AA Screening: Proposed Nenagh Digital Hub, Stereame Business Park, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary July 2020 _________________________________________________________________________________ Proposed Nenagh Digital Hub, Stereame Business Park, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary Screening for Appropriate Assessment Report Version: 3rd July 2020 (FINAL) Tait Business Centre, Dominic Street, Limerick City, Ireland. t. +353 61 313519, f. +353 61 414315 e. [email protected] w. www.ecofact.ie ________________________________________________________________________________ www.ecofact.ie 1 AA Screening: Proposed Nenagh Digital Hub, Stereame Business Park, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary July 2020 _________________________________________________________________________________ SUMMARY The current document provides a Screening for Appropriate Assessment Report of the Proposed Nenagh Digital Hub in the Stereame Business Park in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. This involves a new development on an existing brownfield site within the Stereame Business Park. It is noted that this project is at the preliminary stage. This report assesses whether the proposed works at this location is likely to have a significant effect on the Natura 2000 site network. The site itself is located away from the Natura 2000 network and there are no drains or watercourses on the site. The nearest watercourse is c. 290m east. Two Natura 2000 sites, the Lough Derg (Shannon) SPA and the Lower River Shannon SAC, are discussed in the current report in relation to potential impacts. It is considered that there is no potential for construction phase run-off or dust impacts to arise that could affect the Natura 2000 network. The stream located c. 290m east is separated from the site by the Stereame Centre, c. 5.9km from the Lough Derg (Shannon) SPA which is the closest Natura 2000 site, and there are no drains or watercourses on the site. Therefore there is no potential for dust or run- off impacts to arise. The site itself is located on an ‘Extremely Vulnerable’ area of groundwater and therefore there is the potential for local groundwater contamination. However, it is considered that this be a local issue and not one that would concern impacts on the Natura 2000 network due to distance. There is no potential for invasive species impacts to affect the Natura 2000 network at a distance of 5.9km and again would be a local issue. A review of documents available for the Nenagh WwTP is provided in the current report. A NIS was completed for the plant which noted assimilation capacity in the Nenagh River, as well as an Annual Environmental Report noting that the plant is operating under capacity. The proposed development will include for a connection to this WwTP which discharges to the Nenagh River, c. 10.7rkm upstream of the Lough Derg (Shannon) SPA. It is acknowledged that the project is currently at the preliminary stage. Given the sensitivities of the qualifying interests, the lack of watercourses or drains on the site and the distance from the Natura 2000 network, it is considered that there is no potential for direct, indirect, or cumulative impacts on the Lough Derg (Shannon) SPA or the Lower River Shannon SAC to arise as a result of the proposed Nenagh Digital Hub in Co. Tipperary. Therefore, it is concluded that a Natura Impact Statement is not required. ________________________________________________________________________________ www.ecofact.ie 2 AA Screening: Proposed Nenagh Digital Hub, Stereame Business Park, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary July 2020 _________________________________________________________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................................. 2 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 4 1.1 LEGISLATIVE CONTEXT ................................................................................................................ 4 1.2 CONSULTATION ........................................................................................................................... 5 2. METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................................... 7 2.1 DESK STUDY ............................................................................................................................... 7 2.2 ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................... 7 3. DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS ................................................................... 8 4. IDENTIFICATION OF RELEVANT NATURA 2000 SITES ........................................................... 9 4.1 RATIONALE FOR APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENT SCREENING ............................................................. 9 4.2 NATURA 2000 SITES CONSIDERED FOR THE PROPOSED WORKS ..................................................... 9 4.2.1 Lough Derg (Shannon) SPA ......................................................................................... 10 4.2.2 Lower River Shannon SAC ........................................................................................... 11 5. ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTS ..................................................................................................... 15 5.1 ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIAL DIRECT IMPACTS AFFECTING NATURA 2000 SITES ............................ 15 5.1.1 Construction Phase ....................................................................................................... 15 5.1.2 Operational Phase......................................................................................................... 15 5.2 ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIAL INDIRECT IMPACTS AFFECTING NATURA 2000 SITES ......................... 15 5.2.1 Construction Phase ....................................................................................................... 15 5.2.2 Operational Phase......................................................................................................... 16 5.3 ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIAL CUMULATIVE IMPACTS AFFECTING THE NATURA 2000 SITE ................ 16 6. SCREENING STATEMENT WITH CONCLUSION ..................................................................... 17 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................... 18 PLATES ................................................................................................................................................ 20 APPENDIX 1 PRELIMINARY DESIGN DRAWINGS ...................................................................... 21 APPENDIX 2 NPWS SITE SYNOPSES .......................................................................................... 23 ________________________________________________________________________________ www.ecofact.ie 3 AA Screening: Proposed Nenagh Digital Hub, Stereame Business Park, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary July 2020 _________________________________________________________________________________ 1. INTRODUCTION The current document provides a Screening for Appropriate Assessment Report of the Proposed Nenagh Digital Hub in the Stereame Business Park in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. This involves a new development on an existing brownfield site within the Stereame Business Park. This development is currently at the preliminary stage. This report assesses whether the proposed works at this location is likely to have a significant effect on the Natura 2000 site network. Effects upon the conservation objectives and qualifying interests (including habitats and species) within the affected designated areas are considered. Appropriate Assessment is required under Article 6 of the Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), in instances where a plan or project may give rise to significant effects upon a Natura 2000 site. Natura 2000 sites are those identified as sites of European Community importance designated under the Habitats Directive (1992) or the Birds Directive (2009). The current document meets this requirement by providing a Screening Assessment of the development and follows the guidance for screening published by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (DoEHLG 2010) 'Appropriate Assessment of Plans and Projects in Ireland. Guidance for Planning Authorities'. According to DoEHLG (2010), screening is the process that addresses and records the reasoning and conclusions in relation to the first two tests of Article 6(3) of the EU Habitats Directive: (1) Whether a plan or project is directly connected to or necessary for the management of the site, and; (2) Whether a plan or project, alone or in combination with other plans and projects, is likely to have significant effects on a Natura 2000 site in view of its conservation objectives. Screening is a pre-assessment procedure which considers whether an assessment (i.e. appropriate assessment) is required or not. A project or plan may only pass at the Screening stage if there is no reasonable scientific doubt remaining as to the absence of impacts on the Natura 2000 network. The current screening therefore sets out to determine whether the proposed project, alone or in combination with other plans and projects, is likely to have significant effects on the Natura 2000 sites within the study area. If the effects are deemed to be significant, potentially significant, or uncertain, or