Offshore wind - strategic compensation policy: strategic environmental assessment - post adoption statement

4 The Findings of the SEA

4.1.1 The Strategic Compensation Policy falls under Section 5(4) of the 2005 Act and was therefore subject to SEA. The SEA^[12] provided a high-level and qualitative assessment of the potential environmental effects that are likely to result from the Strategic Compensation Policy. The policy includes core principles regarding:

• Defining ‘the network’;
• Overall coherence;
• Selecting measures; and
• Additionality.

4.1.2 Principles regarding implementation and monitoring measures are also included in the policy relating to:

• Timing of measures;
• Monitoring of measures; and
• Adaptive management.

4.1.3 Twelve options were assessed across the four core principles. Of these, six were assessed as having overall potential beneficial effects, five as having overall potential neutral effects, and one as having overall potential adverse effects. The potential impacts of each principle (and the options under consideration) are summarised against each SEA objective (see Section 3.1.4) at a qualitative level in Table 1 below.

Key:

+ Overall potential beneficial environmental effect

o Overall potential neutral environmental effect

- Overall potential adverse environmental effect

4.1.4 Compensatory measures can have a broad range of environmental effects, which will vary depending on the receptor that is the target of the measure being taken. The key potential environmental effects or impact pathways that are likely to arise from the policy were summarised as follows:

• Potential neutralising and beneficial effects from compensatory measures taken for environmental impacts of offshore wind farms; and
• Potential adverse effects resulting from the displacement of activities from regions of compensatory measures into new areas and the intensification of activities in areas where these activities already occur.

4.1.5 Alongside the above, depending on the details of implementation, the potential for adverse effects resulting from the gradual erosion in the condition of certain habitats and species was also identified. This is because the greater flexibility in the application of compensatory measures under some principles could result in the specific features/designations impacted by an offshore wind development not necessarily benefitting from the measure. Potential adverse effects from this were considered in the assessment of individual principles.

4.1.6 It should be noted, that whilst some options were assessed as having a potential neutral effect, this would often relate to the option representing the status quo and therefore would not be expected to result in a change in environmental effects to the current baseline.

4.1.7 In terms of implementation and monitoring measures considered in the Strategic Compensation Policy, those with more stringent requirements were assessed to more likely result in potential beneficial environmental effects.

4.1.8 Cumulative effects were considered in two ways in the assessment:

• First as the cumulative effect of the implementation of the different principles; and
• Second, the cumulative effect of the implementation of the Strategic Compensation Policy alongside other plans and programmes.

4.1.9 The cumulative effects of the implementation of the different principles will vary depending on which option for each principle is taken forward. The greatest potential for beneficial cumulative effects across the principles and objectives were assessed to result from:

• Defining the Network: Option B (network means all MPAs);
• Overall Coherence: Option D (overall marine environment);
• Selecting Compensatory Measures: Option D (measures do not need to directly link to the feature impacted, but need follow a ‘selection framework’); and
• Additionality for Compensation: either Option A or B (maintain requirement for additionality or remove requirement for additionality).

4.1.10 When considering cumulative effects with other plans, programmes, and strategies, it was found that there could be cumulative beneficial effects from enhanced protection as well as cumulative adverse effects from potential displacement of fishing activity (e.g., from fisheries management measures being considered for inshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Priority Marine Features (PMFs) or from the SMP-OWE and National Energy System Operators (NESO’s) Holistic Network Design (HND)^[13] and HND Follow Up Exercise (HND-FUE)^[14] work^[15]). However, potential displacement effects from the Strategic Compensation Policy were not assessed to be significant.

4.1.11 Depending on the details of implementation, potential adverse effects were identified from Option B of the ‘coherence of the network’ principle if taken forward (where obligations for ‘coherence of the network’ are reduced). Overall, however, there were no anticipated significant adverse environmental effects from the Strategic Compensation Policy.