standardization of environmental data and information - International ...

Chapter 22
Report of the Workshop
The Workshop to Standardize the Environmental Data and
Information Required by the Mining Code and Guidelines for Contractors,
convened by the International Seabed Authority, met at the Headquarters of
the Authority in Kingston, Jamaica, from 25 to 29 June 2001.
The Workshop was convened to provide expert guidance that would
assist contractors and the Authority in their task of assessing and
monitoring the marine environment in the international seabed Area. The
Regulations on Prospecting and Exploration for Polymetallic Nodules in the
Area 1 , approved by the Authority on 13 July 2000 and informally known as
the Mining Code, provide that every contract for exploration for polymetallic
nodules shall require the Contractor, in cooperation with the Authority and
the sponsoring State or States, to establish environmental baselines
against which to assess the likely effects of its programme of activities on
the marine environment and a programme to monitor and report such
effects (regulation 31.4).
The Legal and Technical Commission has drawn up a set of
recommendations, formerly called guidelines, for the guidance of
contractors in assessing possible environmental impacts arising from
exploration for polymetallic nodules in the Area 2 . The recommendations are
accompanied by an explanatory commentary detailing some of the data and
information required during the two phases of exploration: environmental
baseline studies, and monitoring during and after tests of collecting
systems and equipment.
The Workshop is the fourth in a series convened annually by the
Authority as a means of consulting the international community of
engineers and scientists, including contractors, on technical matters
involved in the performance of its tasks. An earlier Workshop, held in
Sanya, China, in 1998 3 , prepared an initial set of guidelines for the
assessment of environmental impacts, which assisted the LTC in the
preparation of its recommendations.
Thirty-nine engineers, scientists and other experts from 17 countries
and the United Nations took part in the proceedings, including nationals
from six of the seven registered pioneer investors and four members of the
LTC. They heard and discussed 21 presentations on various topics, most of
them accompanied by papers. These presentations, by academic and
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INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY