A BILL
FOR
AN ACT TO
AMEND THE NATIONAL OIL SPILL DETECTION AND RESPONSE AGENCY (ESTABLISHMENT, ETC)
ACT, 2006 AND FOR RELATED MATTERS 2017 (HB. 964)
Sponsored by Hon.
Chidoka Obinna
Provisions of the Principal Act
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Provisions of the Bill
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Committee’s Recommendation
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Amendment of 2006 No. 15.
1. The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency
(Establishment, Etc.) Act 2006 (in this Act referred to as “the Principal Act”)
is hereby amended as set out in this Act.
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A Bill For An Act to provide
for the establishment of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response
Agency, and for related matters.
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Redesignation of National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency.
2. (1) The long title of the National Oil Spill Detection and
Response Agency (Establishment, etc) Act 2006 is hereby re-designated as the
“National Oil Pollution Management Agency (Establishment, Etc) Act 2006”.
(2) Accordingly, any reference in the Act to
"National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency" shall be construed
as the “National Oil Pollution Management Agency”.
(3) The re-designation of the
enactment specified in sub-section (1) of this section shall not affect
anything done or purported to be done under the designated enactment.
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Establishment of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response
Agency.
1. (1) There is established an
Agency to be known as the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency
(in this Act referred to as the "Agency") with responsibility for
preparedness, detection and response to all oil spillages in Nigeria as set
out in section 5 of this Act.
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Amendment of section 1.
3. Section 1 of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (l) by
subsisting for the existing subsection (1) a new subsection as follows:
“(1) There is established an
Agency to be known as the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency
(in this Act referred to as “the Agency”) with responsibility for
preparedness, detection and response to all oil spillages, oily wastes and
gas flare in Nigeria as set am in section 5 of this Act”.
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Establishment of the Governing Board of the Agency.
2. (2) The Governing Board shall consist of-
(b) one representative each of
the following Federal Ministries not below the rank of Director-
(i) Environment;
(ii) Defence;
(iii) Petroleum Resources;
(iv) Transport;
(v) Aviation (Department of
Meteorology);
(vi) Communications;
(vii) National Emergency
Management Agency (NEMA);
(viii) Works;
(ix) Information and National
Orientation;
(x) Housing and Urban
Development;
(xi) the Nigerian Police;
(xii) Oil Products Trade
Section of Lagos Chamber of Commerce (OPTS);
(xiii) Agriculture and Rural
Development;
(xiv) Water Resources; and
(xv) Institute of Oceanography
and Marine Research.
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Amendment of section 2.
4. Section 2 of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (2) (b)
by substituting for the existing paragraph (b) a new paragraph as follows:
“(b) one representative each of
the following Federal Ministries not below the rank of Director:
(i) Environment;
(ii) Petroleum Resources
(iii) Defence;
(iv) Transportation;
(v) National Emergency
Management Agency; and
(vi) Oil Producers' Trade
Section of Lagos Chambers of Commerce (OPTS).”
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Objectives of the Agency
5. The objectives of the Agency shall be to co-ordinate and
implement the National Oil Spill Contingency Plan for Nigeria (in this Act
referred to as "the Plan") as follows-
(a) safe, timely, effective and appropriate response to major or
disastrous oil pollution;
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Amendment of section 5.
5. Section 5 of the Principal Act is amended by:
(a) substituting for the
existing preamble, a new preamble as follows:
“Objectives of the Agency.
5. The objectives of the Agency shall be to monitor and regulate
Tiers 1 and 2 oil spills as well as coordinate, implement and review the
National Oil Spill Contingency Plan for Nigeria (in this Act referred to as
"the Plan") as follows:”
(b) substituting for the
existing paragraph (a), a new paragraph as follows:
“(a) establish a viable
national operational organization that ensures a safe, timely, effective and
appropriate response to all oil and gas pollution as well as other hazardous and
noxious substances in the petroleum sector.”
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Functions of the Agency
6. (1) The Agency shall-
(a) be responsible for
surveillance and ensure compliance with all existing environmental legislation
and the detection of oil spills in the petroleum sector;
(b) receive reports of oil
spillages and co-ordinate oil spill response activities throughout Nigeria;
(c) co-ordinate the
implementation of the Plan as may be formulated, from time to time, by the Federal
Government;
(d) co-ordinate the
implementation of the Plan for the removal of hazardous substances as may be
issued by the Federal Government;
(e) perform such other functions as may be
required to achieve the aims and objectives of the Agency under this Act or
any plan as may be formulated by the Federal Government pursuant to this Act.
