Permits & Licensing · Stage 3 · Environmental Assessment
Marine Use Consultation & Impact Assessment
해양이용협의 및 영향평가
Summary
PublicA pre-emptive marine-environment review (marine use consultation, scaled by project size up to a full impact assessment) required before each public-waters occupancy permit and before the EIA consultation. Split out of the Marine Environment Management Act into the new Marine Use Impact Assessment Act (effective January 2025), it has offshore-wind-specific review guidelines and can be merged into a single environmental review under the Special Act. The head of the competent authority must consult the Minister of Oceans and Fisheries on marine use before granting permission to occupy or use public waters and, for projects subject to environmental impact assessment, before requesting the EIA consultation. A project installing renewable energy facilities on public waters must undergo a marine use impact assessment before obtaining a license, etc., unless excluded by Presidential Decree. Barring listed exceptions, construction may not start before consultation ends.
Sources: Marine Use Impact Assessment Act, Article 9, Article 11, Article 13, Article 25.
Legal basis
Marine Use Impact Assessment ActArticle 13 (Projects subject to marine use impact assessment)
제13조(해양이용영향평가의 대상)
KWI translation. The Korean text of this Article changed after the official English translation; KWI amended the official English to match.
(1) A project operator intending to undertake any of the following marine use and development projects (hereinafter referred to as "projects subject to assessment") shall conduct a marine use impact assessment before obtaining a license, etc. from the head of the competent authority; provided, projects prescribed by Presidential Decree, among those subject to environmental impact assessment under Article 22 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act, shall be excluded:
- 1. A marine aggregate extraction project among aggregate extraction projects under Article 22 of the Aggregate Extraction Act, or a project requiring designation of marine aggregate extraction complexes under Article 34 of that Act;
- 2. A project requiring permission for the occupancy or use of public waters under Article 8 of the Public Waters Management and Reclamation Act, or a project requiring consultation on, or approval for, such occupancy or use under Article 10 of that Act;
- 3. A project requiring a reclamation license for public waters under Article 28 of the Public Waters Management and Reclamation Act or a project requiring consultation on, or approval for, the reclamation of public waters under Article 35 of that Act;
Further text omitted.
Article 18 (Preparation of marine use impact assessment reports)
제18조(해양이용영향평가서의 작성 등)
(1) A project operator shall prepare a marine use impact assessment report (hereafter in this Section referred to as "assessment report") incorporating the results of hearing the opinions of interested parties under Article 16 and submit it to the head of the competent authority.
Further text omitted.
Excerpt: paragraph (1) of each article. English text: Official KLRI English, updated by KWI. The full articles are in the English translation of the governing law below.
Where it sits in the permit pathway
Stage 3 of 7- 1Wind Measurement2 authorizations
- 2Electricity Business License (EBL)1 authorization
- 3Environmental Assessment2 authorizations
- 4Site Investigation2 authorizations
- 5Public-Waters Use & Navigation Safety2 authorizations
- 6Cross-sector Consents5 authorizations
- 7Construction & Operation2 authorizations
Stages where risk concentrates. See the full permit pathway ›
Related entries in this tracker
| Electricity Business License (EBL) | Stage 2 |
| Environmental Impact Assessment | Stage 3 |
| Geotechnical Survey (GT): Occupancy & Work Plan | Stage 4 |
| Geophysical Survey (GP) | Stage 4 |
| Implementation-plan approval under the Special Act (one-stop) | Special Act |
| The full permit pathway | Permits & Licensing |
English translation of the governing law Premium members
Download English translation (unofficial) · PDFKWI_EN_Marine-Use-Impact-Assessment-Act_20260918_KLRI-KWI.pdf · 54 pages
Based on the official KLRI English text, checked and updated by KWI against the Korean text in force on 18 September 2026
English translations are provided for convenience. They are unofficial; the Korean original is authoritative.
