The Offshore Petroleum Activities (Oil Pollution Prevention and Control) (Amendment) Regulations 2011
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 2011/983 |
2011 No. 983
Environmental Protection
The Offshore Petroleum Activities (Oil Pollution Prevention and Control) (Amendment) Regulations 2011
Made 29th March 2011
Coming into force in accordance with regulation 1
The Secretary of State makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 2(1) to (3) and 7(9) of, and Schedule 1 to, the Pollution Prevention and Control Act 19991.
The Secretary of State has consulted the persons required to be consulted by section 2(4) of that Act.
A draft of these Regulations has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament in accordance with section 2(8) and (9)(d) of that Act.
Citation and commencement
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Offshore Petroleum Activities (Oil Pollution Prevention and Control) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 and come into force on the day after the day on which they are made.
Interpretation
2. In these Regulations “the 2005 Regulations” means the Offshore Petroleum Activities (Oil Pollution Prevention and Control) Regulations 20052.
Amendment of the 2005 Regulations
The 2005 Regulations are amended as follows.
3. The 2005 Regulations are amended as follows.
4. In regulation 2 (interpretation)—
(a) for the definition of “discharge” substitute—
““business day” means any day, except a Saturday, a Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a day which is a bank holiday in any part of the United Kingdom by virtue of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 19713;
“discharge”, in relation to oil, means any intentional emission of the oil from an offshore installation into the relevant area;”;
(b) omit the definition of “emission”, and in its place insert—
““enforcement notice” means a notice served under regulation 13(1) or (1A);”;
(c) after the definition of “existing exemption”, insert—
““installation” includes any floating structure or device maintained on a station by whatever means;
“notice” means notice in writing;”;
(d) for the definition of “offshore installation”, substitute—
““offshore installation” means an installation or pipeline which is used for the purposes of, or in connection with, any activity in respect of which the Secretary of State exercises functions under the Petroleum Act 1998;”
(e) after the definition of “operator”, insert—
““permit” means an authorisation granted by the Secretary of State pursuant to these Regulations to discharge oil;”
(f) in the definition of “permit holder” omit “granted under these Regulations”;
(g) in the definition of “pollution”, for “relevant waters” substitute “the relevant area”;
(h) after the definition of “pollution”, insert—
““prohibition notice” means a notice served under regulation 14(1);
“release”, in relation to oil, means the emission (other than by way of discharge) of the oil from an offshore installation into the relevant area;”;
(i) omit the definition of “relevant waters” and in its place insert—
““relevant area” means that area (together with places above and below it) comprising—
(a) those parts of the sea adjacent to England from the low water mark to the landward baseline of the United Kingdom territorial sea;
(b) the United Kingdom territorial sea apart from those areas comprised in Scottish controlled waters and Welsh controlled waters; and
(c) those areas of sea in any area for the time being designated under section 1(7) of the Continental Shelf Act 19644;”; and
(j) after the definition of “Scottish controlled waters”, insert—
““Welsh controlled waters” means those parts of the territorial sea adjacent to Wales which are controlled waters within the meaning of section 104 of the Water Resources Act 19915.”
5. In regulation 3 (discharge permits)—
(a) in paragraph (1), omit “into relevant waters” and “granted in accordance with these Regulations”;
(b) in paragraph (2)—
(i) omit “under these Regulations”; and
(ii) for sub-paragraph (c), substitute—
“(c)
“(c) the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution by Sewage and Garbage from Ships) Regulations 20086.”;
(c) in paragraph (3)(a), omit “in writing”; and
(d) omit paragraph (4).
6. After regulation 3 insert—
“Prohibition on the release of oil
3A. No person shall—
(a) release any oil; or
(b) allow such a release to continue.”.
7. In regulation 4 (grant or refusal and contents of permits)—
(a) in sub-paragraph (c) of paragraph (2) for “accidents” substitute “incidents”;
(b) for paragraph (3), substitute —
“3 A permit may be granted for a period specified in the permit or without limit of time.”; and
(c) after paragraph (4) insert—
“5 Where a permit is granted, the Secretary of State must send the permit to the applicant.