Penalties.
(2) An oil spiller is by this
Act to report an oil spill to the Agency in writing not later than
twenty-four hours after the occurrence of an oil spill, in default of which
the failure to report shall attract a penalty in the sum ofN500,000.00 for
each day of failure to report the occurrence.
(3) The failure to clean up the impacted
site, to all practical extent including remediation, shall attract a further
fine of one million naira.
(4) Such notice in writing is
deemed to have been made, if delivered at the nearest zonal office closer to
the impacted site, and of the Agency, the National Control and Response
Centre within the stipulated time in subsection (2).
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Amendment of section 6.
6. Section 6 of the Principal Act is amended by substituting for
the existing one a new section as follows:
Functions of the Agency.
6. (1) The Agency shall:
(a) be responsible for
surveillance and enforce compliance with all existing environmental
legislation in the petroleum sector including those relating to prevention,
detection and general management of oil spills, oily wastes and gas flare;
(b) enforce compliance with the
provisions of international agreements, protocols, conventions and treaties
relating to oil and gas and oil spill response management and such other
related agreements as may-from time to time come into force;
(c) receive reports of oil
spillages, leakages from gas pipelines, storage facilities and co-ordinate
oil spill and gas leakages response activities throughout Nigeria;
(d) ensure the remediation of
oil impacted sites irrespective of the cause of the spillage;
(e) co-ordinate the
implementation of the Plan as may be formulated, from time to time, by the
Federal Government;
(f) co-ordinate the
implementation of the Plan for the removal of hazardous and noxious
substances as may be issued by the Federal Government;
(g) ensure that all oil
industry operators in Nigeria subscribe to and be bonafide members of Clean
Nigeria Associates (CNA) or any other similar association by whatever name
called; and.
(h) perform such other
functions as may be required to achieve the aims and objectives of the Agency
under this Act or any plan as may be formulated by the Federal Government
pursuant to this Act.
Penalties
(2) (a) An oil spiller is by
this Act to report an oil spill to the Agency in writing, by fax or
electronic mail not later than 24 hours after the occurrence of an oil spill
in default of which the failure to report shall attract penalty in the sum of
N2,000,000 for each day of failure to report the occurrence;
(b) A gas pipeline or storage
facility owner is by this Act to report a gas leakage to the Agency in
writing, by fax or electronic mail not later than 24 hours after the
occurrence of the gas leakage in default of which the failure to report shall
attract penalty in the sum or N2,000,000 for each day of failure to report
the occurrence.
(3) The failure to clean up the
impacted site, to all practical extent including the submission of action
plan for remediation within two weeks of the occurrence of the spill in
accordance with the polluter pays principle shall constitute an offence and
on conviction the oil spiller shall be liable to a fine not less than N5,000,000
or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both such fine and
imprisonment.
(4) The notice required under
subsection (2) of this section shall be deemed to have been made, if
delivered at the nearest zonal or field office of the Agency closer to the
impacted site or the National Control and Response Centre within the time
stipulated in subsection (2) of this section.”
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Insertion of new section.
7. (1) There shall be inserted immediately after section 7 of the
Principal Act, the following new sections:
Abandonment/Decommissioning of drill sites and oil facilities.
8. (1) The Agency shall monitor the process of decommissioning or
abandonment of drill sites and oil facilities as well as oil and gas industry
operational areas in accordance with the procedure and guidelines issued by
the Agency.
(2) The
decommissioned/abandoned drill sites shall be cleaned-up, remediated and
restored to its natural or near natural states by the oil facility owner.
(3) The Agency shall be
notified in writing to commence the decommissioning and abandonment of any
oil facilities or installations within its area of operation.
(4) Failure to request or
notify the Agency on the commencement of such activities will attract
penalties prescribed in the Agency's regulation, guidelines or standards.
Pipelines and other oil facilities integrity monitoring and testing.
9. (1) The Agency shall assess the integrity
of oil facilities which include but not limited to pipelines, well heads,
manifolds, storage facilities, barges and vessels to ensure that oil facility
owners conform to design specifications as well as the provision in the
Agency's regulations, guidelines and standards for the oil and gas sector.
(2) The Agency shall provide a
programme for the assessment and monitoring of the oil and gas facilities to
enhance its performance for distribution, storage and transportation of the
upstream, midstream and downstream products”.
(3) The existing sections 8 and
9 of the Principal Act shall be renumbered as section 10 and 11 respectively.
