The Offshore Chemicals Regulations 2002

Made: 14th May 2002

Coming into force: 15th May 2002

Whereas the Secretary of State has consulted the persons required to be consulted by section 2(4) of the Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999;

And whereas a draft of these Regulations has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament pursuant to sections 2(8) and 2(9) of that Act;

Now, therefore, the Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on her by sections 2 and 7(9) of that Act hereby makes the following Regulations:—

Citation and commencement

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These Regulations may be cited as the Offshore Chemicals Regulations 2002 and shall come into force on the day after the day on which they are made.

Interpretation

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• (1) In these Regulations—

• ...

• “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 1971 ;

• “consultation parties” means, having regard to the part of the relevant area to which any permit would relate—the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science;the Fisheries Research Services,together with any Contracting State which the Secretary of State considers may be affected by the use or discharge of any offshore chemical to which an application under these Regulations relates;

• “Contracting State” means a State which the Secretary of State considers to be a contracting party to the Convention;

• “Convention” means the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic 1992 ;

• “discharge”, in relation to an offshore chemical, means any intentional emission of the chemical, or any of its degradation or transformation products, from an offshore installation into the relevant area;

• “enforcement notice” means a notice served under regulation 16A(1) or (1A);

• ...

• “the Gazettes” means the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes;

• “installation” includes any floating structure or device maintained on a station by whatever means;

• “notice” means notice in writing;

• “offshore activities” means—offshore petroleum activities; oroffshore storage or unloading activities;

• “offshore chemical” means any chemical, whether comprising a substance or a preparation, ... used , or intended to be used, in connection with offshore activities;

• “offshore installation” means an installation or pipeline which is used for the purposes of, or in connection with, offshore petroleum activities or offshore storage and unloading activities;

• “offshore petroleum activities”—means any activities in respect of which the Secretary of State or the Oil and Gas Authority exercises functions under the Petroleum Act 1998, being activities carried out in the relevant area; butdoes not include activities (“decommissioning activities”) carried out in connection with the abandonment of an offshore installation that, at the time of that abandonment, had last been used for the purposes of or in connection with offshore storage or unloading activities, unless those decommissioning activities are carried out in the reserved area;

• “offshore storage or unloading activities” means any activities in respect of which the Secretary of State exercises functions under Part 1 of the Energy Act 2008, being activities carried out in the reserved area;

• “operator” means any person who operates an offshore installation;

• “permit” means an authorisation granted by the Secretary of State pursuant to these Regulations to use or discharge any offshore chemical in the relevant area;

• “permit application” means an application for a permit, being an application which satisfies the requirements of regulation 6(1) and “permit applicant” shall be construed accordingly;

• “permit holder” means the holder from time to time of a permit;

• ...

• “pollution” means the introduction by man, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy into the relevant area which results, or is likely to result, in hazards to human health, harm to living resources and marine ecosystems, damage to amenities or interference with other legitimate uses of the sea;

• “preparation” means a mixture or solution composed of two or more substances;

• “prescribed date” means the date after the day on which the period of three months commencing on the day on which these Regulations come into force expires, save that when a permit application is made before that date it means—the date on which the permit is granted, whether in pursuance of the application or, on an appeal under regulation 17, of an order of the court; orwhere a permit is refused and the permit applicant appeals under regulation 17, the date on which the court upholds that refusal; orthe date after the day on which the period provided for under regulation 17(6) expires,as the case may be;

• “prohibition notice” means a notice served under regulation 16B(1);

• “release”, in relation to an offshore chemical, means the emission (other than by way of discharge) of the chemical, or any of its degradation or transformation products, from an offshore installation into the relevant area;

• “relevant area” means that area (together with places above and below it) comprising—those parts of the sea adjacent to England ... from the low water mark to the landward baseline of the United Kingdom territorial sea;the United Kingdom territorial sea apart from those areas comprised in Scottish controlled waters and Welsh controlled waters; andthose areas of sea in any area for the time being designated under section 1(7) of the Continental Shelf Act 1964 ;

• ...

