Licensing Section 18: Licences
54.This section allows the licensing authority (or any authority to which the relevant function has been transferred under section 34) to grant licences for the purposes of this Chapter. The licensing authority in relation to the activities of storage, conversion or exploration within the territorial sea adjacent to Scotland is the Scottish Ministers; otherwise, the licensing authority is the Secretary of State. However, where the activity concerned is only partly within Scottish territorial waters (for instance where a carbon dioxide store straddles the boundary between Scottish and English territorial waters) the licensing authority may be either the Scottish Ministers or the Secretary of State. In such a case, references to the “licensing authority” are to be construed as references to the Authority that exercises the relevant power to grant a licence or to consider a licence application. The licensing authority for an installation will always be the Authority that licensed the activity for which the installation is maintained or established.
55.A licence granted under section 18 will permit, under the terms and conditions laid down in the licence, the carrying out of one or more of the activities mentioned in section 17. However, in order to make use of the sea, the seabed or spaces under the seabed for the purpose of these activities, an operator would in addition have to obtain a lease or authorisation from The Crown Estate, who administer the relevant rights to the offshore area. Subsection (3) accordingly allows the geographical coordinates covered by the licence to be linked to those covered by the lease or authorisation from The Crown Estate (see also section 20 (4)).