UK Offshore Energy Strategic Environmental Assessment
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UK Offshore Energy Strategic Environmental Assessment Future Leasing/Licensing for Offshore Renewable Energy, Offshore Oil & Gas and Gas Storage and Associated Infrastructure Scoping for Environmental Report March 2021 © Crown copyright 2021 This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: [email protected]. Where we have identified any third-party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at: [email protected] Contents Contents ................................................................................................................................ 1 1 General information........................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Why we are consulting ............................................................................................... 1 1.2 Consultation details .................................................................................................... 1 1.3 How to respond .......................................................................................................... 2 1.4 Confidentiality and data protection ............................................................................. 2 1.5 Quality assurance ....................................................................................................... 3 2 Consultation questions ................................................................................................... 4 3 Introduction, Purpose and Scope ................................................................................... 5 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 5 3.2 Purpose ...................................................................................................................... 6 3.3 The Draft Plan/Programme and Scope of the SEA .................................................... 6 3.4 Policy context ............................................................................................................. 11 3.5 Context to Licensing and Leasing .............................................................................. 21 3.6 Likely nature and scale of draft plan/programme related activity ................................ 25 4 Other Relevant Plans and Programmes ......................................................................... 40 4.1 Biodiversity, habitats, flora and fauna ......................................................................... 41 4.2 Geology, substrates & coastal processes ................................................................... 48 4.3 Landscape/seascape .................................................................................................. 52 4.4 Water Environment ..................................................................................................... 55 4.5 Air Quality ................................................................................................................... 60 4.6 Climate and meteorology ............................................................................................ 62 4.7 Population and human health ..................................................................................... 68 4.8 Other users of the sea (material assets) ..................................................................... 70 4.9 Cultural heritage ......................................................................................................... 76 5 Environmental Baseline ................................................................................................. 79 5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 79 5.2 Overview of the Environmental Baseline .................................................................... 79 5.3 UK Context ................................................................................................................. 80 5.4 Summary of UK Regional Seas .................................................................................. 86 5.5 Relevant Existing Environmental Problems ................................................................ 94 5.6 Likely Evolution of the Baseline .................................................................................. 104 6 Approach to Assessment ............................................................................................... 113 1 6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 113 6.2 Consideration of Alternatives ...................................................................................... 115 6.3 Draft SEA Objectives and Indicators .......................................................................... 116 6.4 Potential Sources of Effect ......................................................................................... 126 6.5 Overall spatial consideration ...................................................................................... 132 6.6 Monitoring ................................................................................................................... 132 6.7 Production of the Environmental Report ..................................................................... 141 7 Consultation ................................................................................................................... 143 7.1 Consultation process .................................................................................................. 143 8 Input to Scoping and Next Steps .................................................................................... 145 8.1 Scoping Input ............................................................................................................. 145 8.2 Next Steps .................................................................................................................. 146 9 References ..................................................................................................................... 147 2 Offshore Energy SEA 4: Scoping for Environmental Report 1 General information 1.1 Why we are consulting This Offshore Energy Strategic Environmental Assessment (OESEA4) Scoping Document has been prepared as part of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s (BEIS) Offshore Energy SEA programme. This SEA process aims to help inform offshore energy licensing and leasing decisions by considering the environmental implications of a proposed plan/programme and the potential activities which could result from its implementation. A key purpose of scoping is to identify issues of concern at an early stage so that they can be considered in the SEA. The purpose of this scoping report is to set out sufficient information to enable the Consultation Bodies and other interested parties tso form a view and give feedback on the scope and level of detail of the information to be included in the SEA Environmental Report. The scoping document contains four parts (1) outlining the draft plan/programme and its legislative and policy context, (2) its context within a wide array of international, regional, national and local initiatives (including other plans and programmes), (3) an overview of the environmental baseline and how it will be described in the Environmental Report and (4) the approach to assessment and consultation. Consultation questions follow each section. All feedback from the scoping consultation will be reviewed and, where appropriate, addressed in the OSEA4 Environmental Report. A compilation of the scoping feedback and a response to these will be published at the end of the scoping stage on the OESEA pages of gov.uk. 1.2 Consultation details Issued: 29/03/2021 Respond by: 5pm on 07/05/2021 Enquiries to: Offshore Energy SEA4 Scoping AB1 Building Crimon Place Aberdeen AB10 1BJ Tel: 01224 254015 Email: [email protected] Consultation reference: OESEA4 Scoping Audiences: 1 Offshore Energy SEA 4: Scoping for Environmental Report Those consultation bodies defined under regulation 12(5) of The Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004 (as amended), as listed in Section 7.1.5 of this report, and additionally, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, the Marine Management Organisation, Marine Scotland, and all other interested stakeholders and the public. Territorial extent: The territorial and offshore waters England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but excluding the territorial and offshore waters of Scotland and Northern Ireland for the leasing of offshore renewable energy, and the territorial waters of Scotland for the storage of carbon dioxide. 1.3 How to respond Please send responses either electronically or in writing to the following:- By Email to: [email protected] Write to: Offshore Energy SEA4 Scoping AB1 Building Crimon Place Aberdeen AB10 1BJ When responding, please state whether you are responding as an individual or representing the views of an organisation. Your response will be most useful if it is framed in direct response to