Lower Liffey Valley Sewerage Scheme Leixlip Wwtp Upgrade
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Kildare County Council Comhairle Chondae Cill Dara LOWER LIFFEY VALLEY SEWERAGE SCHEME LEIXLIP WWTP UPGRADE APPROPRIATE ASSESSME NT- STAGE 1 SCREENING For inspection purposes only. Consent of copyright owner required for any other use. June 2012 EPA Export 22-11-2013:23:44:49 KILDARE COUNTY COUNCIL LOWER LIFFEY VALLEY SEWERAGE SCHEME LEIXLIP WWTP UPGRADE APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENT – STAGE 1 SCREENING REPORT For inspection purposes only. Consent of copyright owner required for any other use. Nicholas O’ Dwyer Ltd., Consulting Engineers, Nutgrove Office Park, Nutgrove Avenue, Dublin 14. June 2012 PROJECT NO. 20309 TW Revision Reason for Revision Prepared by Reviewed by Approved by Issue Date - 1st Issue Serena Keane Fiona Lane Neil Delaney 01/06/2012 A B C D EPA Export 22-11-2013:23:44:49 Lower Liffey Valley Sewerage Scheme Appropriate Assessment Leixlip WwTP Stage 1 Screening CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2 1.1 Appropriate Assessment (AA) 3 1.2 This Stage 1 Screening Report 4 2. APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENT SCREENING MATRIX 5 2.1 Description of Project 5 2.2 Distance from Designated Sites 6 2.3 Description of Natura 2000 Sites Potentially Affected 7 2.3.1 Rye Water SAC (Site Code: 001398) 7 2.3.1 Wicklow Mountains SAC (Site Code: 002122) 8 2.3.2 Tolka Estuary/Sandymount Strand SPA (Site Code: 004024) 9 2.3.3 North Bull Island SPA (Site Code: 004006) 9 2.3.4 South Dublin Bay SAC (Site Code: 000210) 10 2.3.5 North Dublin Bay SAC (Site Code: 000206) 11 2.4 Conservation Objectives of Designated Sites 12 2.4.1 Rye Water/Carton SAC (Site Code: 001398) 12 2.4.2 Wicklow Mountain SAC (Site Code: 002122) 13 2.4.1 Tolka Estuary/Sandymount Strand SPA (Site Code: 004024) 13 2.4.1 South Dublin Bay SAC (Site Code: 000210) 13 2.4.1 North Dublin Bay SAC (Site Code: 000206) 14 2.4.1 North Bull Island SPA (Site Code: 004006) 14 For inspection purposes only. 2.5 Assessment CriteriaConsent of copyright owner required for any other use. 14 2.5.1 Individual Elements of the Project with Potential to give rise to Impacts on Natura 2000 Sites. 14 2.5.2 Likely Changes to the Site as a Result of the Project/Plan 21 2.5.3 Likely Impacts on the Natura 2000 Site as a Whole 21 3. CONCLUSION 22 4. FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANCE EFFECT (FONSE) REPORT 23 Appendix A: Correspondence Appendix B: Drawings Appendix C: Provisional Screening Exercise Appendix D: Site Synopsis Nicholas O’Dwyer Ltd. 1 June 2012 EPA Export 22-11-2013:23:44:49 Lower Liffey Valley Sewerage Scheme Appropriate Assessment Leixlip WwTP Stage 1 Screening 1. INTRODUCTION The Lower Liffey Valley Wastewater Treatment Plant (Leixlip WwTP), in County Kildare, serves towns including Leixlip, Celbridge, Maynooth, Kilcock and Straffan. The existing WWTP has a population equivalent (PE) of 80,000. It is required to upgrade and expand the existing WWTP from 80,000 PE to 150,000 PE. The WwTP expansion is required to accommodate predicted future increases in waste water flows up to a population equivalent of 150,000 PE from an expanding domestic, industrial and commercial population. The proposed WwTP expansion will provide secondary and tertiary treatment with nutrient removal. The WwTP will discharge final effluent to the River Liffey at Leixlip. By Order dated 2 June 2006, An Bord Pleanála granted approval to Kildare County Council for the proposed development comprising an upgrade to the WwTP at Leixlip, County Kildare (ref. PL09.EL2047). By decision dated 6 May 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted a waste water discharge licence (WwDL) under regulation 28(1) of the Waste Water Discharge (Authorisation) Regulations 2007 authorising the discharge of wastewater from the existing WwTP and the proposed upgrade to 150,000 PE (ref. D0004-01). In accordance with the Habitats Directive 92/33/EEC (2000) any plan or project that has the potential for a significant effect on Natura 2000 sites i.e. a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) or Special Protected Area (SPA) must be screened in th order to determine whet her an For inspectionAppropriate purposes only. Assessment is required. On the 11 of Consent of copyright owner required for any other use. June 2010 an Appropriate Assessment was prepared to fulfil one of the conditions of the EPA discharge license D0004-01 which was to assess the impact of discharges from the Lower Liffey Valley Sewerage Scheme including the Leixlip WwTP on Natura 2000 sites. This Assessment was limited to assessing the impacts of effluent discharges from the WwTP and storm overflows associated with the operation of the scheme. The Natura 2000 sites assessed included the Rye Water Valley/ Carton Special Area of Conservation and The South Dublin Bay and River Tolka Special Protection Area. This report concluded that compliance with