• “reserved area” means the area (together with the places above and below it) comprising—those parts of the sea adjacent to England from the low water mark to the landward baseline of the United Kingdom territorial sea;so much of the United Kingdom territorial sea as is adjacent to England or Northern Ireland; andthose areas of sea in a Gas Importation and Storage Zone (within the meaning of section 1(5) of the Energy Act 2008);

• “Scottish controlled waters” means any waters which are controlled waters within the meaning of section 30A(1) of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 ;

• “substance” means a chemical element or compound, in the natural state or obtained by any production process, including any additive necessary to preserve the stability of the product or any impurity deriving from the process used, but excluding any solvent which may be separated without affecting the stability of the substance or changing its composition;

• “substantial change” means a change in the type, quantity, frequency or location of the use or discharge of an offshore chemical which may have significant negative effects on people or the environment;

• “use”, in relation to an offshore chemical, means any intentional application of the chemical in the carrying out of offshore activities under normal operating conditions;

• “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 1991.

• (2) In these Regulations, in relation to an offshore storage or unloading activity—

• (a) any reference to the use, discharge or release of an offshore chemical is to be read as a reference to its use in, or discharge or release into, the reserved area;

• (b) any reference to pollution is to be read as a reference to pollution introduced into the reserved area.

Requirement for permit to use or discharge offshore chemicals

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• (1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), no person shall use or discharge any offshore chemical ... after the prescribed date otherwise than in accordance with the terms of, and conditions attached to, a permit.

• (2) Where a person is using or discharging any offshore chemical in connection with any offshore activity that began on or before the date on which these Regulations come into force, that person may continue to use or discharge that offshore chemical until—

• (a) such time as the Secretary of State may specify by notice; or

• (b) (if no notice is given by the Secretary of State in accordance with sub-paragraph (a)) the date after the day on which the period of two years commencing on the prescribed date expires.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Grant and refusal of permits

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• (1) In considering whether to grant a permit, the Secretary of State shall have regard to any opinion expressed by—

• (a) the consultation parties; and

• (b) (except where the permit application is one to which regulation 7(2) applies) the general public.

• (2) The Secretary of State shall not grant a permit unless she is satisfied that there has been substantial compliance with regulation 7.

• (3) Where the Secretary of State grants a permit, she shall send it to the permit applicant.

• (4) Where the Secretary of State refuses a permit application, she shall give notice of such refusal to the permit applicant.

• (5) The Secretary of State shall publish in the Gazettes notice of the granting of any permit.

Conditions of permits

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• (1) The Secretary of State may attach to any permit such conditions as she thinks fit.

• (2) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), the Secretary of State may attach to any permit such conditions as in her opinion are calculated to ensure that—

• (a) the quantity, frequency, location and duration of any permitted use or discharge of offshore chemicals are subject to appropriate restrictions;

• (b) any permit granted for the use or discharge of any offshore chemical requires the permit holder to seek a suitable, less hazardous substitute;

• (c) all appropriate measures are taken to prevent pollution in particular through the appropriate use of technology to limit discharge, emissions and waste;

• (d) necessary measures are taken to prevent incidents affecting the environment or, where they occur, to limit their consequences in relation to the environment;

• (e) the appropriate monitoring of the use and discharge of offshore chemicals is facilitated, and such conditions may include—

• (i) provisions relating to measurement techniques, technology and frequency and to evaluation procedures; and

• (ii) obligations to supply the Secretary of State with data required for checking compliance with the permit, including any data setting out the actual quantity, frequency and location of the use and discharge of any offshore chemicals which has occurred during a specified period;

• (f) long-distance or transboundary pollution is minimised; and

• (g) appropriate measures are taken in relation to conditions other than normal operating conditions including start-ups, leaks, malfunctions, temporary stoppages and permanent cessation of operations.

Requirements relating to permit applications

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• (1) A permit application shall be made in writing and shall contain—

• (a) a description of the offshore installation on or from which the offshore chemical is to be used or discharged, and the location of the offshore installation in the relevant area;

• (b) a description of the proposed technology and other techniques for preventing or, where prevention is not possible, reducing the use or discharge of the offshore chemical from the offshore installation;

• (c) a description of the measures planned to monitor the use or discharge of the offshore chemical; and

• (d) an assessment of the risk of harm to the environment from the use and discharge of the offshore chemicals proposed.

• (2) The Secretary of State may by notice require a permit applicant—

• (a) to produce such evidence as the Secretary of State may reasonably call for to verify any information provided in the permit application; or

• (b) to provide such other information as the Secretary of State may specify for the purposes of properly considering a permit application in accordance with these Regulations.

