Legal background Fees
OGED exercises environmental regulation functions in relation to offshore oil and gas and charges the industry for the exercise of those functions. It was recently discovered that the necessary fees regulations had not been made in relation to functions exercised under the enactments listed in section 77(3) of this Act. Fees are validly charged in relation to the remainder of OGED's functions in fees regulations made under section 2 of the Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999, section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 and section 56 of the Finance Act 1973.
	No power to make fees regulations existed in relation to the functions exercised under Part 4A of the Energy Act 2008 or some aspects of Part 4 of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. Section 76 of the Act makes that provision. Section 77 validates all of the fees which have been charged without the requisite statutory authority in place.