Chemical Spills

• Offshore Installations (Emergency Pollution Control) Regulations 2002

These Regulations give the Government power to intervene in the event of an incident involving an offshore installation where there is, or may be a risk of significant pollution, or where an operator has failed to implement proper control and preventative measures. These Regulations apply to chemical and oil spills.

• Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999
• Offshore Chemical Regulations 2002

These Regulations require all use and discharge of chemicals at offshore oil and gas installations to be covered under a permit system. Exceedance of discharge limits must be reported.

Amendments to the Offshore Chemicals Regulations 2002, made under Schedule 2 of the Offshore Petroleum Activities (Oil Pollution Prevention and Control) Regulations 2005 (OPPC) increase the powers of DECC inspectors to investigate non-compliances and risk of significant pollution from chemical discharges, including the issue of prohibition or enforcement notices.

Proposed revision to the Offshore Chemicals Regulations 2002 are currently out to consultation (see Pending Legislation).

• Merchant Shipping Act 1995
• Merchant Shipping (Dangerous or Noxious Liquid Substances in Bulk) Regulations 1996 (NLS Regulations)
• The Merchant Shipping (Implementation of Ship-Source Pollution Directive) Regulations 2009

These Regulations implement EU Directive 2005/35/EEC in ship-source pollution and on the introduction of penalties for infringement, through amendment of the 1996 NLS Regulations and the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. The Regulations limit the defences available to the master or owner of a ship involved in an oil spill or chemical spill and extend liability for the discharge to others such as charterers and classification societies. This closed a loop hole in the existing legislation where some large spills were not open to prosecution under MARPOL.

Guidance on the Petroleum Operations Notice No 1

Provides guidance on oil and chemical spill reporting as well as a pro forma for spill reports.

Guidance on the Offshore Chemicals Regulations 2002

Additional Guidance for the Offshore Chemicals Regulations 2002

Revised Guidance Notes on the Offshore Chemical Regulations 2002 are currently out to consultation (see Pending Legislation). A copy of the proposed revised Guidance Notes are available as part of the consultation package on the DECC Website.

It is essential that the same name as given in the CEFAS Ranked List or the relevant PON15 permit is used when reporting chemical spills, where applicable.

Where a chemical is not on the CEFAS Ranked List or the PON15 because it is exempt from the Offshore Chemical Regulations 2002, this should still be reported as a chemical spill. However, if this is a largely oil based chemical, it should be reported as an oil spill not a chemical spill.

All accidental chemical spills should be reported to DECC and HM Coastguard using a PON 1. Guidance on the use and completion of the PON1 is available on the DECC website. Note that there is a separate box on the revised PON1 for chemical spills.

A decision on whether to report a spill as an oil spill or chemical spill can be made depending on whether the substance spilt has been permitted under the Offshore Chemical Regulations 2002 (e.g. drilling fluids), in which case it should be reported as a chemical spill, or not (e.g. reservoir hydrocarbons, lube oils, diesel etc.), in which case it should be reported as an oil spill.

When the spill is large/significant/ongoing then the earliest possible notification is required as per the PON1 guidance. Where only a small spill has occurred, a fax report is required, and this should be submitted within 6 hours of the spill.

Where there is a risk of significant pollution from a chemical spill incident, DECC will inform the Secretary of State Representative (SOSREP). The SOSREP has powers of intervention and may issue directions to contain or remove the pollution risk. If any directions issued have not been effective, the SOSREP can take any further action he feels necessary, including sinking or destroying all or part of an offshore installation or taking control of the installation.

The PON1 is currently under revision as part of an ongoing consultation excercise on the Offshore Chemical Regulations 2002 and OPPC Regulations 2005 (see Pending Legislation). A copy of the proposed revised PON1 is available as part of the consultation package on the DECC Website.

Unscheduled operational discharge of chemicals or a discharge that is not undertaken in accordance with the conditions detailed in the permit application or a discharge that is undertaken for the purpose of securing the safety of any person (force majeure), should not be reported on the PON1. 

In these cases, the DECC Permit Condition non-compliance Notification Form is to be used for reporting any identified non-compliances against Chemical Permit Conditions issued under the provisions of the Offshore Chemical Regulations 2002.

Monitoring or sampling requirements may be imposed in the event of a major spill.

See Performance Standards for more information on the requirements of the PON1 reporting.

See Above

Under the Offshore Chemicals Regulations 2002 it is an offence to discharge chemicals above the permitted quantities or type of chemical. Any chemical excursion must be reported to DECC.

The Consultation closed on 16 October 2009. Further information is available on the DECC Website.

DECC has published its responses to the consultation exercise and the responses can be found on the DECC website. The responses supported the need for the amending Regulations and after a meeting with industry in May 2010 all points raised were
resolved.

The principle aim of the proposed amendments - to be introduced via the Offshore Chemicals (Amendment) Regulations 2010 and the Offshore Petroleum Activities (Oil Pollution Prevention and Control) (Amendment) Regulations 2010 ("amending Regulations") is to make unlawful unintentional releases of chemicals and oil that arise through accidents / non-operational discharges by broadening accordingly the definitions of "offshore chemical" and "discharges" and incorporating a new concept of "release" so as to: (a) differentiate between intentional discharges and other releases; and (b) create a new offence in respect of releases, or allowing a release to continue. Consequently, in making releases unlawful, it will be possible to provide for suitable enforcement actions, including the ability to serve notices to prevent releases occurring and specify actions to be taken to remedy any pollution caused by a contravention and potentially prosecute in the event of any releases. Both sets of amending Regulations also contain a number of minor changes to clarify points which the Offshore Environment and Decommissioning (OED) Branch of DECC's Energy Development Unit (EDU) have identified through experience of administering the existing Regulations since they came into force.

The Environmental Liability Directive was adopted in 2004 and was required to be implemented by 30 April 2007.  The Directive enforces strict liability for prevention and remediation of environmental damage to ‘biodiversity’, water and land from specified activities and remediation of environmental damage for all other activities through fault or negligence. 

The Environmental Liability Directive is now implemented in England and Wales (see Environmental Liability). The Scottish Government has completed its 2nd consultation and regulations are pending.