Offshore Exploration for and Exploitation of Natural Resources including Petroleum (Marine Environment Protection) Regulation No. 1 of 2011.

These Regulations, consisting of fourty-eight sections and nine Schedules, specify the requirements for the Granting a Marine Environment Protection License. They apply to any person engaged in offshore exploration for and exploitation of natural resources including petroleum in the exploration block. Any person who makes an application to the Petroleum Resources Development Committee established under section 5 of Petroleum Resources Act, No. 26 of 2003, shall submit to the Marine Environment Protection Authority prior to the commencement of any petroleum activity, a detailed account of the steps to be taken by him to mitigate, control or manage the discharge of any pollutant in accordance with the Discharge Management Plan and an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA). EIA shall be carried out by a classification society approved by the Authority. The Discharge Management Plan shall conform to the requirements specified in Schedule I and shall consist of a plan for marine environment protection including: for environmental monitoring, for prevention of an oil spill, for storage, transportation, cleaning, refining and locating oil extracts and the procedure for rehabilitation of the area after completion of the exploration for exploitation of natural resources including petroleum and a completed chemical data sheet acceptable to the Authority which shall be in the form set out in Schedule II.