Chemicals – Pipeline
- Legislation
- Consent Needed and How to Obtain It
- Performance Standards
- Sampling/Monitoring Requirements
- Reporting Requirements
- Non Compliance
- Renewal and Variation
- Snippets
For information on the impact of Brexit on oil and gas environmental legislation, please refer to the pdf document downloadable from the Home Page.
| Consent Needed: | The Petroleum Act, 1998 requires an application to be made to the Secretary of State for a Pipelines Works Authorisation to construct and use a submarine pipeline on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf.Although some information on chemicals may still included in the PWA application, use and discharge of chemicals is now covered by the Offshore Chemicals Regulations 2002 and a separate permit application is required.Emergency Pipeline Deposits – As part of standard pipeline operations, in order to allow urgent deposits to be made in emergency situations, an ‘Open Permission – Emergency Pipeline Deposit Template’ has been generated for PWA Holders.The ‘Open Permission’ requires the PWA Holder to complete the following template and submit it to the NSTA by 9am on the next working day following the emergency deposit. This needs to be submit to Claire Grant (claire.grant@oga.gsi.gov.uk) at the NSTA. |
| How to Apply: |
An Application must be made using a pipeline operation application.Note: The new pipeline operation application will consist of two elements; the Master Application Template (MAT) and the Subsidiary Application Template (SAT). Completion of the MAT provides access to various SATs:
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| Who to Apply to: | PETS applications must be submitted electronically to BEIS via the UK Oil Portal. Operators will need to be registered with BEIS for access to the Portal.To set up a UK Oil Portal Account, contact the BEIS OED Environmental Management Team at ukop@decc.gsi.gov.uk.Any problems with a PETS submission contact the BEIS OED EMT by email at emt@decc.gsi.gov.uk |
| When to Apply: | At least 28 days prior to operation. Consultations with MS or CEFAS will be made by BEIS. |
| Requirements of the Regulations: | Operators will need to assess the risks to the environment which might arise from their particular chemicals use and discharge. For some chemicals e.g. those on the OSPAR PLONOR list, assessment will be straightforward. Others will require a formal process of risk assessment, such as can be done using available risk assessment protocols such as the Osborne Adams calculation. In this process, the predicted environmental concentration (PEC), determined from a knowledge of individual substance or product chemistry and the conditions of use, is compared with the Predicted No-effect Concentration (PNEC) determined from toxicity tests conducted to agreed protocols. This allows more informed assessments of risk to local sensitivities to be made in particular use and/or discharge scenarios.Marine Licensing Exempt Activities – A list of exemptions to marine licensing has been published and it details activities exempt from marine licensing and which exemptions require the MMO to be notified and which exemptions require MMO approval. This includes ‘cables and pipelines – authorised emergency repair and inspection’ and ‘deposit of marine chemical and marine oil treatment substances’. |
| Limits Placed on Disposal of Pipeline Chemicals: |
Term permit for the discharge of chemicals from pipelines impose the following general duties:
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| UK National Plan for the phase-out of substances identified as candidates for substitution – in line with OSPAR Recommendation 2006/3:(The full text of the current UK National Plan for phase out can be found on the CEFAS website) |
OSPAR Recommendation 2006/3 requires that as soon as is practicable and no later than 1 January 2017, Contracting Parties to OSPAR should have phased out the discharge of offshore chemicals that are, or which contain substances, identified as candidates for substitution except for those chemicals where despite considerable efforts, it can be demonstrated that this is not feasible due to technical or safety reasons. Demonstration of those reasons should include a description of those efforts.Having considered the requirements of OSPAR Recommendation 2006/3, the UK has decided to base its National Plan for the prioritisation of phase-out on the following criteria:
The UK National Plan also incorporates justification of continued use and/or discharge as an additional element: for those substances where replacement and/or eliminating discharges to the marine environment is not currently feasible, offshore operators or their chemical suppliers will annually be required to:
UK National Plan level criteria and interim target dates are (See the full text of the UK National Plan (PDF document) on the CEFAS website for definitions of persistence, bioaccumulating and toxicity):
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| EC Regulation 1907/2006 (REACH): | REACH deals with the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemical substances. The aim of REACH is to improve the protection of human health and the environment through the better and earlier identification of the intrinsic properties of chemical substances. At the same time, innovative capability and competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry should be enhanced.The benefits of the REACH system will come gradually, as more and more substances are phased into REACH. The HSE is the UK Competent Authority for REACH and is working closely with Defra plus other Government departments and Agencies on the policy/enforcement aspects. HSE enforces maritime Health and Safety Regulations which apply to offshore installations. To ensure a consistent regime, the offshore enforcement of REACH will be carried out by those who are familiar with enforcement requirements in similar circumstances to that required by REACH. Therefore, HSE and BEIS will enforce offshore the aspects of REACH relating to health/safety and environmental protection, using their respective onshore administrative procedures and offshore inspectors to check compliance with the relevant provisions. In this regard, BEIS sits on the REACH Enforcement Liaison Group (established by the HSE) to ensure that a proportionate and consistent method of enforcement is adopted.From an offshore environmental protection perspective, the OSPAR HMCS and REACH requirements will run in parallel, with the HMCS approach to controlling offshore chemicals being appropriately harmonised with the provisions of the EU Regulation. Accordingly, the UK REACH Enforcement Regulations contain certain provisions from, and makes references to, the OCR so effectively OCR (and hence the HMCS) will be the mechanism for supporting the application of the environmental protection elements of REACH to offshore installations. It should, however, be noted that BEIS’s regulatory regime for offshore chemicals does not extend to Scottish controlled waters and therefore, in so far as this area is concerned, REACH will be enforced by an authorised body (i.e. SEPA) on behalf of the Scottish Executive.REACH provisions will be phased-in over 11 years. Appendix 1 of the Guidance Notes on Reach addresses Specific REACH issues pertaining to the offshore sector. A Timetable of REACH Implementation (Word document) is available on the Government Website. |
