# Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, Section 66: Licensable marine activities


(1) For the purposes of this Part, it is a licensable marine activity to do any of the following—
1.
To deposit any substance or object within the UK marine licensing area, either in the sea or on or under the sea bed, from—
(a)any vehicle, vessel, aircraft or marine structure,
(b)any container floating in the sea, or
(c)any structure on land constructed or adapted wholly or mainly for the purpose of depositing solids in the sea.
2.
To deposit any substance or object anywhere in the sea or on or under the sea bed from—
(a)a British vessel, British aircraft or British marine structure, or
(b)a container floating in the sea, if the deposit is controlled from a British vessel, British aircraft or British marine structure,
unless the deposit is carried out in an area beyond national jurisdiction.
3.
To deposit any substance or object anywhere in the sea or on or under the sea bed from a vehicle, vessel, aircraft, marine structure or floating container which was loaded with the substance or object—
(a)in any part of the United Kingdom except Scotland, or
(b)in the UK marine licensing area.
4.
To scuttle any vessel or floating container in the UK marine licensing area.
5.
To scuttle any vessel or floating container anywhere at sea except in an area beyond national jurisdiction, if the scuttling is controlled from a British vessel, British aircraft or British marine structure.
6.
To scuttle any vessel or floating container anywhere at sea, if the vessel or container has been towed or propelled, for the purpose of that scuttling,—
(a)from any part of the United Kingdom except Scotland, or
(b)from the UK marine licensing area, unless the towing or propelling began outside that area.
7.
To construct, alter or improve any works within the UK marine licensing area either—
(a)in or over the sea, or
(b)on or under the sea bed.
8.
To use a vehicle, vessel, aircraft, marine structure or floating container to remove any substance or object from the sea bed within the UK marine licensing area.
9.
To carry out any form of dredging within the UK marine licensing area (whether or not involving the removal of any material from the sea or sea bed).
10.
To deposit or use any explosive substance or article within the UK marine licensing area either in the sea or on or under the sea bed.
11.
To incinerate any substance or object on any vehicle, vessel, marine structure or floating container in the UK marine licensing area.
12.
To incinerate any substance or object anywhere at sea , except in an area beyond national jurisdiction, on—
(a)a British vessel or British marine structure, or
(b)a container floating in the sea, if the incineration is controlled from a British vessel, British aircraft or British marine structure.
13.
To load a vehicle, vessel, aircraft, marine structure or floating container in any part of the United Kingdom except Scotland, or in the UK marine licensing area, with any substance or object for incineration anywhere at sea.
14.
To deposit any substance or object in an area beyond national jurisdiction either in the sea or on or under the sea bed from—
(a)a British vessel, British aircraft or British marine structure, or
(b)a container floating in the sea, if the deposit is controlled from a British vessel, British aircraft or British marine structure.
15.
To deposit any substance or object in an area beyond national jurisdiction in the sea or on or under the sea bed where the person carrying on, or causing or permitting any other person to carry on, the deposit is a United Kingdom person.
16.
To scuttle any vessel or floating container at sea in an area beyond national jurisdiction, if the scuttling is controlled from a British vessel, British aircraft or British marine structure.
17.
To scuttle any vessel or floating container at sea in an area beyond national jurisdiction where the person carrying on, or causing or permitting any other person to carry on, the scuttling is a United Kingdom person.
18.
To construct, alter or improve any works in an area beyond national jurisdiction either in or over the sea or on or under the sea bed, if—
(a)such activity is carried on or controlled from a British vessel or British marine structure, or
(b)the person carrying on, or causing or permitting any other person to carry on, such activity is a United Kingdom person.
19.
To use a vessel, aircraft, marine structure or floating container to remove any substance or object from the sea bed in an area beyond national jurisdiction, if—
(a)the vessel, aircraft or marine structure is a British vessel, British aircraft or British marine structure,
(b)the floating container is controlled from a British vessel, British aircraft, or British marine structure, or
(c)the person carrying on, or causing or permitting any other person to carry on, the removal is a United Kingdom person.
20.
To carry out any form of dredging in an area beyond national jurisdiction (whether or not involving the removal of any material from the sea or sea bed) if—
(a)the dredging is carried on or controlled from a British vessel or British marine structure, or
(b)the person carrying on, or causing or permitting any other person to carry on, the dredging is a United Kingdom person.
21.
To deposit or use any explosive substance or article in an area beyond national jurisdiction either in the sea or on or under the sea bed, if—
(a)the deposit or use is made or carried out from a British vessel, British aircraft, or British marine structure,
(b)the deposit or use is made from a floating container controlled from a British vessel, British aircraft, or British marine structure, or
(c)the person carrying on, or causing or permitting any other person to carry on, the deposit or use is a United Kingdom person.
22.
To incinerate any substance or object at sea in an area beyond national jurisdiction on—
(a)a British vessel or British marine structure, or
(b)a container floating in the sea, if the incineration is controlled from a British vessel, British aircraft or British marine structure.
23.
To incinerate any substance or object at sea in an area beyond national jurisdiction where the person carrying on, or causing or permitting any other person to carry on, the incineration is a United Kingdom person.
(2) In subsection (1)—
(a) in items 9 and 20, “dredging” includes using any device to move any material (whether or not suspended in water) from one part of the sea or sea bed to another part;
(b) in items 12, 13, 22 and 23, “incineration” means the combustion of a substance or object for the purpose of its thermal destruction (and in items 11, 12, 22 and 23 “incinerate” is to be read accordingly).
(c) “United Kingdom person” has the same meaning that it has in section 27(1) of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Act 2026.
(3) The appropriate licensing authority for any area may by order amend subsection (1) so as to add any activity to, or remove any activity from, the list of licensable marine activities as it has effect in that area.
(3A) An order under subsection (3) that adds an activity may designate the activity as activity added in contemplation of the United Kingdom’s obligations—
(a) under Part 3 of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement (area-based management tools), or
(b) in respect of an activity that takes place in an area beyond national jurisdiction, under Part 4 of that Agreement (environmental impact assessments).
(3B) Where an order contains provision within subsection (3A), the related provision that may be made in the order in reliance on section 316(1)(b) (consequential etc provision) includes provision amending primary or secondary legislation whenever passed or made.
(3C) In this section—
“area beyond national jurisdiction” has the meaning that it has in the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement (see Article 1);
“the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement” means the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction, opened for signature at New York on 20 September 2023.
(4) For the purposes of this Part “the UK marine licensing area” consists of the UK marine area, other than the Scottish inshore region.

---
Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2009/23/section/66 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/marine-and-coastal-access-act-2009/section-66
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.