Marine and Coastal Access (MCA) Act 2009
Marine Licence Application Form
Activities that may require a marine licence, because they cannot be controlled
under the Petroleum Act 1998 (as amended) or Energy Act 2008, or are not
exempted under the Marine Licensing (Exempted Activities) Order 2011 (as
amended), will include (but may not be limited to):

Disturbance of the sea bed, e.g. to access platform legs or to relocate cuttings
piles, or to undertake trenching operations that are not covered by a Pipelines Works
Authorisation (PWA) issued under the Petroleum Act.

Temporary deposits, e.g. during abandonment operations or in advance of
activities authorised under the Petroleum Act or Energy Act.

Deposit or removal of certain cables, e.g. telecommunications, power or control
cables not covered by a PWA.

Deposits or removal of substances or objects, e.g. to undertake rock dumping,
mattress emplacement or burial operations that are not covered by a PWA, or to
remove platforms or other infrastructure from the sea bed.

Deposit and use of explosives, e.g. to remove seabed obstructions, to sever
wellheads or during the course of other decommissioning activities (N.B. seismic use
of explosives would be covered by the DECC geological survey consenting regime).
Guidance in relation to the DECC MCA Act licensing regime can be found on the
DECC Oil and Gas website at www.og.decc.co.uk\XXXX , or by contacting the
DECC Environmental Management Team (emt@decc.gsi.gov.uk or 01224 254045 /
254050
Applications for a marine licence will require the payment of a fixed sum application
fee. You will be invoiced for the fee following submission of the application. In the
case of applications supported by an Environmental Statement (ES), there will be a
separate fee to cover the costs associated with the ES review process, which will be
calculated based on the time spent dealing with individual submissions. You will
therefore be invoiced separately for this fee, following completion of the review
process. Further information in relation to the DECC MCA Act marine licence
charging scheme, and the Marine Works (Environmental Impact Assessment)
Regulations 2007 (as amended) charging scheme, can be found on the DECC Oil
and Gas website at www.og.decc.co.uk\XXXX .
Marine Licence Application Form
Department of Energy and Climate Change, Atholl House, 86-88 Guild Street, Aberdeen AB11 6AR
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All tables and text boxes in this application form can be expanded as necessary.
1.
TYPE OF APPLICATION
a)
Is this an application for a new marine licence?
YES/NO
b)
Is this an application to amend an existing marine licence?
YES/NO
c)
Is this an application to extend an existing marine licence?
YES/NO
d)
Is this an application to renew an existing marine licence?
YES/NO
The period of validity of marine licences can be extended up to a maximum of one year
(12 months), but licences must be renewed if activities will extend into a second year. If you
are applying to amend, extend or renew an existing licence, any changes in the application
form must be clearly highlighted.
2.
APPLICANT DETAILS
To be completed for all applications.
Name of Company
Address
Name of Contact
Position within Company
Telephone Number
Fax Number
E-mail
NOTE: The applicant will normally be the licensed operator.
3.
LICENSED OPERATOR DETAILS
To be completed for all applications.
If the Licensed Operator is the Applicant, please tick this box and move to
Section 4.
Name of Company
Address
Name of Contact
Position within Company
Telephone Number
Fax Number
E-mail
Marine Licence Application Form
Department of Energy and Climate Change, Atholl House, 86-88 Guild Street, Aberdeen AB11 6AR
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4.
ACTIVITY DETAILS
To be completed for all applications.
Location of Proposed
Works:
Latitude / Longitude
Coordinates:
Quad/Block:
XXo XX’ XX North (degrees, minute and seconds)
XXXo XX’ XX East*/West* (* delete as appropriate)
Field Name:
Earliest Start Date:
End Date:
Description of Proposed Activity
Please provide details of the proposed activity in the following text box, or enter the name of
any relevant document or file submitted in support of the application.
NOTE: For applications relating to a number of licensable activities, please clearly
identify the separate activities.
Marine Licence Application Form
Department of Energy and Climate Change, Atholl House, 86-88 Guild Street, Aberdeen AB11 6AR
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5.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Is the application supported by an Environmental Statement?