Publicity for permit applications

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• (1) Except where the permit application is one to which paragraph (2) applies, a permit applicant shall—

• (a) having regard to the general whereabouts of any persons likely to be interested in, or affected by, the use or discharge of any chemical to which the permit application relates, make a copy of the permit application available for public inspection at an address in the United Kingdom between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on business days for a period of not less than four weeks immediately following the publication (or last publication, where it is published in more than one newspaper or on more than one occasion) of the notice referred to in sub-paragraph (d);

• (b) make available at an address within the United Kingdom enough copies of the permit application to be likely to satisfy all reasonable demands for copies pursuant to sub-paragraph (c);

• (c) subject to sub-paragraph (b) and paragraph (3), supply during the period mentioned in sub-paragraph (a), a copy of the permit application;

• (d) 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 use or discharge of any chemical to which the permit application relates, a notice which—

• (i) describes the permit application;

• (ii) gives the address referred to in sub-paragraph (a) at which a copy of the permit application may be inspected;

• (iii) states that a copy of the permit application may be obtained from the address referred to in sub-paragraph (b) and, subject to paragraph (3)(b), specifies the amount of any payment required to be tendered for a copy of the permit application; and

• (iv) 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 permit application to the Secretary of State and specifies the address to which any such representations are to be sent; and

• (e) provide the Secretary of State with copies of the newspapers in which the notice referred to in sub-paragraph (d) appeared.

• (2) This paragraph applies to permit applications made—

• (a) in connection with a project for which the Secretary of State serves a direction that an environmental impact assessment is not required pursuant to regulation 6 of the Offshore Oil and Gas Exploration, Production, Unloading and Storage (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2020 or regulation 6 of the Offshore Petroleum Production and Pipe-lines (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1999;

• (b) in connection with a discharge from a pipeline, being a discharge to which the Oil and Gas Authority gives a consent pursuant to an authorisation issued under Part III of the Petroleum Act 1998 ; or

• (c) in connection with activities carried out in accordance with an abandonment programme approved by the Secretary of State under Part IV of the Petroleum Act 1998.

• (3) Where a permit applicant is subject to an obligation to supply a copy of a permit application pursuant to a request made under paragraph (1)(c), he—

• (a) shall supply a copy of the permit application to the person requesting it as soon as reasonably practicable after receipt of the request; and

• (b) may make the supply of a copy of the permit application conditional on the receipt by the permit applicant of a sum calculated by reference to the cost of printing and distributing copies of the permit application, subject to a maximum of £10 for each copy requested.

Fees

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• (1) The Secretary of State may, in accordance with a charging scheme made by her for this purpose, charge permit applicants, permit holders and operators fees in respect of any of the matters to which this paragraph applies.

• (2) The matters to which paragraph (1) applies are—

• (a) an application for the grant or renewal of a permit;

• (b) an application for the variation of a permit or the conditions to which it is subject, or a review of a permit and its conditions;

• (c) a request for the Secretary of State’s consent to the transfer of a permit;

• (ca) the revocation or surrender of a permit;

• (d) the subsistence of a permit;

• (e) the testing or analysis of substances;

• (f) the validating of, or of the results of, any testing or analysis of substances; ...

• (g) assessing how the environment might be affected by the release or discharge into it of any substances ; and

• (h) the provision of advice in respect of—

• (i) an application or potential application for the grant or renewal of a permit;

• (ii) an application or potential application for the variation of a permit or the conditions to which it is subject, or a review of a permit and its conditions;

• (iii) a request or potential request for the Secretary of State’s consent to the transfer of a permit;

• (iv) the revocation or surrender of a permit;

• (v) the testing or analysis of substances;

• (vi) the validating of, or of the results of, any testing or analysis of substances; and

• (vii) assessing how the environment might be affected by the release or discharge into it of any substances,

but paragraph (1) only applies to the matters referred to in sub-paragraphs (e) to (g) and (h)(v) to (h)(vii) in cases where the testing, analysis, validating or assessing is in any way in anticipation of, or otherwise in connection with, the making of permit applications or is carried out in pursuance of conditions to which any permit is subject.

• (3) A charging scheme made under this regulation shall be so framed that the fees and charges payable under the scheme are sufficient, taking one year with another, to cover such expenditure as may be incurred by or on behalf of the Secretary of State in connection with any of the matters to which paragraph (1) applies.

Duration of permits

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A permit may be granted for a period specified in the permit or without limit of time.

Application for renewal of an existing permit

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