Environment Report 2015

6. Significant Issues and Activities 6.1 Improving Efficiency in Environmental Management

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Improving efficiency in oil and gas production on the UKCS is an area of important focus for the industry. Many companies have taken on the challenge internally and industry initiatives, such as Oil & Gas UK’s Efficiency Task Force, are highlighting good ideas and encouraging their implementation. From 2014 to 2015, Oil & Gas UK worked with its members to improve efficiency in the environmental management of exploration and production operations by looking to standardise environmental management practices; working together to reduce duplication and provide evidence to consultations jointly; minimising the administrative burden of new legislation; and mitigating the impacts of new legislation by working closely with key stakeholders in the UK Government and from the EU. The work has aimed to improve efficiency in environmental management processes and at the same time maintain current levels of environmental protection, demonstrated by the continued decline in emissions and discharges by the industry. Further efficiency improvements are achievable. This requires, however, continued effort by industry and the regulators and a proportional approach to environmental management based on the level of environmental risk posed. Such an approach would allow effort and resources to be sensibly focused on the areas of greatest risk and potentially significant impact. Mitigating the Impact of New Legislation The UK offshore oil and gas industry is controlled and regulated through a broad range of national and international legislation that governs how it operates in the shared marine environment and as part of the unique North Sea ecosystem. The legislation requires industry to understand the environment it is operating in so that potential impacts can be fully assessed. This understanding comes through the evidence gathered from environmental surveys, research studies and from the review of academic publications. The same evidence is used to assess the impact that new legislation might have on the industry. Oil & Gas UK continues to review new environmental legislation and press for regulatory reform where there is no clear environmental benefit, while working with members and regulators to increase understanding of and to facilitate efficient implementation of new regulatory requirements. In 2015, Oil & Gas UK developed responses for a number of formal consultation requests from government. These include responses on the introduction of new marine protected areas such as Special Protection Areas, Marine Protected Areas, Marine Conservation Zones and Special Areas of Conservation offshore; the UK programme of measures under the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive; the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) enforcement policy; and amendments to existing requirements such as to the Seaward Area Production Licences. This chapter describes the key efficiency improvements and ways in which Oil & Gas UK has been working to achieve these with members through existing forums and work groups.

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