the discharge licence will ensure the protection of the receiving water and ultimately the European sites. This is consistent with the conclusions drawn by An Bord Pleanála and the EPA when approving the upgrade project. Kildare County Council anticipates that certain alterations to the approved development will now be required. Specifically, there will be modifications to the process units, upgrade of the tertiary filters and upgrading of existing mechanical Nicholas O’Dwyer Ltd. 2 June 2012 EPA Export 22-11-2013:23:44:49 Lower Liffey Valley Sewerage Scheme Appropriate Assessment Leixlip WwTP Stage 1 Screening plant to increase hydraulic capacity. This Stage 1 Screening Report for Appropriate Assessment has been prepared by Nicholas O’ Dwyer Ltd on behalf of Kildare County Council in response to the Development Application Unit (DAU) of the Department of the Arts Heritage and Local Government (DoAHLG) letter dated 20 March 2012 included in Appendix A which states that “if a project has been amended then it would also require a new AA screening”. 1.1 Appropriate Assessment (AA) An Appropriate Assessment is an assessment of the potential adverse or negative effects of a plan or project, in combination with other plans or projects, on a European site. An Appropriate Assessment must be carried out before any decision is made to allow the plan or project to proceed. The obligation to undertake Appropriate Assessment derives from both Article 6(3) and 6(4) of the Habitats Directive. The European Union has provided guidance as to how to produce a Habitats Directive Assessment and identifies four main stages in the process as follows: Stage One: Screening The process identifies the likely impacts upon a Natura 2000 site of a project or plan, whether alone or in combination with other projects or plans, and considers whether these impacts are likely to be significant. Stage Two: Appropriate Assessment For inspection purposes only. Consent of copyright owner required for any other use. The consideration of the impact on the integrity of the Natura 2000 site of the project or plan, either alone or in combination with other projects or plans, with respect to the site’s structure and function and its conservation objectives. Additionally, where there are adverse impacts, an assessment of the potential mitigation of those impacts. Stage Three: Assessment of Alternative Solutions The process which examines alternative ways of achieving the objectives of the project or plan that avoid adverse impacts on the integrity of the Natura 2000 site. Nicholas O’Dwyer Ltd. 3 June 2012 EPA Export 22-11-2013:23:44:49 Lower Liffey Valley Sewerage Scheme Appropriate Assessment Leixlip WwTP Stage 1 Screening Stage Four: Assessment where no Alternative Solutions Exist and where Adverse Impacts Remain. An assessment of compensatory measures, where in the light of an assessment of imperative reasons of overriding public interest, it is deemed that the project or plan should proceed. The Habitats Directive promotes a hierarchy of avoidance, mitigation and compensatory measures. First, the project should aim to avoid any negative impacts on European sites by identifying possible impacts early in the planning stage, and designing the project in order to avoid such impacts. Second, mitigation measures should be applied, if necessary, during the AA process to the point where no adverse impacts on the site(s) remain. If the project is still likely to result in adverse effects, and no further practicable mitigation is possible, then it is rejected. If no alternative solutions are identified and the project is required for imperative reasons of overriding public interest (IROPI test) under Article 6 (4) of the Habitats Directive, then compensation measures are required for any remaining adverse effects. 1.2 Stage 1 Screening Report This document brings together all of the information necessary to make determination as to whether there is likely to be a significant impact arising from the proposed works on the Rye Water SAC (Site Code: 00128), The Glenasmole Valley SAC (Site Code: 001209), the Wicklow Mountains SAC (Site Code: For inspection purposes only. Consent of copyright owner required for any other use. 002122), the Tolka estuary/Sandymount Strand SPA (Site Code: 004024), the South Dublin Bay SAC (Site Code: 000210), the North Dublin Bay SAC (Site Code: 000206) and the North Bull Island SPA (Site Code: 004006) and represents the first stage of the Appropriate Assessment process i.e. Stage 1 Screening. This Stage 1 Screening Report has been prepared in accordance with the guidelines of the European Commission; Managing Natura 2000 Sites: the provisions of Article 6 of the “Habitats” Directive 92/43/EEC (2000), Assessment of the plans and projects significantly affecting Natura 2000 sites (2000), and the National Parks and Wildlife Service Guidance for Planning Authorities1. 1 Appropriate Assessment of Plans and Projects in Ireland – Guidance for Planning Authorities.