Marine Act (Northern Ireland) 2013

The Marine Act (Northern Ireland) 2013 gained Royal Assent on 17 September 2013 and came into operation the following day.

This is the final piece of an ambitious marine legislative programme, which strengthens Northern Ireland’s ability to manage its marine waters in a better way.

The Marine Programme comprises;

• The Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (which extends to Northern Ireland in respect of marine licensing and some aspects of marine planning);
• The UK-wide Marine Strategy Regulations 2010 (which transpose the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC); and
• The Marine Act (Northern Ireland) 2013.

The implementation of the Marine Act will assist Northern Ireland in contributing to the aim of having clean, healthy safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas.

The following documents are available to download as pdf documents:

Download the Marine Act (Northern Ireland) 2013(264kb)

Download the Explanatory Notes for Marine Act (Northern Ireland) 2013(253kb)

The Marine Act sets out a new framework for Northern Ireland’s seas based on: a system of marine planning that will balance conservation, energy and resource needs; improved management for marine nature conservation and the streamlining of marine licensing for some electricity projects.

The Marine Act applies to the Northern Ireland inshore region – this is the territorial sea out to twelve nautical miles.  This area includes all the tidal rivers and sea loughs (including Lough Foyle and Carlingford Lough).

The main provisions of the Act are outlined below:

Marine Planning

The Marine Act (Northern Ireland) 2013 enables the Department of the Environment to prepare a marine plan for all for part of the inshore region.  A marine plan will bring together information and policies on the multiple uses of the marine area, together with spatial and temporal data for the water column and the sea bed, using maps where appropriate.  As a strategic tool it will allow decisions to be made about the best use of the marine area, in order to maximise compatibility of activities and achieve sustainable development.

Stakeholder engagement is an essential part of the development of a marine plan.  In addition the Department must consult with the other departments with marine functions (DARD, DRD, DETI and DCAL) as the marine plan will state their policies in connection with the sustainable development of the marine area.  If a marine plan includes retained functions (those not fully devolved to Northern Ireland) the Secretary of State must approve the plan before it can be adopted.

Go to the Northern Ireland Marine Plan page.

Nature Conservation

The Marine Act (Northern Ireland) 2013 enables the Department to designate areas as marine conservation zones.  These MCZs may be designated for various purposes including the conservation of marine species and habitats, taking fully into account any economic, cultural or social consequences of doing so.  The Secretary of State must agree to the making of the designation.

Stakeholder engagement is an essential part of the designation process and the Department must publish guidance on the way in which designations will be made.

The Act also allows the Department to make byelaws to protect MCZs, these are subject to consultation and publication procedures and must be confirmed by the Secretary of State.

It is an offence to intentionally or recklessly destroy or damage a protected feature of an MCZ or to contravene a byelaw.

Go to the DOE conservation page.

Marine Licensing

Part 4 of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 introduced a new system of marine licensing which extended to Northern Ireland.

The 2009 Act allowed for the use of ‘special procedures’ in respect of certain electricity works in parts of the UK.  The Marine Act (Northern Ireland) 2013 allows for the extension of these arrangements to Northern Ireland

These special procedures will apply in situations where both a marine licence (from DOE) and a generating consent (from DETI) are required, and will allow for parallel consideration of applications for both types of consent.

Go to the DOE Marine Licensing page.