1 Aims, Scope and Format of the Road Map

1.1 Background and Aims

Phase 2 of the former Firth of Forth Zone includes Berwick Bank Wind Farm for which consents and licences (as set out below) are being sought. This Project includes both the offshore wind turbine generators (hereafter referred to as wind turbines) and associated offshore infrastructure, as well as onshore grid connection and associated infrastructure.

The Marine Mammal Road Map covers assessments in relation to the Berwick Bank Wind Farm, seaward of Mean High Water Springs (MHWS), as well as any impacts of offshore infrastructure on onshore receptors landward of MHWS (e.g. seal haul outs). This Road Map does not consider basking sharks or otters, or onshore impacts of onshore infrastructure (landward of MHWS). Consent and licence applications for the onshore and offshore components of the Project are being submitted separately. The offshore components of the Project are hereafter referred to as ‘The Proposed Development’

Key components of the Proposed Development include:

wind turbines;
wind turbine foundations;
inter-array cables;
offshore substation platforms (OSPs)/Offshore convertor station platforms; and
offshore export cables.

The Proposed Development requires the following consents, licences and permissions:

a Section 36 consent under the Electricity Act 1989;
marine licence(s) under the Marine and Coastal Access Act (MCAA) 2009;
a marine licence under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 for the part of the offshore export cables which is within 12 Nautical Miles (NM) of the coast; and
planning permission under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 for all infrastructure located landward of Mean Low Water Springs (MLWS) and seaward of MHWS.

The aim of this Marine Mammal Road Map is to support agreement with key stakeholders on the information provided by Berwick Bank Wind Farm Limited (BBWFL), a wholly owned subsidiary of SSE Renewables Limited (hereafter referred to as the Applicant) in relation to marine mammals and underwater noise (associated with potential impact on marine mammals) offshore Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and the Report to Inform the Appropriate Assessment (RIAA), as part of the Section 36 Consent Application and Marine Licence Applications for the Proposed Development. This Marine Mammal Road Map documents discussions and agreements between the Applicant and the key stakeholders listed in section 2.

This Marine Mammal Road Map seeks to ensure that the information supplied in the consent Applications listed above is compliant with the requirements of the following regulations, hereafter referred to as the EIA Regulations:

Section 36 consent application: The Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017;
marine licence application: The Marine Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 and The Marine Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2007; and
a planning application: The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017.

As well as the following regulations, hereafter referred to as the Habitats Regulations:

the Conservation (Natural Habitats &c.) Regulations 1994 (as amended);
the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (as amended)[1]; and
the Conservation of Offshore Marine Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (as amended)1 (which apply to marine licences and Section 36 applications within the Scottish Offshore region.

As part of engagement in the Marine Mammal Road Map process, it was envisaged that the Applicant and key stakeholders would:

provide information in a timely manner;
be transparent and consistent in provision of advice;
provide effective involvement in the stakeholder engagement process;
aim to adhere to the programme of meetings set out in this Road Map (see section 3); and
seek to identify any issues or additional data requirements as early as possible.

The Applicant sought to provide this Road Map as an accurate record of meetings held, discussions undertaken and points of agreement relating to the offshore EIA and Habitats Regulations Appraisal (HRA) marine mammal assessments.

1.2 Scope

The Marine Mammal Road Map was used as a tool to facilitate early and on-going engagement with key stakeholders, throughout the pre-application phase of the Proposed Development up to the point of Application submission. This included consultation on the developing baseline characterisation, approaches to data analysis, underwater noise modelling, assessment of significance, and development of the final application documentation. This Marine Mammal Road Map was a ‘live’ document which was used to reach and record points of agreement, for example on scoping impacts out of the offshore EIA and RIAA, and agreeing the level of assessment that were presented for impacts scoped in to the offshore EIA and RIAA, so that the focus in the assessment documents in support of the Application are on likely significant effects as defined by the EIA Regulations, and Likely Significant Effects (LSE) as defined by European case law associated with the Habitat Directive.