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Fund of
the Agency
11. The Agency shall
establish and maintain a fund into which shall be paid and credited-
(a) the take-off grant from the Federal
Government;
(b) annual subvention from the Federal
Government consolidated revenue;
(c) such counterpart funding as may be
provided, from time to time by a State or Local Government;
(d) loans and grants-in-aid from national,
bilateral and multilateral agencies;
(e) rents, fees and other internally
generated revenues from services provided by the Agency; and
(f) all other sums accruing to the Agency
from time to time.
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Amendment of section 11
8. Section 11 of the Principal Act is amended by:
(a) inserting immediately after
paragraph (b), a new paragraphs (c), (d) and (e) as follows:
“(c) 2.5 per cent of the
ecological fund annually for the management of oil spill disasters and
remediation of oil impacted sites arising from third party interference;
(d) 0.5 per cent operations
funds of oil companies for the enforcement of environmental legislation in
the petroleum sector;”
(e) 10 cents from the sale of
each barrel of oil to be set aside for environmental management;"
(b) renumbering the existing
paragraphs (c), (d), (e) (f) and (g) as paragraphs (f), (g), (h) and (i)
respectively.
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Federal Government intervention, etc.
19. (I) The Agency shall-
(a) in the event of a major or
disastrous oil spill, in collaboration with other Agencies co-opt, undertake
and supervise, all those provisions as set out in the Second Schedule to this
Act;
(b) assess the extent of damage
to the ecology by matching conditions following the spill against what
existed before (reference baseline data and ESI maps);
(3) The Agency shall -
(d) assist in the assessment of
damage caused by an oil spillage.
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Amendment of section 19.
9. Section 19 of the Principal Act is amended by:
(a) inserting the following new
paragraph (b) immediately after subsection (1)(a), that is:
“(b) inspect oil and gas
facilities with a view to ensuring full compliance with existing
environmental legislation on oil and gas pollution”;
(b) renumbering the existing
subsections (l) (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i) and (j) as subsections
(1) (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i), (j) and (k) respectively;
(c) by deleting the existing
subsection (3)(d).
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Regulations.
26. The Agency may, with the approval of the Governing Board make
such regulations as in its opinion are necessary or expedient for giving full
effect to the provisions of this Act and for the due administration of its
provisions.
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Amendment of section 26.
10. Section 26 of the Principal Act is amended by:
(a) renumbering the existing
section as subsection (1);
(b) adding the following new
subsections (2): (3) and (4) immediately after subsection (1) to read:
“(2) The Agency may in
pursuance of the provision of subsection (l) of this section make regulations
setting specifications and standard relating to the:
(a) use of dispersant;
(b) engagement or invitation of
any oil spill responder by oil companies;
(c) establishment of a benchmark for oil spill
contingency planning;
(d) development of framework to
guide operators in Oil Spill Contingency Planning; and
(e) most appropriate means of
preventing and combating various oil spills and its attendant oil and gas
pollution.
(3) Any person who contravenes
the regulations made pursuant to subsection (2) of this section commits an
offence and shall on conviction, be liable to a fine not less than N500,000
or to imprisonment for a term not less than two years or to both such fine
and imprisonment and additional fine ofN50,000 for every day the offence
subsists.
(4) Where an offence under
subsection (2) of the section is committed by a body corporate, it shall on
conviction be liable to a fine not less than N2,000,000 and additional fine
of N500,000 for every day the offence subsists.".
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Insertion of new sections 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31
11. (1) There shall be inserted immediately after section 26 of
the Principal Act, the following new sections:
“Power to enter premises.
27. (1) An officer of the Agency may, in the course of his duty,
at any reasonable time and on production of his certificate of designation if
so required:
(a) enter and search with a
warrant issued by a court, any premises including land, vehicle, tent, vessel,
floating craft including Maritime Tankers, Barges of Floating Production,
Storage, Offload (FPSO) and oil and gas facilities or any inland waters and
other structure, at all times, for the purposes of conducting inspection,
searching and taking samples for analysis which he reasonably believes.
