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§ 12 Consent to certain activities

The operator must submit an application for consent to the Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority in sufficient time before the planned start. The application for consent may cover several activities that are naturally related.
The Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority may decide by individual decision that the operator must obtain consent from the Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority before certain activities are initiated, including provisions on the documentation that must accompany the application for consent. The Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority may, by an individual decision, limit the consent to certain steps or phases.
If the conditions for the consents given pursuant to this section are substantially changed, the Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority may require the operator to obtain a new consent before the activities are continued.
The operator must have consent
  1. before facilities or parts of these are put into service
  2. before carrying out major modifications or changes in use unless these are covered in an approved plan for development and operation and specific licence for installation and operation
  3. before significant changes in activities as a result of new requirements or licences from other authorities
  4. before conducting exploration drilling
  5. before carrying out manned underwater operations offshore.
The application for consent shall, as far as is appropriate, contain information as mentioned in Section 26 of the Management Regulations and information as mentioned in Section 5-2 of the Regulations relating to storage and transport of CO2 on the shelf.
The Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority may impose other requirements for documentation.
Section last changed: 01 January 2023

The provision complements Section 5-2 on consent for injection and storage of CO2 of the Regulations relating to storage and transport of CO2 on the shelf by setting requirements for which activities to seek consent for. Sufficient time means the necessary time to process applications for consent and any complaints before the scheduled start date for the activity. Normal case processing time is nine weeks. Other deadlines should be clarified with the Norwegian Ocean Industry Authority in each case. If the deadlines are not met, one cannot expect the application to be processed by the desired date.
Information in the application for consent as mentioned in the fifth subsection, is limited in these regulations to safety and working environment.
For other comments on consent and contents of applications, reference is made to the guidelines for Sections 25 and 26 of the Management Regulations.