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Ecological Impact Assessment – Cogen Project

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Ecological Impact Assessment – Cogen Project Valero Energy Ltd Ecological Impact Assessment – Cogen Project Doc Ref: Cogen/DNS/ EcIA/C01 Final for Submission June 2017 www.erm.com Valero Energy Ltd Ecological Impact Assessment– Cogen Project: Final for Submission Doc Ref: Cogen/DNS/ EcIA/C01 June 2017 Prepared by: Naomi Shepherd Technical review: Les Hatton For and on behalf of Environmental Resources Management Approved by: Geraint Bowden Signed: Position: Partner Date: 21-06-2017 This report has been prepared by Environmental Resources Management the trading name of Environmental Resources Management Limited, with all reasonable skill, care and diligence within the terms of the Contract with the client, incorporating our General Terms and Conditions of Business and taking account of the resources devoted to it by agreement with the client. We disclaim any responsibility to the client and others in respect of any matters outside the scope of the above. This report is confidential to the client and we accept no responsibility of whatsoever nature to third parties to whom this report, or any part thereof, is made known. Any such party relies on the report at their own risk. Environmental Resources Management Limited Incorporated in the United Kingdom with registration number 1014622 Registered Office: 2nd Floor, Exchequer Court, 33 St Mary Axe, London, EC3A 8AA CONTENTS GLOSSARY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 THE PROJECT 1 1.2 ECOLOGICAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORT 1 1.2.1 Planning Policy and Legislation 2 2 METHODOLOGY 3 2.1 SCOPE OF THE ASSESSMENT 3 2.1.1 Zone of Influence 3 2.1.2 Consultation to Determine Scope of Assessment 3 2.2 DESK STUDY 4 2.3 FIELD SURVEYS 5 2.3.1 Extended Phase 1 Habitat survey 5 2.3.2 Bat survey 6 2.3.3 Badger survey 11 2.4 ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY 12 2.4.1 Ecological Impact Assessment 12 2.4.2 Habitat Regulations Assessment 17 2.4.3 Air Quality Assessment for SSSIs and Ancient Woodland 18 2.4.4 Ecosystem Resilience Assessment 20 3 ECOLOGICAL BASELINE 21 3.1 SITE LOCATION AND GENERAL ECOLOGICAL CONTEXT 21 3.2 DESIGNATED SITES 21 3.2.1 Statutory and Non-statutory Designated Sites for Nature Conservation 21 3.3 HABITATS 22 3.3.1 Overview 22 3.3.2 Ancient Woodland and Priority Habitats 22 3.3.3 Local Biodiversity Action Plan habitats 23 3.3.4 Habitats within the Project Site 23 3.3.5 Ruderal vegetation 25 3.3.6 Notable plant species 27 3.3.7 Invasive plant species 27 3.4 FAUNA AND FLORA 28 3.4.1 Overview 28 3.4.2 European Protected Species 28 3.4.3 Nationally Protected Species 33 3.4.4 Summary of Ecological Baseline 37 4 ECOLOGICAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT 39 4.1 PROJECT DESCRIPTION 39 4.2 IMPACT ASSESSMENT 39 4.2.1 Designated sites 40 4.2.2 Habitats within the site and immediate vicinity 42 4.2.3 Species and species groups 43 4.2.4 Summary of Mitigation 46 4.3 RESIDUAL IMPACTS 46 5 CUMULATIVE AND IN-COMBINATION EFFECTS 47 5.1 CONSTRUCTION 47 5.1.1 Badgers 47 5.1.2 Bats 47 5.1.3 Birds 48 5.2 OPERATION 48 5.2.1 Air Quality 48 5.2.2 Bats 48 6 ENHANCEMENT AND MONITORING 50 7 ECOSYSTEM RESILIENCE ASSESSMENT 51 7.1 INTRODUCTION TO ECOSYSTEM RESILIENCE 51 7.2 SCOPE OF THE ECOSYSTEM RESILIENCE ASSESSMENT 52 7.3 ECOSYSTEM RESILIENCE ASSESSMENT 52 7.4 SUMMARY OF ECOSYSTEM RESILIENCE ASSESSMENT 56 ANNEXES ANNEX A FIGURES ANNEX B LEGISLATION & PLANNING POLICY ANNEX C DESK STUDY AND CONSULTATION ANNEX D TARGET NOTES ANNEX E BADGER SURVEY RESULTS ANNEX F PHOTOGRAPHS ANNEX G EFFECTS OF AIR QUALITY ON SITES OF SPECIAL SCIENTIFIC INTEREST GLOSSARY Term/Abbreviation Definition > Greater than AA Appropriate Assessment AoI Area of Influence APIS Air Pollution Information System AW Ancient Woodland AWI Ancient Woodland Inventory BAP Biodiversity Action Plan BSBI Botanical Society of the British Isles CBD Convention on Biological Diversity CEMP Construction Environmental Management Plan CEMS Continuous Environmental Monitoring System CHP Combined Heat and Power CIEEM Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management CL Critical Load/Level Cogen Cogeneration plant cSAC Candidate Special Area of Conservation cSSSI Candidate Site of Special Scientific Interest CSZ core sustenance zones for foraging bats CTG combustion turbine generator Demin unit Demineralisation unit DNS Development of National Significance under Part 5 of the Planning (Wales) Act 2015 EC European Commission EcIA Ecological Impact Assessment ecosystem The term ecosystem refers to a community of plants, animals and smaller organisms that live, feed and reproduce in a specific area and the way in which these communities interact with other non-living elements such as the weather, water and soils. Ecosystem Resilience An assessment which follows the National Assembly for Wales Assessment Guidance and identifies the ecosystems present and how they will be likely to be affected EIA Environmental Impact Assessment ERM Environmental Resources Management Ltd EU European Union Extended Phase 1 An assessment of habitats and features of ecological interest within Habitat Surveys the Survey Area. They were based on Extended Phase 1 methodology and