# Prevention of Oil Pollution Act 1971, Section 3: Discharge of certain oils from pipe-lines or as the result of exploration etc. in designated areas.


(1) If any oil to which section 1 of this Act applies, or any mixture containing such oil, is discharged into any part of the sea—
(a) from a pipe-line; or
(b) (otherwise than from a ship) as the result of any operation for the exploration of the sea-bed and subsoil or the exploitation of their natural resources in a designated area,
then, subject to the following provisions of this Act, the owner of the pipe-line or, as the case may be, the person carrying on the operations shall be guilty of an offence unless the discharge was from a place in his occupation and he proves that it was due to the act of a person who was there without his permission (express or implied).
(2) In this section “designated area” means an area for the time being designated by an Order made under section 1 of the Continental Shelf Act 1964.
(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £50,000 or on conviction on indictment to a fineon summary conviction, or on conviction on indictment, to a fine.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1971/60/section/3 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/prevention-of-oil-pollution-act-1971/section-3
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.