6 Where a permit is refused, the Secretary of State must send notice of such refusal to the applicant.”
8. In regulation 5 (contents of permit application)—
(a) in paragraph (1)—
(i) omit “by the operator of the offshore installation”;
(ii) after sub-paragraph (b) omit “and”;
(iii) in sub-paragraph (c) for “sought.” substitute “sought; and”; and
(iv) after sub-paragraph (c) insert—
“(d)
“(d) an assessment of the risk of harm to the environment from the proposed discharge of oil.”; and
(b) in paragraph (2)—
(i) omit “in writing”; and
(ii) for “operator” substitute “applicant”.
9. After regulation 5 insert—
“Publicity for permit applications
5A.—(1) Except where the permit application is one to which paragraph (5) applies, for a period of not less than four weeks immediately following the publication of the notice referred to in paragraph (2) (or last publication, where it is published in more than one newspaper or on more than one occasion), a permit applicant shall—
(a)
(a) having regard to the general whereabouts of any persons likely to be interested in, or affected by, the discharge of oil to which the application relates, make a copy of the application available for public inspection between the hours of 10 am and 4 pm on business days at an address in the United Kingdom; and
(b)
(b) subject to paragraph (4), supply a copy of the application to any person on request.
(2) A permit applicant shall publish in such newspapers on such occasions as to be likely to come to the attention of any persons likely to be interested in, or affected by, the discharge of oil to which the application relates, a notice which—
(a)
(a) describes the application;
(b)
(b) gives the address at which a copy of the application may be inspected;
(c)
(c) gives the address from which a copy of the application may be requested and specifies the amount of any payment required in accordance with paragraph (4); and
(d)
(d) states a date not less than four weeks after the date on which the notice is to be last published by which any person may make representations in relation to the application to the Secretary of State and specifies the address to which any such representations are to be sent.
(3) The permit applicant shall provide the Secretary of State with copies of the newspapers in which the notice appeared.
(4) Where a copy of the application is demanded in accordance with paragraph (1)(b), the permit applicant—
(a)
(a) must supply a copy as soon as reasonably practicable; and
(b)
(b) may make the supply of a copy conditional on the payment of a sum reflecting the cost of printing and distribution, subject to a maximum of £10 per copy.
(5) This regulation does not apply to applications made—
(a)
(a) in connection with a relevant project for which the Secretary of State gives a direction, pursuant to regulation 6 of the Offshore Petroleum Production and Pipe-lines (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 19997, that no environmental statement need be prepared;
(b)
(b) in connection with a discharge from a pipeline, being a discharge to which the Secretary of State gives consent pursuant to an authorisation issued under Part 3 of the Petroleum Act 19988; or
(c)
(c) in connection with activities carried out in accordance with an abandonment programme approved by the Secretary of State under Part 4 of the Petroleum Act 19989.”
10. In regulation 6 (fees)—
(a) in paragraph (1) after “charge” insert “applicants for permits, permit holders or”; and
(b) in paragraph (2), for sub-paragraphs (a) to (c) substitute—
“(a)
“(a) an application for the grant or renewal of a permit;
(b)
(b) a review, or an application for a review, of a permit or the conditions to which it is subject;
(c)
(c) a request for the Secretary of State’s consent to the transfer of a permit;”.
11. After regulation 6 insert—
“Application for renewal of an existing permit
6A.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), a permit holder may apply in writing to the Secretary of State to renew the permit.
(2) An application for renewal of a permit pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be made no more than three months before the expiry of the permit.
(3) The Secretary of State may grant or refuse an application received under paragraph (1).
(4) Where the Secretary of State grants the renewal of a permit—
(a)
(a) the Secretary of State may make the grant subject to such further terms and conditions as the Secretary of State considers fit; and
(b)
(b) notice of the renewal and of any terms and conditions to which the renewal is subject...
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