The Marine Licensing (Exempted Activities) (Scottish Inshore Region) Order 2011 (“the principal Order”) specifies activities which do not need a marine licence or do not need a marine licence if conditions specified in the principal Order are satisfied.

Article 12 of the principal Order makes such provision in relation to deposits within the Scottish marine area concerning the propagation and cultivation of fish.

Article 3 of this Order amends article 12 of the principal Order to provide, subject to certain exceptions, that the deposit within controlled waters of any chemical used for medicinal purposes or otherwise, or of any organic or biological matter, which may cause pollution of the water environment, is an exempted activity in terms of the marine licensing regime contained in Part 4 of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 (“the 2010 Act”).

Activities licensable under Part 4 of the 2010 Act are not subject to the regulatory regime contained in the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 (“CAR”) by virtue of regulation 3(2) of those regulations. The effect of the exemption introduced by this Order is that the activity to which the exemption relates becomes subject to regulation under CAR. This Order makes various transitional and saving provision to support this change.

Article 4 of this Order provides that an existing marine licence for an activity which after this Order comes into force would be exempt from the marine licensing regime becomes a deemed water use licence (“a deemed CAR licence”) under CAR on a relevant date.

Articles 5 to 10 set out how the relevant date is to be determined for a given marine licence.

Articles 4 to 14 make saving provision to provide that certain things occurring before the relevant date continue to be governed by the 2010 Act and that the 2010 Act continues to apply to an existing marine licence until such point as it becomes a deemed CAR licence.

No business and regulatory impact assessment has been prepared for this Order as no impact upon business, charities or voluntary bodies is foreseen.