Audible response

Danish Ports' consultation response regarding proposed amendment to the Act on the Protection of the Marine Environment

Danish Ports acknowledges the opportunity to submit comments on the proposal for
amendment of the Marine Environment Act.

General comments
Dredging below 6 meters water depth. The proposed authorizing provisions for the Minister of the Environment to lay down detailed rules on the prohibition of the discharge of scrubber water and the prohibition of dredging in water depths below 6 meters follow an agreed settlement.

  • However, the authorizations proposed in the bill are very general and Port Denmark notes that, if implemented inappropriately, they can be a great inconvenience to the business community, commercial ports and the many smaller ports.
  • The authorization to prohibit dredging in water depths below 6 meters and in defined areas, including for the protection of nature restoration measures, can in principle be used far more extensively than is justified by nature and environmental science.
  • Therefore, it is crucial that the law adds that the broader authorization can only be applied when scientific and environmental analyses document the necessity of the ban.
  • Flexibility in relation to the fact that folding platforms in the Limfjord may be at a shallower depth than 6 meters must be ensured.
  • When the authorizations related to dredging are later implemented in executive orders, it is important to ensure that the implementation does not go beyond what is agreed in the political agreement on the Maritime Spatial Plan, from June 2023. This clearly states that the changes must be "manageable" for the ports.

Ban on the use of open-loop scrubbers in Danish waters.
Danish Ports supports the ban on open-loop scrubbers in Danish waters. At the same time, it is important to emphasize that the handling of any scrubber water residue that is to be disposed of on land must not burden commercial ports unnecessarily financially or in terms of space.

Ports can arrange contact with a specialized operator who can pick up the chemical residue. Settlement must take place directly between ship operator and waste company

Authorization to ensure compliance with the terms of the permits.
Danish Ports fully agree that the terms of an offshore dredging/bypass permit must be complied with. However, this must be seen in the context of the fact that the sea and the natural conditions at a dredging site or bypass area can be very dynamic, and thus require some flexibility in the conditions, as the following example shows:

  • The Port of Thyborøn is located where the Limfjord flows into the North Sea. With this location, it can be a challenge to complete the entire dredging process in one go. If we were to make a smaller dredging for Thyborøn Harbor at, for example, 5 meters water depth, we would be digging in sand and thus the same material that naturally migrates in and out through Thyborøn Channel. The Danish Coastal Authority has estimated that there is a sand migration in and out of Thyborøn Canal of between 1-2 million m³. Dumping ground/bypass site "klapplads K_156_14" (Gåseholm), just opposite Thyborøn Harbor, which is very useful for dumping dredged sand from maintenance of the shipping channel. In accordance with good administrative practice and proportionality in the bill, it should be possible to incorporate a lower limit for e.g. dredging of sand of approx. 2-3% of the amount of sand that migrates through Thyborøn Canal annually in the dredging license. Such an amount is very small compared to the dynamic nature of the Thyborøn Channel and the area south of it.

Changed wording regarding right of appeal.
It is noted that the wording regarding right of appeal is "modernized". Danske Havne assumes that there are good legal reasons for this. It is not possible to say whether the changed wording will lead to fewer or more complaints, but to avoid citizens who are generally concerned about the state of the marine environment not complaining about all activities at sea, it is extremely important that it can be quickly determined whether the complainant is entitled to complain. Otherwise, there is a risk of further strain on an already overloaded complaints system, resulting in high socio-economic costs.

Specific comments

  • §Section 28(2) and (3). "The Minister for the Environment may lay down rules prohibiting the dumping of seabed material in areas where the water depth is less than 6 meters". Danish Ports suggests that the Act uses the more neutral and precise word "relocation" instead of "dumping" when referring to the relocation of seabed sediment at designated dumping sites.
  • At the end of section 28(3), add "if this can be shown to be necessary for nature conservation reasons". The additional inconvenience and cost imposed on the business community must be documented to be proportional and a replacement site must be identified if possible. The political agreement explicitly mentions areas in Køge Bay and that it must be investigated whether such an intervention is necessary to inconvenience the business community: "47. The parties to the agreement also agree that, based on a desire to promote biodiversity, an investigation will be initiated into the possibilities and consequences of a ban on dredging in selected areas where raw material areas are minimized, including in Køge Bay". Therefore, the proposed authorization is too broad in terms of implementing the political agreement reached in connection with the MSP. The Maritime Spatial Plan and should not go beyond what has been agreed.

Sincerely,
Camilla Rosenhagen