included the mapping of broad habitat types and identification of any notable features EZoI Ecological Zones of Influence ha hectares HAP Habitat Action Plan HRA Habitat Regulations Assessment HRSG Heat Recovery Steam Generator KgN/ha/yr Kilograms of nitrogen per hectare per year km kilometres kV kilovolt LBAP Local Biodiversity Action Plan LWS Local Wildlife Sites m meters MWe megawatts electrical NERC Act 2006 Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 NNR National Nature Reserve NRW Natural Resources Wales p Ramsar site Proposed Ramsar site Term/Abbreviation Definition PC process contribution PCC Pembrokeshire County Council PEC Predicted Environmental Concentration PINS Wales Planning Inspector Wales pSPA Proposed Special Protection Area Ramsar site A Ramsar Site is a wetland site designated of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. The Convention on Wetlands, known as the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental environmental treaty established in 1971 by UNESCO, and coming into force in 1975 SAC Special Area of Conservation Section 7 List of Living Section 7 of the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 list of the living Organisms of Principal organisms of principal importance for the purpose of maintaining and Importance enhancing biodiversity in relation to Wales. Section 7 List Priority Section 7 of the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 list of the habitats of Habitats principal importance for the purpose of maintaining and enhancing biodiversity in relation to Wales. SPA Special Protection Area SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest TAN Technical Advice Note UK United Kingdom Valero Valero Energy Ltd WPD Western Power Distribution WWBIC West Wales Biodiversity Information Centre EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report details the findings of an Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA) of the proposed Cogeneration (Cogen) project (the Project) at Valero Energy Ltd’s (Valero) Refinery in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The purpose of the EcIA is to identify and describe all potentially significant ecological effects associated with the Project. The EcIA sets out the mitigation measures required for compliance with nature conservation legislation, addresses potentially significant ecological effects and provides an assessment of the significance of any residual effects. The baseline of the EcIA has been informed by an ecological desk study, consultation and a series of ecological field surveys including Extended Phase 1 Habitat Surveys, bat surveys and badger surveys, undertaken between August 2016 and February 2017. The EcIA has been undertaken in accordance with standard assessment methods and criteria as set out in the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management, (CIEEM) (2016) Guidelines for Ecological Impact Assessment in the UK and Ireland: Terrestrial, Freshwater and Coastal, 2nd Edition (1). A Habitat Regulations Assessment (HRA) has also been undertaken, due to the proximity of the Project to European Sites, and is reported separately (Doc Ref: Cogen/DNS/HRA/C01). In addition to the HRA, a similar assessment has been undertaken within this report for national level designated sites, including SSSIs and for other sensitive habitats including ancient woodlands to determine likely effects from air pollutants. An Ecosystem Resilience Assessment also forms part of the assessment. This assessment follows the National Assembly for Wales Guidance (2) and identifies the ecosystems present and how they will be likely to be affected. The EcIA concludes that there are no significant residual impacts on ecological features due to the construction or operation of the Project either directly or indirectly, alone or in combination with other Projects. The Ecosystems Resilience Assessment concluded that the ecosystems and their components parts identified within the Project either will not be affected, or are resilient to disturbance, resist damage, and if damaged will recover quickly. (1) http://www.cieem.net/data/files/Publications/EcIA_Guidelines_Terrestrial_Freshwater_and_Coastal_Jan_2016.pdf (2)http://www.assembly.wales/Research%20Documents/Ecosystems%20and%20the%20Ecosystem%20Approach%20- %20Quick%20guide-08032012-231338/qg12-0006-English.pdf 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 THE PROJECT Valero Energy Ltd (Valero) is developing a Cogeneration (Cogen) project (the Project) to provide the Refinery’s electrical power and supplement steam requirements. The Cogen plant will produce up to 49.9 megawatts electrical (MWe) output from the combustion of natural gas in a combustion turbine generator (CTG). Superheated steam will be generated via a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG). This will require connections to the Refinery’s steam infrastructure, as well as to natural gas and electrical distribution systems. All the elements of the Project are within the existing Refinery boundaries. The Project is classified as a Development of National Significance (DNS) under Part 5 of the Planning (Wales) Act 2015 (henceforth, the Act) as it is a generating station with an installed generating capacity of between 10 and 50 MWe.
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