Environmental Statement - Maersk Oil

A ‐ 4
Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (as
amended 2012)
Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 (as amended
2011)
Balloch Field Development Environmental Statement
Appendix A – Review of Legislation
The Marine and Coastal Access Act (MCAA) came into force in November 2009. The Act covers all UK waters except
Scottish internal and territorial waters which are covered by the Marine (Scotland) Act (2010), which mirrors the MCAA
powers. Licensing provisions in relation to MCAA came into force on 1 st April. The marine licensing provisions in Part 4
replace the licensing and consent controls previously exercised under Part II of the Food and Environment Protection Act
1985 and Part II of the Coast Protection Act 1949. The considerations built into these regimes are merged into the new
regime, with some modifications. The export of cuttings or produced water to another site for reinjection continues to
be licensed under FEPA Part II. All activities associated with exploration or production / storage operations that are
authorised under Petroleum Act or Energy Act are exempt from the requirements of MCAA. Specifically, the following
activities are exempt from MCAA as they are controlled under different legislation:
Activities associated with exploration or production / storage operations that are authorised under the
Petroleum Act 1998 and Energy Act 2008
Additional activities authorised solely under the DECC environmental regime, such as chemical and oil
discharges
The offshore oil and gas activities that will require an MCAA licence are as follows:
Deposits of substances or articles in the sea or on the seabed, e.g. pipeline crossing works prior to use of
pipeline authorisation works (PWA) or related Direction, or deposit of materials associated with abandonment
operations
Removal of substances or articles from the seabed, e.g. pre‐sweep dredging with disposal of material at a
remote location, or removal of seabed infrastructure during abandonment operations
Disturbance of the seabed, e.g. pre‐sweep dredging using a levelling device or by side‐casting material, or
disturbance of sediments or cuttings pile by water jetting during abandonment operations
Installation of certain types of cable that cannot be covered by a PWA e.g. communication cables
Deposit and use of explosives that cannot be covered under an application for a Direction, e.g. during
abandonment operations
Decommissioning operations are not exempt and will require a Marine licence.
MCAA includes navigational provisions, but as described above, virtually all activities associated with exploration or
production/storage operations will not require Marine licences. Therefore the provisions of the Coast Protection Act
were transferred to the Energy Act 2008 Part 4A via the MCAA to cover navigation considerations relating to exploration
or production/storage operations.
Licences will be valid for a maximum period of one year however; applications for licence renewals can be made.