GovWire

Overview

A marine licence is required for many different types of activity. The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is the licensing authority for England and for activities taking place from British vessels outside UK waters.

We aim to make a decision on most applications within 13 weeks of an application being validated. However, each application is different and some applications will take longer than this, while others will take less time.

Some low-risk activities may be eligible for self-service marine licensing and some low-volume dredging activities may be suitable for the accelerated licensing process.

We recover the cost of marine licensing by charging fees to licence applicants. We strongly encourage you to speak with us before submitting an application. This is particularly important if your project is likely to:

• require an environmental impact assessment (EIA)
• need an assessment under the Habitats Regulations
• affect the status of a water body under the Water Framework Directive
• generate waste covered under the Waste Regulations

We can advise you what information is required to support your application. This could include sampling and sediment analysis.

Your application will not be progressed until the required information has been provided and your application may be rejected if it does not contain all the information needed.

When you apply

Our marine licence application timeline gives an overview of the whole application process from allocation through to approval and monitoring.

To apply for a marine licence, register on MMOs online system and set up your online account. You can then use your online account to submit a marine licence application. You can also submit:

• submit an enquiry
• notify us about an exempt activity
• request an EIA screening opinion
• request an EIA scoping requests
• request an environmental statement review
• request a sample plan, sediment analysis or laboratory validation
• request a variation to a marine licence

You can log in to check the progress of your application at any time.

After we receive your application we will need to validate it. We will check that:

• you need a marine licence for the activities you propose
• the application and any supporting documents are complete
• appropriate payment has been made
• all relevant information is provided

If further information is required to support your application, we will refuse to proceed with your application whilst providing details of what is required and how the application should be resubmitted.

Upon receipt of a complete application, you will be advised of the payment band, or fee estimate for your application. You will have 14 days to accept or make the appropriate payment.

Failure to respond to these requests may result in us refusing to validate your application.
Note: If we refuse your application because you have not provided information required or accepted the fee estimate within the timeframes provided you will be required to resubmit your application once the requirements previously set out have been addressed.Once an application has been validated, we will aim to allocate your application within 7 days and start the process.

If you need more support using the MMOs online system, you can use the guidance to help you successfully complete a marine licence application. The guidance is designed to help you to submit applications that are fully complete.

Assessing marine licence applications

We make decisions in accordance with the Marine Policy Statement and relevant marine plans, unless relevant considerations indicate otherwise. You can find information about marine plans on the explore marine plans. In deciding an application, we must consider all relevant matters including the need to:

• protect the environment
• protect human health
• prevent interference with legitimate uses of the sea.

In this context, the environment includes sites of historic or archaeological interest as well as natural habitats and species.

You (the applicant) are responsible for providing sufficient information with your application in order for us to assess it. This must include details about the activities you wish to carry out as well as information on the likely impacts associated with them.

There may be occasions where further information is required. If this is the case, we will provide details of what is required and the timescale in which it should be received. Failure to provide the information may result in a decision to refuse to proceed with your application. This is also relevant when payments for work completed are not received. We will also consider other relevant policies and plans and some applications may be subject to other forms of assessment.

We may consult interested parties about your application. This usually includes other public authorities and agencies and we will often consult the public too. If we do this, we may require you to place notices in national and local publications. More than one advert may be needed if an application is to be advertised under more than one piece of legislation or regulations.

We base our decisions on the best available evidence, but this information is rarely perfect. There may be a potential impact risk, but scientific uncertainty about exactly what this might be. The precautionary principle is applied when making licensing decisions in such circumstances and prevents a lack of scientific certainty to be used as a reason to postpone cost-effective measures to prevent environmental harm.

In certain circumstances the MMO can ask Defra Ministers if they want to hold a public inquiry and then decide an application themselves. You can find out more about how applications can be recovered from the MMO for decisions by Ministers.

Determining an application

Having assessed an application, we will either:

• grant the licence
• grant the licence subject to conditions
• refuse the application.

Conditions will often be used to mitigate adverse impacts to the environment, human health and other legitimate uses of the sea. These could include:

• timing restrictions being placed on activities
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