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Physical processes EIA for offshore windfarms: views on proposed new guidelines

Questionnaire

Introduction

The Scottish Government has commissioned ABPmer to produce updated guidelines for Physical Processes Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for offshore windfarm projects. The guidelines aim to assist all relevant professional groups (primarily EIA practitioners, regulators and consultees) with the scoping of impacts, and the identification and selection of suitable assessment methodologies.

More information on the guidelines can be found here.

We are seeking your input to the new guidelines through this online questionnaire, following themes discussed at a recent workshop.

Thank you for your time; with your input, the final guidance will be more helpful and robust. Feel free to respond to some or all questions.
Theme 1: Existing guidance documents
General guidance documents
1.Of all the guidance you engage with regularly - not just for offshore wind or physical processes - what is the most valuable and why?

(Consider what a good style or format of guidance document looks like for you, e.g.is it accessible, practical, pragmatic, flexible, prescriptive, simple, detailed...?)
Existing guidance

Thinking about the existing guidance documents - focussed on shallow seas and fixed bottom turbines - the following questions explore what additional information should be included and how should it be presented in the new guidance:
2.How can existing baseline data be utilised more effectively or enhanced to sufficiently characterise the baseline environment?
3.How can the evidence base from consented and constructed projects be better utilised in the EIA?
4.What are the challenges when identifying and agreeing the most appropriate assessment methods?
5.What additional impacts, pathways and receptors do we need to consider in the baseline and assessment?
6.Are there existing impacts, pathways and receptors that need a different approach to assessment? If so, what approaches should be taken for these?
7.How should we best consider the impacts of offshore wind expansion (cumulative effects, deeper/stratified waters, climate change, etc)?
Theme 2: Expansion of offshore wind into deeper waters

Thinking about the expansion of offshore wind into deeper waters, and the use of floating technologies, these questions explore what information should be included in the new guidance:
8.What are the new types of infrastructure and construction techniques we need to consider and why (e.g. floating foundations, mooring lines, wet storage)?
9.What are the new impacts, pathways and receptors we need to consider (e.g. stratification, seafloor characteristics)?
10.What will regulators and SNCBs be looking for when reviewing the assessments in the EIA?
11.How can we benefit from knowledge and experience from other industries?
12.What EIA methodologies are available to assess these new types of infrastructure?
13.What do we need to consider when applying these methodologies in the EIA (e.g. available data, proportionality, representation of structures in assessments)?
Theme 3: Managing uncertainty
14.What are the main sources of residual uncertainty?*
15.How are the sources of residual uncertainty best addressed through the EIA?*
* Think in terms of practical limitations, proportionality of effort versus reduced uncertainty, use of the precautionary approach and maximum design scenarios, availability of existing and ongoing research, available monitoring data, and cumulative effects.
16.Out of everything that has been covered in these questions, what are the two key things you would like to see in the new guidelines?
Thank you again for your time.