Do coastal and marine works need a licence under the 2026 marine regulation?

Ministerial Decision 481531028 dated 20/2/1448H approved an updated Executive Regulation for the Sustainable Management of the Marine and Coastal Environment. It was published in the Umm Al-Qura gazette on 21 August 2026 and applies from the date of publication.^{1Decision 481531028 (1448H)}

It replaces the earlier regulation issued by Ministerial Decision 25964/1/1443 dated 17/1/1443H. It also replaces the penalty table issued by Decision 15029095 dated 4/2/1446H, one of the 2024 penalty table decisions.^{1Decision 481531028 (1448H)}

The regulation covers the marine and coastal environment within the Kingdom. This includes islands, internal waters, the territorial sea, their seabed and subsoil, and other sea areas where the Kingdom has sovereign rights or jurisdiction.^{2Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 2}

It now defines a day as a full calendar day including weekends and holidays, and a working day as an official working day. Check which one each deadline uses.^{3Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 1}

The regulation defines the competent authority as the Ministry, any of the national environmental centres, or the General Foundation for the Conservation of Coral Reefs and Turtles in the Red Sea, each within its mandate.^{3Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 1}

Council of Ministers Decision 406 dated 14/5/1445H added the Foundation to the same definition in Article 1 of the Environmental Law.^{4Decision 406 (1445H)}

Who you deal with depends on the activity:

Article 7 bans any activity affecting environmental media in the marine and coastal environment without an NCEC environmental permit under the permits regulation. It gives 16 examples, including:^{9Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 7, First (1)}

A licence from the National Center for Wildlife or the Foundation is needed for wildlife activities. These include collecting or moving coral, placing artificial reefs, and coral nurseries and transplanting.^{6Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 7, First (3)}

A separate licence is needed before installing any fixed or mobile monitoring network for water quality, wildlife, coral or leak detection. This does not apply where the network is itself a requirement of the environmental permit.^{16Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 7, Fifth (3)}

A licensed change to the natural coastline does not change how the Environmental Law or the regulation applies.^{17Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 7, First (2)}

The competent authority sets the conditions and documents for each licence. It decides a complete application within 30 working days of all requirements being met and may extend this by 10 working days.^{18Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 7, Second (1), (2)}

The licence states its validity period and any conditions. The fee is collected before the licence is issued or renewed.^{19Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 7, Second (3), (4)}

A refusal must give reasons. The applicant can object to the competent authority with all supporting documents, and a decision on the objection is due within 30 working days of filing.^{20Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 7, Second (5)}

The regulation does not list specific grounds for refusal and does not set a deadline for filing the objection.^{20Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 7, Second (5)}

Holders must comply with the conditions of their permit or licence. Breaching them is a serious violation with fines of 5,000 to 200,000 riyals.^{21Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 7, Second (6) and Table 1, row 44}

If the competent authority asks, based on the activity's nature or risk, you must install, run and maintain monitoring for marine water quality, early leak detection and the condition of wildlife and coral. This applies in particular to:^{22Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 7, Second (7)}

When you apply for the permit, you must fully disclose any risks to wildlife and habitats in the EIA, environmental management plan or audit study. This includes risks during breeding, migration and nursing seasons.^{27Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 7, Third (1)}

If serious risks to wildlife were not adequately covered, the National Center for Wildlife or the Foundation can require extra measures. Where continuing the activity could cause serious harm to wildlife or habitats, the competent authority can also restrict, suspend or temporarily stop it after coordinating with the supervising authority. The regulation says this is a preventive measure, not a penalty.^{28Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 7, Third (2) to (4)}

You must notify NCEC of any oil or harmful substance spill, lost cargo, incident with a possible environmental effect or breach of the regulation. You must also immediately take measures to contain and treat it.^{29Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 4(5)}

Vessels must report any collision or accidental contact with coral reefs or marine wildlife immediately, and this report counts as voluntary disclosure. Not reporting such an incident is a separate violation.^{30Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 6(4), (5)}

Persons and activities must notify the National Center for Wildlife or the Foundation immediately if an endangered or protected species is caught as bycatch, trapped or stranded within their site.^{31Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 5, First (8)}

The regulation bans discharging untreated wastewater, waste, toxic or hazardous chemicals, oils, fuel or contaminated sediments into the marine and coastal environment.^{32Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 4(1) to (3)}

It also bans publishing any data, reports or studies on the marine and coastal environment without written approval from the Ministry. In practice, this covers baseline survey and monitoring results used in public reports or marketing.^{33Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 7, Fifth (8)}

Table 1 of the marine regulation has no row specific to this ban. Environmental service providers face a separate ban under their own regulation, with fines of 5,000 to 1,000,000 riyals.^{34SP reg. (1446H) Art. 9(12) and Table 1, row 13}

A violation is serious if it involves acts in Articles 35 or 40 of the Environmental Law, or if it harms the marine or coastal environment or any of its living or non-living parts.^{3Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 1}

The fines in Tables 1 and 3 are maximum limits. Serious fines are assessed on the degree of damage, the environmental importance and size of the affected site, and the economic and social effects.^{35Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 8(1)(a), (d)}

Non-serious violations in Table 1 start with a warning and a period to correct. For non-serious violations, individuals pay 25 percent of the Table 1 amount and businesses pay a share set by size in Table 2:^{36Marine reg. (1448H) Table 1 and Art. 8(1)(b), (c)}

For non-serious violations in Table 1, the centre concerned may issue more than one warning, extend the period or defer the fine if correction needs more time, provided there are acceptable technical reasons and the person keeps taking corrective action.^{38Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 8(1)(g)}

The penalty doubles if the same violation is repeated within one year of the earlier penalty decision becoming final. Cases under Article 40(2) of the Environmental Law are excluded.^{39Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 8(1)(h)}

The competent authority may give a grace period to correct a violation before penalising it if the violator voluntarily discloses or self-reports it. This follows controls approved by the Minister or the relevant board chair.^{40Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 8(1)(f)}

In every case, the violator must also correct the violation, repair the damage and pay compensation.^{41Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 8(1)(e)}

The Table 1 rows that matter most for coastal construction and operation are:^{42Marine reg. (1448H) Table 1}

Table 3 sets the maximum for all coral species at 200,000 riyals per cubic metre, and for sponges at 10,000 riyals per cubic metre.^{43Marine reg. (1448H) Table 3, rows 7 and 8}

Moving or transplanting coral without approval is a separate serious violation at 50,000 to 100,000 riyals per cubic metre.^{44Marine reg. (1448H) Table 1, row 19}

Discharges of untreated wastewater, or of treated wastewater without a permit, are fined under the aqueous media regulation rather than the marine table.^{45Marine reg. (1448H) Table 1, rows 38 and 39}

In practice, a small business fined under row 43 pays half of the printed amount, because Table 2 sets 50 percent for small establishments.^{46Marine reg. (1448H) Art. 8(1)(c) and Table 2}

Most problems come from using the old marine rules or starting marine works before the paperwork is in place.