carries out activities or stores goods which contravene environmental
standards or legislation relating to oil and oily wastes management;
(b) examine any article found pursuant to
paragraph (a) of this subsection, which appears to him to be an article to
"which this Act or the regulations made under apply or anything which he
reasonably believes is capable of being used to the detriment of the
environment in the petroleum sector;
(c) take a sample or specimen
of any article to which this Act or the regulations apply or which he has
power to examine under paragraph (b) of this subsection;
(d) open and examine, pursuant
to paragraph (a) of this subsection, any container or package which he
reasonably believes may contain anything to which this Act or its regulations
apply or which may help in his investigations;
(e) examine any book, document
or other record found pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection, which he
reasonably believes may contain any information relevant to the enforcement
of this Act or the regulations and make copies thereof or extracts there
from;
(f) seize and detain for such
time as may be necessary for the purpose of this Act, any articles by means
of or in relation to which he reasonably believes any provision of this Act
or the regulations has been contravened; and
(g) obtain an order of a court
to suspend activities, seal and close down premises including land, vehicle,
tent well head, vessel, floating craft and oil gas facilities or any inland
waters and other structure whatsoever.
(2) A written receipt shall be
given for any article or thing seized under subsection (l) of this section
and the reasons for such seizure shall be stated on such receipt.
(3) An article seized under
this Act shall be kept or stored in such a place as the officer of the Agency
may direct and shall be returned to the owner or the person from where it was
seized if the article upon analysis or examination is found to conform with
tile requirements of this Act or regulations made under it.
(4) An article seized by an
officer of the Agency in pursuance of this Act or the regulations made under
it, may be submitted to an analyst for analysis or examination and the
analyst upon making such analysis or examination shall, issue a certificate
or report in the prescribed form, setting forth the result of such analysis or
examination and the officer of the Agency shall, on demand, deliver a copy of
such certificate or report to the owner of the article if the article is to
be subject of a proceeding under this Act or regulations thereunder.
(5) In this section, the expression
"article" to which this Act or regulations made under it apply are:
(a) liquid, soil, vegetation;
(b) biological and chemical
samples; and
(c) such other articles or
samples as may be determined by the Agency.
Offences and penalties.
28. (1) A person who obstructs an officer of the Agency in the
performance of his duties under sections 5, 6 and 7 of this Act commits an
offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not less than N300,000 for an
individual or to imprisonment for a term not less than 2 years or to both
fine and imprisonment, and an additional fine of N50,000 for each day the
offence subsists and in the case of a body corporate, it shall be liable on
conviction for a fine of N5,000,000 and an additional fine of N500,000 for
each day the offence subsists.
(2) Any person who contravenes
the provision of any regulations made under this Act is guilty of an offence
and is liable on conviction to the penalties specified in the regulations.
Conduct of proceedings.
29. (1) A suit shall not be commenced against the Agency before
the expiration of a period of one month, after written notice of intention to
commence the suit shall have been served on the Agency by the intending
plaintiff or his agent.
(2) Subject to the provisions
of section 174 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999,
(which relates to the power of the Attorney-General of the Federation to
institute, continue or discontinue criminal proceedings against any person in
a court of law), any officer of the Agency may, with the consent of the
Attorney -General of the Federation, conduct criminal proceedings in respect
of offences under this Act or regulations made under this Act.
(3) In a judicial proceeding
for an offence under this Act or any regulation made under it, the provisions
of the Criminal Procedure Act or depending on the venue, the Criminal
Procedure Code shall, with such modification as the circumstance may require,
apply in respect of such matter to the same extent as they apply to the trial
of offences generally.
Existing laws.
30. (1) Any written law in force immediately before the coming
into force of this Act relating to oil, oily wastes pollution management and
gas leakages in the petroleum sector shall have effect subject to
modifications as may be necessary to bring into conformity with the
provisions of this Act and where the provision of any such law is
inconsistent with any provision of this Act, the provision of this Act shall
prevail, and that other law shall be void to the extent of its inconsistency.
(2) Any written law in force
immediately before the coming into force of this Act conferring oil: oily
wastes pollution management and gas leakages functions on any other
establishment or agency in the petroleum sector is hereby repealed to the
extent of its duplication.
Requisition, etc.
31. (1) In the exercise of its functions under this Act, the
Agency may demand by requisition from any person or organization, any
available equipment, facilities or personnel which may assist in a speedy and
effective cleaning and rescue operation during an oil spill disaster.
(2) Any person or organization
that:
(a) willfully obstructs or
impedes the Agency or any person acting under the authority of the Agency in
the exercise of any powers or duties under this Act; or
(b) without reasonable excuse
fails to:
(i) render assistance or
release any available equipment, facility or personnel required for cleaning
and rescue operation or other oil spill disaster curtailment activities; or
(ii) comply with a directive of
the Agency, is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not
less than N500,000 or imprisonment for a term of 2 years or to both such fine
and imprisonment.
