The activities regulations § 64

§ 64 Environmental assessments of chemicals

The operator shall carry out comprehensive evaluations of the chemicals' potential for environmental harm, based on the chemicals' innate properties, quantities, time and location of discharge, as well as other factors of significance. The requirement for environmental assessments does not apply to chemicals as mentioned in Section 62, sixth subsection, litera a to i. The assessments shall be carried out
  1. before new chemicals are used
  2. when entering into chemicals contracts
  3. as a minimum every three years for chemicals in the green and yellow categories
  4. as a minimum annually for chemicals in the red and black categories and yellow subcategories 2 and 3
The environmental assessments shall be documented.
Section last changed: 01 January 2023

The operator must obtain a permit from the Norwegian Environmental Agency for petroleum activities under Chapter 3 of the Pollution Control Act (in Norwegian only). Application for permit under the Pollution Control Act is subject to Chapter 36 of the Pollution Control Regulations (in Norwegian only), and a fee is fixed for the Environmental Agency’s processing relating to applications for permits pursuant to Chapter 39 of the Pollution Control Regulations (in Norwegian only).
The regulations’ general requirements for the petroleum activities on the continental shelf apply to all operators. The permits under the Pollution Control Act will normally contain conditions that are specific and adapted to each activity. Chapter 36 of the Pollution Control Regulations (in Norwegian only) gives further provisions on the processing of permits under the Pollution Control Act. The Norwegian Environment Agency has described further expectations for the content of applications and expected processing time in the Guidelines for applications regarding offshore petroleum activities: https://www.miljodirektoratet.no/ansvarsomrader/forurensning/petroleum/for-naringsliv/soknadsveileder-petroleum/. Chapter 39 of the Pollution Control Regulations (in Norwegian only) gives provisions for fees for work with permits.
For environmental assessment of chemicals that are exempt from the requirement for ecotoxicological testing in accordance with Section 62, seventh subsection, the operator should assess the toxicity, biodegradability and potential for bioaccumulation of these chemicals. The assessment should be documented and based on test data or literature data.
The assessment of the chemicals as mentioned in this section, should also include necessary transportation and handling of the chemicals as waste. Assessment of the fate of the chemicals in the environment may be included under “other matters of significance”.