BEIS OPRED has recently emailed its stakeholders regarding produced water discharges from offshore installations.
OPRED is currently preparing an update to the guidance for the Risk Based Approach (RBA) for the management of produced water discharges from offshore installations and will share that update in Q2 2020. The next cycle of the RBA will commence in 2021 until 2024 and at the request of operators it is sharing the schedule prior to sharing the updated guidance.* This request was made so that operators could take into consideration the next RBA schedule as part of the budgeting process for the next financial year. The purpose of next RBA cycle is to evaluate the effectiveness of any risk management undertaken by an operator in helping to reduce the environmental risk associated with a produced water discharge.
Installations included on the schedule will undertake whole effluent toxicity testing of the produced water as part of the next RBA schedule. It is important to note that the updated guidance will still follow the six step, four tier process outlined in the current guidance. However, the update to the guidance will mean that an installation may not need to undertake all four tiers if results meet certain criteria.
The risk associated with a produced water discharge with a PEC/PNEC <1 and EIF <10 is considered low enough that additional WET testing is not required. Therefore, the updated RBA schedule has taken into consideration the RBA results of the implementation cycle and those installations with a PEC/PNEC<1 and EIF <10 have not been included in the next schedule. Any installation that had a PEC/PNEC<1 and EIF<10 with a change in operations that could increase the risk associated with a produced water discharge have been included in the 2021-2024 schedule.
If during the next schedule there is a potential change in the environmental risk associated with a produced water discharge, then the Department will consider whether that change to the produced water discharge would support the inclusion or removal of an installation from the RBA schedule. It is also acknowledged that there may be some installations on the schedule that have a confirmed cessation of production date during the schedule, if this is the case then the installation could be removed from the schedule. If there is any doubt about whether an installation should be included or removed from the schedule, then please contact your assigned Environmental Manager to discuss.
It is also possible to submit a request to swap with another installation in the schedule, particularly if there is a preference for an installation to undertake the RBA study earlier or later in the schedule. Any requests should be sent to your assigned Environmental Manager and where possible will be accommodated.
All correspondence related to the RBA schedule must be copied to bst@beis.gov.uk to ensure all changes to the schedule are tracked.
*The schedule was included as an attachment to this email. If you did not receive the email and would like it sent to you please contact bst@beis.gov.uk
Source: BEIS OPRED.