ADDENDUM TO EDGE 2D HR SEISMIC SURVEY AND SITE SURVEY – SCREENING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT REPORT RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 2ND AUGUST 2019 MGE0741RP0007 Addendum to Edge 2D HR Seismic Survey and Site Survey – Screening for EIA and ERA Report Response to RFI F01 21 October 2019 rpsgroup.com RESPONSE TO RFI AND CLARIFICATIONS Document status Review Version Purpose of document Authored by Reviewed by Approved by date Response to RFI and Gareth Gareth F01 James Forde 21/10/2019 Clarifications McElhinney McElhinney Approval for issue Gareth McElhinney 21 October 2019 © Copyright RPS Group Limited. All rights reserved. The report has been prepared for the exclusive use of our client and unless otherwise agreed in writing by RPS Group Limited no other party may use, make use of or rely on the contents of this report. 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Prepared by: Prepared for: RPS CNOOC Petroleum Europe Limited Dr James Forde Stephen Parker Senior Project Scientist Exploration Manager Ireland Lyrr 2, IDA Business & Technology Park, Prospect House, 97 Oxford Road, Mervue, Galway, Ireland Uxbridge, UK, H91 H9CK UB81LU T +353 (0) 91 400 200 T +44 (0) 1895 237700 E [email protected] E [email protected] MGE0741RP0007 | Response to RFI | F01 | 21 October 2019 rpsgroup.com Page i RESPONSE TO RFI AND CLARIFICATIONS Contents 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 1 2 REQUESTS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION/ CLARIFICATIONS ............................................ 2 2.1 Query 1 .......................................................................................................................................... 2 2.2 Query 2 .......................................................................................................................................... 4 2.3 Query 3 ........................................................................................................................................11 2.4 Query 4 ........................................................................................................................................12 2.4.1 Part B - Potential Impact to Commercial Fish Species ...............................................................12 2.5 Query 5 ........................................................................................................................................18 2.6 Query 6 ........................................................................................................................................22 2.7 Query 7 ........................................................................................................................................23 2.8 Query 8 ........................................................................................................................................25 2.9 Query 9 ........................................................................................................................................26 3 SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION REGARDING POTENTIAL IN-COMBINATION EFFECTS ....................................................................................................................................31 Tables Table 2.1: Coordinates of provisional survey line start- and end-points ....................................................... 7 Table 2.2: Coordinates of survey area node points ....................................................................................10 Table 2.3: Survey aspects associated with proposed activities and unplanned events..............................13 Table 2.4: Screening assessment of potential effects of the survey aspects to commercial fish species .........................................................................................................................................................13 Table 2.5: Fisheries active in the proposed survey .....................................................................................16 Table 2.6: SACs designated for Annex II marine mammal species and assessed for potential impacts ........................................................................................................................................................18 Table 2.7: SACs designated for Annex II migratory fish species and assessed for potential impacts .......19 Table 2.8: SACs designated for Annex I reef habitat and assessed for potential impacts .........................20 Table 2.9: SPAs assessed for potential impacts .........................................................................................21 Table 2.10: Equipment Soft-start Procedures .............................................................................................23 Table 2.11: CNOOC survey commitments to address recommendations detailed in the Pre-survey Fishery Assessment ....................................................................................................................................27 Table 3.1: Other offshore activities and potential for in-combination effect with the proposed Edge Survey ..........................................................................................................................................................33 Figures Figure 2.1: Provisional vessel survey lines relative to the proposed greater working area .......................... 6 MGE0741RP0007 | Response to RFI | F01 | 21 October 2019 rpsgroup.com Page ii RESPONSE TO RFI AND CLARIFICATIONS 1 INTRODUCTION On 2 August 2019 the EAU wrote to CNOOC requesting further information and clarifications on the Edge Survey application to enable a screening of the proposed activities in accordance with the requirements set out in the EIA Petroleum Exploration Regulations 2013 (as amended) and the 2014 Directive amending the 2011 EIA Directive (in particular the criteria specified in Annex III that are required to be taken into account when compiling the information on the characteristics of the project and its likely significant effects). The EAU raised a total of 9 No. requests for further information or clarifications (queries) relating the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Screening and Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) report, the Pre-survey Fisheries Assessment and the Survey Technical Specifications Report. CNOOC has considered the 9 queries raised by the EAU and presents below a detailed response to each query (see Section 2.1 to Section 2.9). We trust that these responses provide the required additional information and clarity to enable an EIA screening determination to be made. MGE0741RP0007 | Response to RFI | F01 | 21 October 2019 rpsgroup.com Page 1 RESPONSE TO RFI AND CLARIFICATIONS 2 REQUESTS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION/ CLARIFICATIONS 2.1 Query 1 EAU Query …Clarification is required on the technical specification of some items of equipment proposed, specifically the Massa sub bottom profiler, as the frequency range given in the CNOOC report does not specify which model is being used and differs from the frequency range quoted in the manufacturer’s technical specifications for the current Massa TR-1075 sub bottom profiler; CNOOC Response Table 2.1 and Table 3.4 of the EIA Screening and ERA report lists the geophysical equipment that could potentially be used for the survey. The sub bottom profiler is listed in Table 2.1 as “Massa 3x3 (or similar)”. The frequency range for the “Massa 3x3 Array” is quoted in Table 3.4 as 2 kHz to 8 kHz. It is possible that the Massa TR-1075 (2.5 kHz – 10 kHz) sub bottom profiler could be used on the survey. The noise modelling assessment was carried out using generic frequency range data for the Massa equipment (2-8 kHz). As this includes a lower bottom frequency than for the TR-1075, this is considered a slightly more conservative approach. A source level of 211 dB re 1 uPa is used in the model, and this is the same as for the Massa TR-1075. To generate a sufficiently fast impulse (rise time) the frequency range of sound signals produced by a sub- bottom profiler are dominated by low frequency sounds. Consequently, the vast majority of the energy is present at the lower frequencies with significantly less high frequency energy emitted. In this context, by using 2 kHz as the low end of the frequency range the noise model produces an output that is slightly more conservative than would be provided using the 2.5 kHz specified for the Massa TR 1075. As the minority of energy for the impulse signal is contained in higher frequencies, the upper frequency cut- off point is of less importance (than low frequency sounds) when modelling