General Assembly Resolution #298 “Reducing Spills And Leaks” (Category: Environment; Industry Affected: All Businesses - Strong) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.
The World Assembly,
Recognizing the immense importance of legislation regulating the transportation of hazardous substances, General Assembly Resolution #298 “Reducing Spills And Leaks” included;
Concerned that despite its laudable aim, a series of flaws and oversights may render this resolution detrimental to the member states of this august body;
Troubled that poor phrasing in subclause 1C(b): "... [penalizing] entities which cause and/or allow leaks to occur through negligence" may enable a dangerous interpretation of the provision, in which punitive penalties may only be extracted from negligent offenders;
Frightened that the desiderata laid out in Clause 2, which require compliant WA member states to "establish standards and utilize technologies ... using SaLDA recommendations and technological resources," may inhibit national-level policy and technologies by tying smaller-scale legislation and technological implementations, which seek to minimize risk, enable restitution for, and/or improve cleanup of spills and leaks, to the much broader standards of an international committee;
Ill at ease over Clause 4’s mandate, requiring compliant WA Member States to turn away transports from any entity that does not comply with the aforementioned SaLDA standards and recommendations, so long as the material being transported is considered "capable of causing a spill or leak," an outrageously broad mandate that applies not only to potentially hazardous materials. but to nearly every meaningful good and resource, and which could place trade between WA member states and the roughly 90% of nations that do not hold membership in this body (and which have little incentive to abide by regulations that hold no legal authority over them), alongside the import and export economies of compliant WA member states, at risk;
Dismayed that, despite the absolute importance of total cooperation between local, national, and international authorities in the success of any cleanup effort, and the number of lives that stand to be lost if particularly dangerous spills aren’t dealt with as quickly and effectively as possible, that Clause 7, the resolution’s provision regarding cooperation with national governments, is non-binding. Simply put, the risk of a breakdown in collaboration between hazmat authorities is too great to put into a simple recommendation, and stronger measures must be enacted for the safety of WA member states' citizens;
Propounding that, far be it from "[preserving] lives", the flaws present in General Assembly Resolution #298 “Reducing Spills And Leaks”’s provisions risk bringing significant harm upon World Assembly nations and nationals;
Concluding, therefore, that the immediate repeal and replacement of the aforementioned resolution is the right and proper path towards putting in place effective international standards and oversight for the transportation of hazardous materials,
Hereby repeals General Assembly Resolution #298 “Reducing Spills And Leaks”.
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