
LOW and PRODuct
It is very difficult to estimate or measure the impact of oil pollution after a clean up. Harmful effects to the ocean's ecosystem such as depletion in the amount of fishes can only be seen gradually.
LOW and 100s of years
Malaysia so far has been quite efficient in handling oil spill incidents.
ALTERernative Energy
There are other substitutes to petroleum such as solar and nuclear power. However, the potential of such resources is limited because of the high initial capital investments needed to start. Malaysia prefers to use petroleum as a cheap form of energy and source of income from exports to other countries.
Western culture is one of the factors behind these oil spill incidents. Western companies like Esso, BP and Shell are responsible for producing oil and gas in Malaysia. Therefore, they should be also held responsible for safety in handling their operations against oil spills.
As for culture in relation to product, fish is part of the diet of Malaysians. The effects of oil pollution killing fish in the sea have caused many local fishing villagers to suffer. Fishermen are slowly losing their source of income. The many fishing villages that dot the east coast of Malaysia will be unable to carry on their trade.
Oil pollution can affect other countries/places unless it is cleaned up in time. If not, it may effect other areas beyond Malaysia's borders, causing international problems.
NO