New Regulations
Passenger Transport (General) Amendment (Drug and Alcohol Testing) Regulation 2021
This replaces the 2010 regulation and commences on 1 September 2021. It is available on the NSW Legislation (Regulation) website. The amended regulation does not change the drug and alcohol testing programs for ferry operators.
The regulation includes savings and transitional provisions to ensure that any actions taken prior to 1 September 2021 will continue to take effect under the new regulation, such as the appointment of test supervisors, tests or analysis undertaken, or certificates issued.
Any documents, such as forms, test or analysis record sheets or certificates that are unused or have not yet been completed/filled out under the provisions of the 2010 regulation, may continue to be completed/used for a period of 12 months. These documents will be taken to be documents created under the new regulation.
From 1 September 2022, all forms and other types of documents will need to reference the appropriate provisions of the Passenger Transport Regulation.
Ports and Maritime Administration Regulation 2012
This regulation has been remade and takes effect on 1 September 2021. It is available from the NSW Legislation website.
The main changes that are relevant to your operations are:
- The regulation has been restructured and renumbered. Dangerous Goods handling on ports has been brought into this regulation at Part 7.
- The names of some Charter Wharves in Sydney have been standardised.
- A six-month notification grace period allows mooring licences to be transferred following the death of a licensee.
- Licences and occupation permits issued by agencies other than TfNSW and the Marine Parks Estate are recognised.
- The notification period for prolonged absence from a mooring was clarified to be 28 consecutive days.
Other minor editorial changes have also been made to improve clarity of the regulation.
The update of these two regulations will ensure the continuing safe provision of commercial vessels in NSW.
If you have any questions about these changes, please email DCVSafety@transport.nsw.gov.au
The new Marine Pollution Regulation 2024
This regulation commenced on 25 March 2024
The current Regulation is a statutory instrument made under the Marine Pollution Act 2012 and provides important administrative support for the protection of NSW waters and the coastal environment from the adverse effects of ship-sourced pollution.
The Marine Pollution Act 2012 was reviewed in 2019 including public consultation on a discussion paper. A Bill of amendments passed through Parliament in 2021 which introduced amendments to strengthen the protection of State waters from pollution from vessels and sewage pollution in particular.
With the remaking of the Regulation, all of the amended Act provisions have commenced.
The new regulations came into effect on 25 March 2024, with Sewage Pollution Prevention Certificates for Class 1 DCVs being implemented from 1 July 2025, for Class 4 DCVs with overnight accommodation from 1 July 2026 and for Class 2 and Class 3 DCVs from 1 July 2027. So, it is important that all DCV owners and operators are familiar with the regulation changes well before the implementation date.
We recommend that you do two things:
- Watch the video which provides an overview of the changes to the Marine Pollution Regulation 2024. This presentation explores the background behind these changes and covers matters of particular interest to the Domestic Commercial Vessel Industry.
- Then access our set of Frequently Asked Questions and Answers (PDF, 367.33 KB) to discover some of the important questions that the DCV industry may have.
For further information, see Sewage Pollution Prevention for DCVs.
For any other enquiries please email us at SPPC@transport.nsw.gov.au.