International Guidelines for the Management of Dredged Material
International Conventions
Both dredging and disposal are now carefully regulated. In addition to national and regional legislation and policies, the most widely applicable international regulatory instrument is the London Convention 1972 (LC-72) and its 1996 Protocol, on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dredging of Wastes and Other matter. LC-72 covers the marine waters of the whole world.
There are also regional conventions such as the Oslo and Paris Convention, the Helsinki Convention and the Barcelona Convention.
CEDA has a non-governmental observer (NGO) status to the LC-72 and the OSPAR Commission which was set up under the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic, 1992 (OSPAR Convention) and participates, and contributes in the discussions, at relevant meetings.
In 1995 LC-72 adopted the Dredged Material Assessment Framework (DMAF), a widely reviewed and accepted approach to the assessment of suitability of dredged material for disposal at sea. The contracting parties to the Convention, some 70 countries, are now expected to adopt the DMAF accordingly.
The OSPAR Guidelines for the Management of Dredged Material was adopted in 1998 and revised in 2004.
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Last update: 27 June 2009