Royal Decree 128/2022 of 15 February on Port Reception Facilities for Ship Waste
As a consequence of the transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/883 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on port reception facilities for ship waste discharge, amending Directive 2010/65/EU and repealing Directive 2000/59/EC, Royal Decree 128/2022 of 15 February 2022 on Port Reception Facilities for Ship Waste was published on 16 February 2022.
The purpose of the aforementioned legal text is none other than to guarantee the protection of the marine environment from all those negative effects that might be caused by waste generated by ships and cargo residues from ships using Spanish ports. It also aims to ensure the proper functioning of maritime traffic, improving the availability and use of adequate port reception facilities, as well as the delivery of waste to these facilities.
The extension of the scope of application of this Royal Decree is one of the main innovations that it brings with it, as it now includes fishing vessels and sport or recreational vessels. Thus, this regulation will be applicable to all vessels, regardless of their flag, which call at or operate in Spanish ports, except those which are used to provide port services and State vessels. Likewise, in order to avoid unnecessary delays, in anchorages where the vessel does not carry out commercial operations of embarking and disembarking passengers or loading and unloading goods, provided that the call at anchorage is less than seven days, the obligation to discharge ship waste and pay the indirect tariff is exempted.
Another of the main updates is the application of this RD to waste caught unintentionally by fishing vessels, other unintentional catches, facilitating their collection at port waste-reception facilities free of charge; and the regulation of electronic communications through the SafeseaNetsystem, as established in Royal Decree 210/2004, of 6 February, which establishes a system for monitoring and reporting maritime traffic.
Finally, a cost recovery system is foreseen so that the costs of the ship waste reception service, excluding cargo residues, are borne by the ships themselves calling at or operating in Spanish ports through the payment of a fee, irrespective of whether they deliver the waste to a port reception facility or not. Thus, it seems that the government’s intention is that the fees should not discourage the delivery of waste.
The Royal Decree entered into force on 17 February 2022.
