The controversial plan for ship-to-ship transfers of Russian crude oil off the Fife coast may have been scrapped, but there is nothing to prevent a similar application being made, councillors were warned yesterday.

It was agreed pressure must be kept up on the authorities to ensure any proposals that may arise in the future are properly regulated.

Forth Ports rejected the application by SPT Marine Services at the beginning of last month, stating that although STS was considered feasible, it had been decided not to go ahead because of uncertainty surrounding the scope of the proposed project.

At yesterday’s meeting of Fife Council’s environment and transport committee, solicitor Andrew Ferguson said, “Share- holders change and their interests change and we should continue to pursue a proper legislative framework.

He said several loose ends need to be tied up, including:

The complaint raised by Fife Council (and others) to the European Commission that the UK Government was failing in its duty to properly implement the Habitats Directive by introducing legislation.

The substance of the legislation that UK shipping minister Jim Fitzpatrick announced in January would be introduced.

Forth Ports’ role as harbour authority, and whether the new regulations will allow it to continue as the ultimate decision-making authority on transfer proposals.

The role of Scottish Natural Heritage as assessor of environmental information being considered by Forth Ports, given that no final public decision was ever reached on whether the environmental assessments submitted to it by Forth Ports was sufficient or not.

Mr Ferguson stated in his report, “Officers have been contacted by the European Commission who wish to now close their file in relation to the complaint that the Habitats Directive has not been properly implemented.

“The fact remains, however— even in the absence of current proposals—that no such framework exists.

“The UK Government had drafted regulations in relation to ship-to-ship transfer in 1999, but they had not—and to date have not—been progressed to the consultation stage.”

He continued, “The Scottish Government in June introduced amending regulations which allow ministers to call in plans or projects, such as ship-to-ship, oil transfer to ensure a proper assessment has been carried out.

“However, this does not allow the Scottish Government to turn down such proposals, as this falls outwith their legislative competence.”

He concluded, “The favoured option is to continue to press the council’s case that ship-to-ship oil transfers in the Firth of Forth, however regulated, represent an unacceptable risk to Fife, its coastline and economy.”

Councillor Mike Rumney said, “The danger is that the proposals were only withdrawn, there is still the opportunity for another organisation to come in with different, or even the same proposals.

“The sooner we get regulations on this and stop the people who will make the final decision on such proposals to be involved the better. It is ridiculous that Forth Ports had the final say on this proposal.”