(3) The Agency shall ensure
that the Polluter provides reasonable compensation for loss or damage arising
from the use of any equipment, facility or personnel required under this
section of this Act.”
(4) The existing sections 27
and 28 of the principal Act shall be renumbered as sections 34 and 35
respectively.
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Interpretation.
27. In this Act-
"Agency" means the
National Oil Spill Detection Response Agency established under section 1 of this
Act;
"Centre" means the
National Control and Response Centre established under section 19 of this
Act;
"Chairman" means the
Chairman of the Governing Board of the Agency;
"Governing Board"
means the National Oil Spill Detection Response Governing Board of the Agency
established under section 2 of this Act;
"member" means a
member of the Governing Board of the Agency and includes the Chairman;
"Minister" means the
Minister charged with responsibilities for matters relating to Environment; and
"Ministry" shall be
construed accordingly.
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Amendment of section 27.
12. There shall be substituted for the existing section 27 of the
Principal Act, the following new section, that is:
“Interpretation.
32. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:
"Agency" means the
National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency established under section 1
of this Act;
"Centre" means the
National Control and Response Centre established under section 18 of this
Act;
"Chairman" means the
Chairman of the Governing Board of the Agency;
"Constitution"
Constitution of the Federal means Republic of Nigeria;
"Court" means Federal
or State High Court;
"gas" or
"natural gas" means wet gas, dry gas, lean gas, all other gaseous
hydrocarbons, and all substances contained therein, which are produced along
with crude oil or gas; excluding those condensed or extracted liquid
hydrocarbons that are liquid at normal temperatures and pressure conditions
such as stabilized or field condensate, including the residue gas remaining after
the condensation or extraction of the liquid hydrocarbon from gas;
"Governing Board"
means the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Governing Board of the
Agency established under section 2 of this Act;
"member" means a
member of the Governing Board of the Agency and includes the Chairman;
"Minister" means the
Minister charged with responsibilities for matters relating to environment;
"Ministry" shall be
construed accordingly;
"officer" means any
employee of the Agency;
"oil" means mineral
oil (or any related hydrocarbon) or natural gas as it exists in its natural
state in strata, and does not include coal or bituminous shade or' other
stratified deposits from which oil can be extracted by destructive distillation
but including premium motor spirit, automotive gas oil, low/high pour, fuel
oil, aviation fuel, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gases and any lubrication
oil or grease or other lubricant oil in its natural state before it has been
refined or treated;
"oil spill responder"
includes Clean Nigeria Associates (Oil Companies Cooperative), Oil Spill
Response Limited (OSRL) or any other oil spill response contractors; and
"release" means any
spilling, leaking, pump Leaking, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging,
injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, discarding or disposing into the
environment;"
"remediation" means
the process of remedying or restoring an area or situation to its natural (or
as close to natural as possible) state";
"Tier" means
operational type spills, less than or equal to 7 tones (50 bbls), that may
occur at or near a company's own facilities, as a consequence of its own
activities." and
"Tier 2" means a
larger spill, greater that 7 tones (50 bbls) but less than 700 tones (5000
bbls), in the vicinity of a company's facilities where resources from another
company, industry and possible government response agencies in the area can
be called in on a mutual aid basis;
"Tier3" means a
larger spill, greater than 700 tones (500bbb) where substantial further
resources will be required and support from a Nation (Tier 3) or
international cooperative stockpile, like the Oil spill Response Ltd (OSRL,
may be necessary. It is likely that such operation would be subject to
Government controls or even direction.
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Short title.
13. This Act may be cited as the National Oil Spill Detection and
Response Agency (Establishment, Etc.) Act (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
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FIRST SCHEDULE
[Section 2 (5)]
Supplementary Provisions Relating to the
Governing Board, etc.
Proceedings of the Governing Board
3. The quorum at a meeting of
the Governing Board shall consist of the Chairman or, in an appropriate case,
the person presiding at the meeting pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Schedule
and six other members.
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Amendment of the First Schedule
14. The First Schedule to the Principal Act is amended by
substituting for the word "six" the word "three" in the
third line of paragraph 3 therein.
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EXPLANATORY
MEMORANDUM
(This note does not form part
of the above Act but is intended to explain its purport)
This Act amends the National
Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency Establishment, Etc.) Act 2006 to
provide, among other things, statutory power for the Agency to charge
adequate fines, introduce criminal offences and penalties in order to ensure
strict compliance with all existing environmental legislation in the
petroleum sector.
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