Glossary
Term | Description |
|---|---|
Appropriate Assessment | An assessment to determine the implications of a plan or project on a European site in view of that site’s conservation objectives. An Appropriate Assessment forms part of the Habitats Regulations Appraisal (HRA) and is required when a plan or project (either alone or in combination with other plans or projects) is likely to have a significant effect on a European site. |
Annex I Habitat | A natural habitat type of community interest, defined in Annex I of the Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (Habitats Directive). The designation of Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) is required in the UK to ensure the conservation of these habitats. The protection afforded to sites designated prior to EU Exit persists in UK law. |
Annex II Species | Animal or plant species of community interest, defined in Annex II of the Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (Habitats Directive). The designation of Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) is required in the UK to ensure the conservation of these species. The protection afforded to sites designated prior to EU Exit persists in UK law. |
Competent Authority | The term derives from the Habitats Regulations and relates to the exercise of the functions and duties under those Regulations. Competent authorities are defined in the Habitat Regulations as including "any Minister, government department, public or statutory undertaker, public body of any description or person holding a public office". In the context of a plan or project, the competent authority is the authority with the power or duty to determine whether or not the proposal can proceed (SNH, 2014). |
EU Exit | The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union |
European site | A Special Area of Conservation (SAC), or candidate SAC, (cSAC), a Special Protection Area (SPA), a site listed as a site of community importance (SCI), or, as per Scottish Planning policy (SPP), a possible SAC (pSAC) or potential SPA (pSPA). All Ramsar sites are also Natura 2000 sites (taken as European sites) and a protected under the relevant statutory regimes’ (SPP, paragraph 211 (published in 2014 as confirmed by Scottish Government (2019)) |
Firth of Forth Zone | A suitable area for the development of offshore wind identified and assessed through a statutory process of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) undertaken by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), now Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). |
Habitats Regulations
| The Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994, the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 and the Conservation of Offshore Marine Habitats and Species 2017. |
Habitat Regulations Appraisal | A process required by the Habitats Regulations of identifying likely significant effects of a plan or project on a European site and (where Likely Significant Effects are predicted or cannot be discounted) carrying out an appropriate assessment to ascertain whether the plan or project will adversely affect the integrity of the European. If adverse effects on integrity cannot be ruled out, the latter stages of the process require consideration of the derogation provisions in the Habitats Regulations. |
Likely Significant Effect | Any effect that may reasonably be predicted as a consequence of a plan or project that may affect the conservation objectives of the features for which the European site was designated, but excluding trivial or inconsequential effects. A likely effect is one that cannot be ruled out on the basis of objective information. A ’significant’ effect is a test of whether a plan or project could undermine the site’s conservation objectives (SNH, 2014). |
Migratory waterbirds | Species of waders and waterfowl that are ecologically dependant on wetlands and which make regular migrations along the coast of the UK and/or non-breeding individuals that overwinter in the UK. |
National Site Network | The National Site Network comprises Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) designated (or proposed) on EU Exit day and which formerly formed part of the Natura 2000 network. The term “national site network” is used in each of the Habitats Regulations and the terms refer to the same network of sites ((Scottish Government, 2020). |
Natura 2000 network | A coherent European ecological network of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas comprising sites located within European Union Member States. |
Phase 1 | Development of two offshore wind farms: Seagreen Alpha and Seagreen Bravo. |
