Our marine licensing team answer some of the key questions to support applicants through the marine licensing process.
A marine licence is required if you are undertaking any of the marine licensable activities listed in Section 66 of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) are the marine licensing authority for English inshore and offshore waters and for North Ireland Offshore Waters.
The first step is determining if your proposed works include marine licensable activities.
You must determine the scope, location and methodology of your project as this will affect whether the proposal contains a marine licensable activity, which requires a standard marine licence, or whether it will be considered exempt or require a self-service marine licence.
In the first instance you are recommended to use the MMO online interactive tool to determine if your proposed works contain marine licensable activities. Please note a project may have multiple marine licensable activities, therefore you should consider each stage of your project. As the applicant you are responsible for determining the marine licensable activities.
Do I need a marine licence interactive tool:
https://marinelicensing.marinemanagement.org.uk/mmofox5/journey/self-service/start
For some projects you are required to undertake pre-application work prior to submitting a standard marine licence application.
Pre-application work includes:
- Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Screening for potential EIA cases
- Applying for a sample plan to undertake sediment sampling (using the MMO approved sample plan) prior to submitting a dredge and disposal application.
For further information please review:
Marine Licensing: sediment analysis and sample plans
Marine Licensing: impact assessments
The next step is drafting your marine licence application.
You must apply for a self-service marine licence or standard marine licence using the Marine Case Management System (MCMS).
When drafting your marine licence application, you should clearly identify each marine licensable activity within your application. This should be submitted as individual activities under the Sites/activities summary section of the application. Please follow the guidance in the blue box on the MCMS screen.
You must provide a ‘worst-case scenario’ in order for the MMO to assess the impacts of each marine licensable activity. The worst-case scenario includes the maximum dimensions (length, depth, volume, height etc) and maximum duration (time frames). You must also provide the equipment and methodology to be used. This should be provided for each marine licensable activity you are applying for.
An increase in scope or changes to the methodology after the marine licence application has been submitted may require a new application to be submitted. This will be considered on a case-by-case basis, but you are recommended to apply when you understand the maximum scope of your project.
Your marine licence (subject to a positive determination) is drafted using your application, and sections of your application are automatically pulled through to the draft marine licence when it is generated. You should therefore make sure:
- You write your application clearly using grammar, punctuation and full sentences.
- The application is written as a lay summary. A marine licence must be understandable by the public.
- Abbreviations should be avoided, and full names written out.
- You must not use ambiguous language such as approximately. You must provide the worst-case scenario (maximum scope of the marine licensable activities you are applying for).
It is important that you provide Supporting Documentation and Impact Assessments.
The Marine Case Management System allows you to submit documents in support of your application.
You must ensure any documentation submitted is tailored to the marine licensable activity that you are applying for. The case team will not accept documents which are not clearly presented. You will be asked to re-submit documentation if the case team considers the documentation is not fit for purpose.
If you submit construction drawings this will be attached as a Schedule (supporting document) to your Marine Licence if your application is approved.
You will also be required to submit certain impact assessments depending on the location of your works and the type of marine licence activity you are undertaking, for further information visit: Marine Licensing: impact assessments.
When considering the marine licence duration we recommend you apply for a marine licence with a minimum of one year duration.
This enables the MMO to assess the impacts of the proposed works over all four seasons. This will enable you to undertake the proposed works at any time of year (unless a timing restriction is required following consultation with MMOs primary advisors). This gives you greater flexibility when hiring contractors.
We strongly advise that you submit your application within plenty of time
You should complete any required pre-application work prior to submitting a marine licence application.
The MMO aims to determine 90% of all marine licence applications within 13 weeks of validation. This timeframe does not include ‘on hold’ time. The target date is revised if the application needs to go on hold at any point in the process. Time spent on hold is separate to the target timescale of 13 weeks and in effect, the clock stops if a case goes on hold.
An application may be put on hold if further information is required from you, if additional rounds of consultation are required or if an updated fee estimate needs to be accepted (this is not an exhaustive list).
Please note the MMO does not offer an expedited process but will endeavour to process the application within our 13-week timeframe. In addition, the MMO does not guarantee a positive determination.
For further details regarding the marine licensing application timeframe visit: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-marine-licence-application-timeline
If you need further advice the MMO marine licensing team can provide a response to simple queries submitted by email to marine.consents@marinemanagement.org.uk.
For more complex queries the MMO offers a pre-application service. This pre-application service is available through submitting an enquiry on MCMS. More complex queries may require a fee to be paid. Where this is the case, we will discuss this with you and an estimate will be provided for acceptance before we start any work.
For more information on the MMO’s role in marine licensing please visit GOV.UK.