Regional Compliance Monitoring A marine aggregate industry perspective Mark Russell Director, British Marine Aggregate Producers Association

When you know there is a wave coming…

You can position yourselves to take advantage…

Or not…!

Why a regional approach? Common drivers – three consenting phases for existing activities since 2008 Distribution of industry interests meant common EIA issues to address – delivered through voluntary MAREAs Common benefits to operators - saves time & effort - saves cost - delivers a consistent outcome Similar benefits to regulators & advisors – best use of resources By the end of 2014, this approach supported delivery of >100 consents

Context to regional monitoring Moving from a position where most historic licences didn’t have monitoring requirements to a position where every licence has a minimum requirement Cost implications – increased cost per tonne dredged (commodity price doesn’t change, monitoring simply adds to the cost base) Time/effort implications – to deliver the requirements in the right way and at the right time Capacity implications – across operators, regulators, advisors and contractors Re-licensing programme provided an opportunity for change

Shift in monitoring rationale Historic monitoring simply described impacts of extraction on benthos & sediment: physical disturbance effect – primary (removal) and secondary (plume/sedimentation) Research & evidence identified the condition of seabed sediments post-extraction as the key variable for successful faunal recovery Focus shifting to monitoring seabed sediments (PSD) to ensure similar conditions maintained – development partnership funded (Defra/MMO/TCE/industry) Acceptable Change Limits (ACL) defined for individual licences (based on PSD ranges of faunal assemblages) – more appropriate for compliance & management & more cost-effective

Definition of ACL requires regional data

Change in means of delivery Five RSMP surveys are currently underway Deliver regional sediment/benthic baseline data for over 60 licence/application areas Growing recognition of the advantages of a joined up approach – tangible benefits But it can be complicated, both from a regulatory/compliance viewpoint but also in terms of practical delivery Growing confidence from the experience through ‘learning by doing’.

The next steps... Develop standard specification and programme for all common survey/ reporting obligations throughout licence term (not just seabed sediments) To realise its potential at a regional scale it will require some flexibility – both from operators, but also from regulators & advisors Root & branch review or half-way house solution? Existing conditions/ timings make it more complicated – not starting from scratch as per RSMP There are challenges, but equally there are enormous benefits to be realised for all – particularly in the long term (15-30 years+)

Summary A regional approach to monitoring has the potential to enable the delivery of more cost effective and consistent compliance data and therefore support better regulation Better for operators Better for regulators Better for statutory advisors While not simple, where common benefits are identified the collective risks of developing new approaches can be shared

For further information on regional monitoring: Key references for the RSMP: Cooper, K.M., Setting limits for acceptable change in sediment particle size composition following marine aggregate dredging. Marine Pollution Bulletin 64, Cooper, K.M., Setting limits for acceptable change in sediment particle size composition: testing a new approach to managing marine aggregate dredging? Marine Pollution Bulletin 73, 86 – 97. Cooper, K.M., Marine aggregate dredging: a new regional approach to environmental monitoring. PhD Thesis. University of East Anglia: UK.