Proposed Development | All offshore infrastructure of the Berwick Bank Wind Farm, seaward of Mean High Water Springs (MHWS) which is the subject of this Screening Report. |
Ramsar Site | Wetlands of international importance, designated under the Ramsar Convention. |
Seabirds | Birds that spend most of their lives feeding and living on the open ocean, coming ashore only to breed. |
Special Area of Conservation (SAC) | Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) are areas designated for the conservation of certain plant and animals species listed in the Directive. |
Site of Community Importance (SCI)
| Defined in the Habitats Directive as a site which, in the biogeographical region or regions to which it belongs, contributes significantly to the maintenance or restoration at a favourable conservation status of a natural habitat type in Annex I, or of a species in Annex II, of the Habitats Directive and may also contribute significantly to the coherence of the Natura 2000 network. The site may also contribute significantly to the maintenance of biological diversity within the biogeographic region or regions concerned. For animal species ranging over wide areas, SCIs shall correspond to the places within the natural range of such species which represent the physical or biological factors essential to their life and reproduction. |
Special Protection Area (SPA) | Special Protection Areas (SPAs) are sites that are designated to protect rare or vulnerable birds (as listed on Annex I of the Directive 2009/147/EC on the conservation of wild birds), as well as regularly occurring migratory species. |
Acronyms
Description | |
|---|---|
AfL | Agreement for Lease |
BBWL | Berwick Bank Wind Limited |
BDMPS | Biologically Defined Minimum Population Scales |
BEIS | Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy |
CES | Crown Estate Scotland |
CfD | Contract for Difference |
CI | Confidence Interval |
CJEU | The Court of Justice of the European Union |
CL | Confidence Limit |
cSAC | Candidate Special Area of Conservation |
CTV | Crew Transfer Vessel |
DDSFB | Dee District Salmon Fishery Board |
DECC | Department of Energy and Climate Change |
EEA | European Economic Area |
EIA | Environmental Impact Assessment |
EMF | Electromagnetic fields |
EU | European Union |
FCS | Favourable Conservation Status |
FDSFB | Forth District Salmon Fisheries Board |
FTOWDG | Forth and Tay Offshore Wind Developers Group |
GW | Gigawatts |
HAT | Highest Astronomical Tide |
HDD | Horizontal Directional Drilling |
HLV | Heavy Lift Vessel |
HPDI | Highest Posterior Density Intervals |
HRA | Habitat Regulations Appraisal |
IMO | International Maritime Organization |
INNS | Invasive Non-Indigenous Species |
IROPI | Imperative Reasons of Overriding Public Interest |
LAT | Lowest Astronomical Tide |
LSE | Likely Significant Effect |
MARPOL | The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships |
MCAA | Marine and Coastal Access Act |
MHWS | Mean High Water Springs |
MS-LOT | Marine Scotland Licensing Operations Team |
MSS | Marine Scotland Science |
MU | Management Unit |
NEPS | National Electrofishing Programme for |
NS | NatureScot |
NSIP | Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects |
OSP | Offshore Substation Platform |
OSPAR | Oslo-Paris |
PAH | Polyarmomatic hydrocarbon |
PCB | Polychlorinated biphenyl |
PDE | Project Design Envelope |
PEL | Probable Effect Level |
PEMMP | Project Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan |
pSAC | Possible Special Areas of Conservation |
pSPA | Potential Special Protection Areas |
PTS | Permanent Threshold Shift |
RIAA | Report to Inform Appropriate Assessment |
ROV | Remotely Operated Vehicle |
RSPB | Royal Society for the Protection of Birds |
RTC | River Tweed Commission |
SAC | Special Area of Conservation |
SCI | Site of Community Importance |
SD | Standard Deviation |
SEA | Strategic Environmental Assessment |
SMA | Seal Management Area |
SMP | Seabird Monitoring Programme |
SNCB | Statutory nature conservation bodies |
SNH | Scottish Natural Heritage (now NatureScot) |
SOV | Service Operations Vessel |
SPA | Special Protection Area |
SPP | Scottish Planning Policy |
SPT | Scottish Power Transmission |
SSC | Suspended Sediment Concentrations |
SSER | SSE Renewables |
SWEL | Seagreen Wind Energy Limited |
TBT | Tributyl tin |
TCE | The Crown Estate |
TEL | Threshold Effect Level |
TP | Transition Piece |
UK | United Kingdom |
UXO | Unexploded Ordnance |
ZDA | Zone Develeopment Agreement |
ZOI | Zone of Influence |
Units
Unit | Description |
GW | Gigawatt |
ha | Hectare |
km | Kilometre |
km2 | Square kilometre |
m | Metre |
m2 | Square metre |
m3 | Cubic metre |
mm | Millimetre |
MW | Megawatt |
nm | Nautical Mile |