Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

My Lords, it would be executive devolution because we cannot do anything that goes outwith the devolution settlement. However, these are early days and I hope we will have a constructive engagement. Some inspiration has reached me on the issue of coal, so I shall test the patience of the House, if I may. Noble Lords will probably know that the Coal Industry Act 1994 regulates coal mining throughout Great Britain. The exclusive right to authorise coal-mining operations, or operations carried out for the purpose of searching and boring for coal in the terrestrial sea and on the UK continental shelf, is vested in the Coal Authority under the Coal Industry Act. Therefore, any coal-mining operation in the UK—except the Northern Ireland inshore region, which has its own legislation—will need authorisation from the Coal Authority under the Coal Industry Act 1994. A marine licence is only needed for the removal of substances from the seabed, not under the seabed. Therefore, mining operations that extract coal using tunnels dug from the shore would not need a marine licence. The noble Duke has been asking for an explanation on this for some time and I hope that we have finally come up with something that is close to satisfactory.