| Permit Conditions: | It is likely that monitoring/sampling requirements will be imposed, but if they are this will be a part of the conditions attached to the Chemical Term Permit or Works Authorisation. |
| What to Report: |
Chemical Use and Discharge Reports should be made on pipeline chemicals as required using the EEMS PermPipe form from the EEMS website. Annual Progress Reports on Substitution Chemicals Previously progress reports on substitution chemicals have only been requested for production chemicals (production operation permit). This reporting requirement is now extended to term permits. Reporting templates can be downloaded here (documents can be found under the reporting requirements section Offshore Chemicals Regulations 2002 (as amended)). Reporting includes summary of chemicals replaced, summary of chemicals still to be replaced and justification for continued use and/or discharge. This guidance document explains the completion of reporting spreadsheets. Emergency Pipeline Deposits As part of standard pipeline operations, in order to allow urgent deposits to be made in emergency situations, an ‘Open Permission – Emergency Pipeline Deposit Template’ has been generated for PWA Holders. The ‘Open Permission’ requires the PWA Holder to complete the following template and submit it to the NSTA by 9am on the next working day following the emergency deposit. This needs to be submit to Claire Grant (claire.grant@oga.gsi.gov.uk) at the NSTA. |
| Who to Report to: |
Chemical Use and DischargeReports need to be made electronically on the EEMS website after each pipeline operation. BEIS will use EEMS reports to cross check against permit conditions to ensure compliance. Annual Progress Reports on Substitution Chemicals Reports need to be submitted to BEIS Environmental Management Team by email to emt@decc.gsi.gov.uk |
| When to Report: | Chemical Use and Discharge EEMS reports are to be submitted 28 days after operation completion.Annual progress reports are required to be submitted on or before 28 February of each calendar year. |
| Non Compliance: |
Any non-compliance with permit conditions under the Offshore Chemicals Regulations (OCR) 2002 should be reported to OPRED via the Integrated Reporting Service (IRS) on the UK Energy Portal. If the IRS is unavailable, an OCR non-compliance notification form should be sent to OPRED. Examples of non-compliance may include, but are not limited to:
In addition the form may be used to notify BEIS of any other applicable notifications specifically as required by the chemical permit conditions as appropriate. Variations to chemical permits should be made before exceeding permit limits. Emergency approval of chemical use and/or discharge can be obtained out of normal office hours by contacting the BEIS Duty Officer – ask to be connected to the On-Call Response Office (Offshore Environmental Inspectorate). Guidance on emergency approval can be found in the Guidance Notes of the Legislation tab. If a variation is not in place before the unpermitted use or discharge occurs, a non-compliance notification form should be submitted. It is an offence not to submit a non-compliance report if required. |
| Chemical spill: | Any accidental spill of chemicals must be reported to BEIS using a PON1 (see Chemical Spills for additional details). |
| Inspections: | At any reasonable time (or in a situation which in his opinion may give rise to a risk of significant pollution to the environment as a result of the use or discharge from an offshore source of an offshore chemical, at any time) the inspector may board any offshore installation to undertake inspections and investigations. The Offshore Oil and Gas Environment Enforcement Policy sets out the general principles that Inspectors shall follow in relation to enforcement including prosecution. |
| Enforcement and prohibition notices: | BEIS, if of the opinion that the OCR 2002 Regulations have been contravened, may issue an enforcement notice. This will specify the matters that constitute or are likely to constitute a contravention, steps required to rectify the matter and the time period within which these steps must be undertaken. If an enforcement notice is not addressed, BEIS may take action itself and recover reasonable costs back from the operator. If BEIS is of the opinion that the operation of an offshore installation involves an imminent risk of serious pollution as a consequence of any discharge of chemical, BEIS may serve a prohibition notice. This will specify the pollution risk, the steps required to remove it and the time period, and may withdraw a permit wholly or in part until the prohibition notice is withdrawn. |
| False or Misleading Information: | BEIS may by notice revoke a permit granted where they are of the opinion that the application for the permit in question contained any information or statement which was false or misleading in a material particular or where the operator in question has been guilty of a breach of any condition attached to the permit. |
| Offences: |
A person is guilty of an offence if he:
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| Permit Duration: | Permits for pipeline chemicals will normally be issued for a specified period and are “Term Permits”. |
| Renewal: | This is not applicable as permits are issued for a specified permit. BEIS must be notified of any pipeline installation/commissioning schedule changes. If the permit expiry date is likely to be exceeded, a variation should be submitted in order to extend the permit, at least 2 weeks prior to the due date. |
| Update, Variation or New Permit: |
Applications need to be made to BEIS for a variation in the terms and conditions of a permit if there is any increase in the use and discharge of chemicals or changes in the chemicals used. All applications need to be considered by BEIS and MS (CEFAS in England and Wales).Update – change to permit made after the application but before approval has been given.Variation – change to permit made after approval has been given. Application for a variation or update should be made by clearly amending the previously submitted pipeline operation application. A variation or update cannot be submitted once a Term Permit has expired, and a new application must be submitted. If submitting a variation, all sections should be completed describing any changes in chemical usage relating to the new works. Variations will be dealt with by BEIS as quickly as possible, but 28 days should be allowed for the assessment of any significant changes. Note: a variation cannot be submitted once a Term Permit has expired, and a new application must be submitted. |
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