The purpose of the Regulations is to require the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform ("SoS") to take into consideration environmental information before making decisions on whether or not to consent to certain offshore activities. The Regulations require that any Operator who wishes to carry out those activities must first make an assessment of the impact that the activity would have on the environment (i.e. an Environmental Assessment (EA) and then summarise and present the conclusions of this in an Environmental Statement (ES). The Operator must then submit the Environmental Statement to the Department of Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR) in support of the application for consent under the Petroleum Act 1998 for the offshore activity. This consent will not be given until the SoS is satisfied with the information provided and that there will be no significant impact on the environment.

The IEMA are seeking views from our Members to assist us in preparing a response. Please forward your responses to us using the response form which is provided with the consultation document below:

Responses should be sent by email to g.bower@iema.net by 2 May 2008. This will give us time to compile our final response prior to the consultation deadline (07/05/08).