When the Natural Resources Act was amended in 2015, all offshore extraction permits were reset and time-limited to apply for ten years. This means that around 75 extraction permits will expire at the same time in 2025. FemernReport has previously described how this means that Denmark risks running out of raw materials. Processing an application can be a lengthy affair. In particular, seismic mapping and the suspensive effect of any complaints contribute to a lengthy process. Additionally, the staffing in the Danish Environmental Protection Agency is not equipped to process 75 applications simultaneously.
Responsible for mapping
Now the Environmental Protection Agency is meeting the raw materials industry. In part, the agency itself undertakes seismic mapping in connection with the applications. In addition, the agency will process applications before the current permits expire in 2025.
– The industry has expressed that, in particular, the need for detailed seismic resource mapping is seen as an obstacle to applying for the re-layout of common areas. Therefore, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency decided in 2022 and 2023 to collect detailed seismic data, where data is missing, in all existing common areas and many other areas that can be laid out as common areas. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency also has the collected data processed, interpreted and reported in reports, which the industry can use in applications and re-layout common areas. But it is still up to the industry to carry out the necessary environmental studies and to apply for permission in the common areas they want to be re-laid out, writes geologist Kristian Gram Sloth from the Danish Environmental Protection Agency in an email to FemernReport.
Legislative change from 2015
He goes on to say that the reason why almost all licenses for mineral extraction at sea expire at the same time is a change in the law in 2015:
– Until 2015, the common areas were laid out by executive order and not through permits, like other types of extraction areas (auction and developer areas). Before 2015, the common areas were, therefore, only limited by the permitted amount of raw materials that had to be extracted and had no time limit, he writes.
Complicated procedure
However, laying out new common areas by notice was a cumbersome procedure. In order to simplify the process and to introduce a temporal limitation of the common areas, an amendment to the Natural Resources Act was adopted in 2015, and the common area order was simultaneously repealed.
– As a transitional arrangement in order to be able to continue mining in the areas laid out so far, it was decided to issue permits for the areas previously mentioned in the executive order, and the permits were time-limited to 10 years, writes Kristian Gram Sloth.
Must apply for re-layout
Since the change in the law in 2015, the mineral industry has had to apply for the re-layout of the common areas they are interested in continuing to use after 2025. This includes carrying out the environmental studies and mapping the raw material that is a prerequisite for the areas to be re-laid out. And the industry has not taken this up to any significant extent, writes the Danish Environmental Protection Agency:
-At present, however, the industry has only applied to a very limited extent for the re-layout of the common areas, which is why the permits in the majority of the areas are set to expire in 2025, writes Kristian Gram Sloth from the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.
Apply early
Therefore, the Danish Environmental Protection Agency encourages the industry to submit applications continuously over the coming years.
– It would not be appropriate to wait to apply until the areas have expired, just as it would not be appropriate to submit all applications at once, concludes geologist Kristian Gram Sloth from the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.
Fehmarn has permission until 2031
Femern A/S has a raw material extraction permit at Rønne Banke near Bornholm. It is from 2021, so it will not expire until 2031.