YES/NO
If “Yes”, a copy should be submitted to accompany the application form.
If “No", please provide an environmental impact assessment in the following text box, or
enter the name of any relevant document or file submitted in support of the application.
Marine Licence Application Form
Department of Energy and Climate Change, Atholl House, 86-88 Guild Street, Aberdeen AB11 6AR
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6.
SUMMARY ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION
a)
Are there any protected sites (e.g. SPA / SAC / RAMSAR / SSSI),
or candidate protected sites within 40 km of the activity?
YES/NO
If “Yes”, please list them below.
Site
b)
Designating feature(s)
Distance from
activity (km)
Is the activity within a fish or shellfish spawning or nursery area?
YES/NO
If “Yes”, please provide details of relevant species and relevant times of the year?
Species
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
S = Spawning, N = Nursery, J = Juveniles, NS = No documented sensitivity, Blank = No data
(more than one code can be entered)
c)
Are there times of the year when seabirds in the vicinity of the
activity are more vulnerable than at other times of the year?
YES/NO
Please provide details of seabird vulnerability.
Quadrant/ Block
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
1 = Very High, 2 = High, 3 = Moderate, 4 = Low, Blank = No data
d)
Are there times of the year when sea mammals (e.g. dolphins
porpoises, whales, seals etc) in the vicinity of the activity are more
abundant than at other times of the year?
YES/NO
Please provide details of sea mammal abundance.
Species
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
1 = High Density, 2 = Moderate Density, 3 = Low Density, Blank = No data
e)
Are there any other outstanding or unusual environmental
features in the vicinity of the activity (e.g. seasonal algal blooms,
sessile benthic species and geological or archaeological features)?
YES/NO
Marine Licence Application Form
Department of Energy and Climate Change, Atholl House, 86-88 Guild Street, Aberdeen AB11 6AR
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If “Yes”, please provide details in the following text box, or enter the name of any relevant
document or file submitted in support of the application.
f)
Please provide details of the sources on the summary environmental information.
Protected sites
Fish / shellfish
Seabirds
Marine mammals
Other environmental features
7.
CONSULTATION
Has there been prior consultation with any relevant stakeholders,
e.g. the MMO, Devolved Authorities, Statutory Nature Conservation
Agencies, MCA, Statutory Light Authorities or MOD?
YES/NO
If “Yes”, please confirm which bodies have been consulted, whether there were any
objections, and whether copies of any relevant correspondence have been provided to
accompany the application.
Name of Body
8.
Did they object to the
activities? (YES/NO)
Is relevant correspondence
provided? (YES/NO)
MARINE LICENCE VARIATIONS
If you are applying to amend, extend or renew an existing marine licence, please provide a
chronological summary of all requested variations.
Marine Licence Application Form
Department of Energy and Climate Change, Atholl House, 86-88 Guild Street, Aberdeen AB11 6AR
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9.
COMPLETED APPLICATIONS
Completed applications should be forwarded to the DECC Environmental Management
Team, preferably by e-mail to emt@decc.gsi.gov.uk or by post to:
Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC)
Energy Development Unit (EDU)
Offshore Environment and Decommissioning Branch (OED)
Environmental Management Team
Atholl House
86-88 Guild Street
Aberdeen AB11 6AR
All routine applications should be submitted at least 28 days in advance of the proposed
commencement of the licensable activities, and applications supported by an Environmental
Statement should be submitted at least three months in advance of the proposed
commencement of the activities. If any information is not available at the time of submission,
this should be indicated in the appropriate section of the application form, and the
information should be provided separately as soon as possible. Any delay in forwarding
information or responding to DECC enquiries is likely to result in a delay in determining the
application.
Marine Licence Application Form
Department of Energy and Climate Change, Atholl House, 86-88 Guild Street, Aberdeen AB11 6AR
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