Lerwick Pipeline Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Report REVISION RECORD Rev Date Details Prepared by Reviewed by Approved by 1 20/11/12 Final for issue Malcolm Richard Lowe Richard Lowe Sangster Associate Associate Director Principal Director Consultant Issued by URS Infrastructure & Environment UK Limited 23 Chester Street Edinburgh EH3 7EN 20 Nov 2012 Page i Final Lerwick Pipeline Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Report Limitations URS Infrastructure & Environment UK Limited (“URS”) has prepared this Report for the sole use of SSE Generation Limited (“Client”) in accordance with the Agreement under which our services were performed. No other warranty, expressed or implied, is made as to the professional advice included in this Report or any other services provided by URS. This Report is confidential and may not be disclosed by the Client or relied upon by any other party without the prior and express written agreement of URS. The conclusions and recommendations contained in this Report are based upon information provided by others and upon the assumption that all relevant information has been provided by those parties from whom it has been requested and that such information is accurate. Information obtained by URS has not been independently verified by URS, unless otherwise stated in the Report. Where assessments of works or costs identified in this Report are made, such assessments are based upon the information available at the time and where appropriate are subject to further investigations or information which may become available. URS disclaim any undertaking or obligation to advise any person of any change in any matter affecting the Report, which may come or be brought to URS‟ attention after the date of the Report. Certain statements made in the Report that are not historical facts may constitute estimates, projections or other forward-looking statements and even though they are based on reasonable assumptions as of the date of the Report, such forward-looking statements by their nature involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results predicted. URS specifically does not guarantee or warrant any estimate or projections contained in this Report. Copyright © This Report is the copyright of URS Infrastructure & Environment UK Limited. Any unauthorised reproduction or usage by any person other than the addressee is strictly prohibited. 20 Nov 2012 Page ii Final Lerwick Pipeline Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Report TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................1 1.1 Background .......................................................................1 2 REGULATORY FRAMEWORK .........................................2 2.1 EIA Regulations ................................................................2 2.2 The Purpose of Scoping in the EIA Process..................2 2.3 Structure of the Scoping Report .....................................3 3 THE EXISTING ENVIRONMENT .......................................3 3.1 Development Description ................................................3 3.2 Designated sites ...............................................................6 3.3 Previous Environmental Studies ....................................7 3.4 Potential Environmental Sensitivities/ Sensitive Receptors ....................................................................... 10 4 PROJECT DESCRIPTION .............................................. 11 4.1 Overview of the Development ...................................... 11 4.2 Potential Pipeline Route Description ........................... 13 5 CONSULTATION ............................................................ 16 5.1 Consultation Process .................................................... 16 6 PLANNING POLICY CONTEXT ..................................... 20 6.1 Introduction .................................................................... 20 7 EIA METHODOLOGY ..................................................... 21 7.1 Introduction .................................................................... 21 7.2 Methodology and Cumulative Assessment ................ 21 7.3 Alternatives and Design Evolution .............................. 22 7.4 The Development ........................................................... 23 7.5 Construction Programme and Management ............... 23 8 POTENTIAL SIGNIFICANT EIA ISSUES ....................... 24 8.1 Air quality ....................................................................... 24 8.2 Noise and Vibration ....................................................... 26 8.3 Ecology and nature conservation ................................ 28 8.4 Water Resources ........................................................... 31 8.5 Traffic, Transport and Access ...................................... 34 8.6 Cultural Heritage ............................................................ 36 8.7 Recreation and Land Use .............................................. 39 9 NON-SIGNIFICANT EIA ISSUES ................................... 41 9.1 Flood risk ........................................................................ 41 20 Nov 2012 Page iii Final Lerwick Pipeline Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Report 9.2 Ground Conditions ........................................................ 42 9.3 Landscape and Visual Impact ...................................... 42 9.4 Waste .............................................................................. 42 10 ADDITIONAL STUDIES .................................................. 42 10.1 Peat Management Plan .................................................. 42 10.2 Climate Change Assessment ....................................... 43 11 THE ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT .......................... 43 11.1 The Proposed Structure of the ES ............................... 43 11.2 EIA team.......................................................................... 45 12 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS .................................. 45 13 GLOSSARY ..................................................................... 45 20 Nov 2012 Page iv Final Lerwick Pipeline Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Report 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background SSE Generation Limited (hereafter referred to as „the Applicant‟) is seeking Pipeline Construction Authorisation (PCA) under Section 1 of the Pipelines Act 1962 and deemed planning permission under Section 5 of the Pipelines Act 1962 read with Section 57 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 and the provisions of the Planning (Consequential Provisions (Scotland) Act 1997 for an underground pipeline to transfer natural gas from a new offtake located at Sullom Voe oil and gas terminal to a proposed new power station located near Rova Head, north of Lerwick, Shetland (hereafter referred to as „the Development‟). The Development would be approximately 41.8 kilometres (km) in length and used to supply natural gas fuel to a proposed new gas-fired power station at Rova Head at a rate of up to 14,500 cubic metres per hour (m3/hr). A separate application for consent for the proposed new power station under Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 and deemed planning permission under Section 57 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 is separately being submitted to the Scottish Government and is not considered further in this Scoping Report. The Development route consists of an initial evaluation corridor of 100m width in which the final pipeline route would be determined based on environmental and engineering constraints. Allowing for a nominal construction corridor of 25m either side of the final pipeline route gives a total corridor of 150m which is the basis for the red line boundary. This means a total area within the identified red line boundary of approximately 627 hectares (ha); however the final construction corridor would only affect 209 ha of land. The development route is located within land administered by Shetland Islands Council (SIC). The location of the Development in both a regional and local context (including an indicative pipeline route) is shown in Figure 1. As part of the application for consent under Section 5 of the Pipelines Act 1962 and deemed planning permission under Section 57 of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, the Applicant proposes to undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which forms the subject of this 20 Nov 2012 Page 1 Final Lerwick Pipeline Environmental Impact Assessment Scoping Report Scoping Report. Further Development details are provided in Section 4 of this Scoping Report. URS Infrastructure & Environment UK Limited (hereafter referred to as URS) has been appointed by the Applicant to undertake a scoping study and prepare this Scoping Report to inform the scope of the EIA and content of the Environmental Statement (ES) (see Sections 8 and 9 of this Report). 2 REGULATORY FRAMEWORK 2.1 EIA Regulations The Development is more than 10 miles (16.09km) long and therefore will require a PCA under Section 1 of the Pipelines Act 1962. In addition, the application for PCA will be subject to an EIA under The Pipe-line Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2000 as amended (referred to in this document as the „EIA Regulations‟) The EIA regulations implement European Council Directive 85/337/EEC as amended by European Council Directive 97/11/EC on the assessment of the impacts of certain public and private projects upon the environment. This Development is