CMATS SEA Environmental Report
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STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT FOR THE CORK METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSPORT STRATEGY 2040 for: National Transport Authority Dún Scéine Iveagh Court Harcourt Lane Dublin 2 by: CAAS Ltd. 1st Floor 24-26 Ormond Quay Upper Dublin 7 MARCH 2020 Includes Ordnance Survey Ireland data reproduced under OSi Licence Number EN 0082115. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Ordnance Survey Ireland and Government of Ireland copyright. © Ordnance Survey Ireland SEA Environmental Report for the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy 2040 Table of Contents List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................ v Glossary ……………………………………………………………………………………….vi Section 1 SEA Introduction and Background ..................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction and Terms of Reference ........................................................................... 1 1.2 SEA Definition ............................................................................................................ 1 1.3 SEA Directive and its transposition into Irish Law .......................................................... 1 1.4 Implications for the Strategy ....................................................................................... 1 Section 2 The Strategy ....................................................................................... 3 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 3 2.2 Vision and Principles ................................................................................................... 3 2.3 Structure and Content ................................................................................................ 3 2.4 Relationship with other relevant Plans and Programmes ................................................ 4 Section 3 SEA Methodology ............................................................................... 6 3.1 Introduction to the Iterative Approach ......................................................................... 6 3.2 Hierarchy of Planning and Environmental Assessment.................................................... 7 3.3 Appropriate Assessment and Integrated Biodiversity Impact Assessment ......................... 9 3.4 Scoping .................................................................................................................... 10 3.5 Environmental Report ................................................................................................ 11 3.6 SEA Statement .......................................................................................................... 11 Section 4 Relevant aspects of the current state of the Environment .............. 13 4.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 13 4.2 National Reporting on the Environment ....................................................................... 13 4.3 Likely Evolution of the Environment in the Absence of the Strategy ............................... 14 4.4 Air and Climatic Factors ............................................................................................. 15 4.5 Population and Human Health .................................................................................... 21 4.6 Biodiversity and Flora and Fauna ................................................................................ 25 4.7 Material Assets .......................................................................................................... 31 4.8 Soil .......................................................................................................................... 32 4.9 Water ....................................................................................................................... 33 4.10 Landscape ................................................................................................................ 44 4.11 Cultural Heritage ....................................................................................................... 47 4.12 Overall Environmental Sensitivities and Opportunities/ Robustness ................................ 50 Section 5 Strategic Environmental Objectives ................................................ 54 Section 6 Description of Alternatives .............................................................. 58 6.1 Need for the Strategy ................................................................................................ 58 6.2 Existing provisions already in place ............................................................................. 58 6.3 Overview of Alternatives Considered ........................................................................... 58 6.4 Investment Scenarios ................................................................................................ 59 6.5 Public Transport Network Options ............................................................................... 59 6.6 Road Network Options ............................................................................................... 61 CAAS for the National Transport Authority i SEA Environmental Report for the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy 2040 Section 7 Evaluation of Alternatives ................................................................ 62 7.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 62 7.2 Methodology ............................................................................................................. 62 7.3 Cumulative Effects ..................................................................................................... 64 7.4 Detailed Evaluation of Alternatives .............................................................................. 66 7.5 Investment Scenarios ................................................................................................ 68 7.6 Public Transport Network Options Assessment ............................................................. 73 7.7 Road Network Options Assessment ............................................................................. 80 Section 8 Evaluation of Strategy Provisions .................................................... 83 8.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 83 8.2 Overall Findings ........................................................................................................ 85 8.3 Transboundary Effects (Northern Ireland) ................................................................... 87 8.4 Appropriate Assessment ............................................................................................. 87 8.5 Interrelationship between Environmental Components .................................................. 87 8.6 Detailed Evaluation of Strategy Provisions ................................................................... 92 Section 9 Mitigation Measures ....................................................................... 112 9.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 112 9.2 Early work undertaken to ensure contribution towards environmental protection and sustainable development ...................................................................................................... 112 9.3 Consideration of alternatives .................................................................................... 114 9.4 Integration of individual measures into the Strategy ................................................... 114 Section 10 Monitoring Programme .................................................................. 123 10.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 123 10.2 Indicators and Targets ............................................................................................. 123 10.3 Sources .................................................................................................................. 123 10.4 Reporting ............................................................................................................... 123 10.5 Thresholds .............................................................................................................. 124 Appendix I: Relationship with Legislation and Other Plans and Programmes…..97 Appendix II: Non-Technical Summary…………………………………Separately bound CAAS for the National Transport Authority ii SEA Environmental Report for the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy 2040 List of Figures Figure 2.1 Strategy Map showing the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy Study Area and the Road and Rail Network ................................................................................................................ 5 Figure 3.1 Overview of the Strategy, SEA and AA Process ............................................................... 6 Figure 4.1 Noise Mapping Lden (day-evening-night composite noise indicator) ................................ 20 Figure 4.2 Population Density ..................................................................................................... 24 Figure 4.3 European Sites .........................................................................................................