Sea Protection Act (No. 1415 of 1994).

The scope of this Act is to prevent pollution of marine areas and to regulate the construction in and exploration and exploitation of marine areas outside of the territorial waters of Finland. Protection of marine areas within the borders of Finland is provided for by the Water Act (No. 241/61) (sect. 2). The present Act shall not apply to pollution caused in the course of ordinary navigation and to measures to combat pollution as foreseen in Act 300/79 to prevent pollution caused by vessels. In addition to what has been provided for in Act 149/65 relative to the Continental Shelf, in matters of permits for exploration and exploitation of the Continental Shelf shall apply provisions of section 11 concerning permits issued by the Ministry of the Environment (sect. 3). Section 5 establishes precedence of international obligations of Finland over provisions of the present Act. Section 1 concerns the pollution of marine areas in general. Section 7 prohibits dumping. Section 8 prohibits the burning of waste. The dumping of mud and construction of installations by Finnish nationals require a permit issued by the Ministry of the Environment (section 9, respectively section 10). (16 sections)