The Marine Mammal Road Map sought to agree the following as a minimum, however additional points of agreement/discussion were required, and these were discussed with key stakeholders and documented within this Road Map:

receptors expected to occur within the zone of influence (ZoI) of the Proposed Development;
key impacts that require to be assessed relevant to both draft offshore EIA and RIAA (including Unexploded ordnance (UXO), and those that can be scoped out from further assessment);
study area and data sources to be used to inform the baseline characterisation, including additional evidence requirements;
approach to analyses of site-specific data and results of interim data report;
density values for key species;
project design envelope and maximum design scenarios;
underwater noise modelling methodology including approach to assessment of effects and population modelling;
approach to cumulative and in-combination assessments;
sensitivity of the relevant receptors and evidence available on potential impacts;
approach to the offshore EIA, including the determination of significance of effects;
potential measures which could be applied to remove significant effects and agreement on specific mitigation to reduce risk of effect (to be included in a Marine Mammal Mitigation Plan (MMMP)); and
outputs of the offshore EIA and assessments to inform HRA.

For all the above, the Marine Mammal Road Map sought to record key areas of agreement and outstanding points of discussion.

Marine mammal survey scopes have been presented and agreement sought prior to this Road Map process with the consultees listed under section 2, and consideration of survey scopes is therefore not included further in this Road Map as no modifications were raised.

1.3 Format

Figure 1.1 Open ▸ outlines the key stages of the EIA and HRA processes, and how the Marine Mammal Road Map proposed to facilitate engagement during key stages and steps. The first stage of the Marine Mammal Road Map process was to agree the aims, scope and format of the Road Map, and the proposed timetable for engagement as set-out in this document.

The remainder of the Marine Mammal Road Map is set out as follows:

section 2: identifies the key statutory stakeholders to the Marine Mammal Road Map;
section 3: outlines the proposed marine mammal offshore EIA and HRA programmes for the Proposed Development. It includes the programme of meetings and provides a record of meetings that have taken place in relation to the marine mammal offshore EIA and HRA assessments;
section 4: provides a summary of discussions, areas of agreement and areas of outstanding agreements in relation to the marine mammal offshore EIA and HRA assessments. The aim was to have as few issues as possible outstanding at the point of Application submission; and
section 5: summarises the position (agreement/areas of outstanding points of discussion) at the point of Application submission.

Figure 1.1: Key Stages of the Proposed Development

2 Key Stakeholders

It was proposed that the aims of the Marine Mammal Road Map would be achieved through engagement with the following key statutory stakeholders:

Marine Scotland Licencing and Operations Team (MS-LOT);

Marine Scotland Science (MSS); and
NatureScot.

The aforementioned key stakeholders attended all the meeting held.

Table 2.1 Open ▸ sets out the remit, role in the offshore EIA/HRA processes and the key contact for each of the stakeholders listed above.

Consultation with Natural England with regard to the Southern North Sea Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and its consideration within the Offshore EIA Report with regard to transboundary impacts, and also the RIAA was undertaken through the offshore EIA Scoping and offshore LSE screening stages.

Table 2.1: Remit, Role and Contact for Key Stakeholders Associated with the Marine Mammal Offshore EIA and HRA Road Map

3 Programme

3.1 Marine Mammal Offshore EIA and HRA Programme for the Proposed Development

Table 3.1 Open ▸ below sets out the programme for key stages of the pre-application process in relation to the Berwick Bank Wind Farm.

Table 3.1: EIA and HRA Project Programme for Proposed Development

3.2 Programme of Marine Mammal Road Map Meetings

Table 3.2 Open ▸ sets out the programme for stakeholder meetings in relation to key aspects of marine mammal technical assessments. These were scheduled to take place at key points of the pre-application phase and were in line with the key deliverables set out in Table 3.1 Open ▸ and the Marine Mammal Road Map process. The meetings listed in Table 3.2 Open ▸ are also listed within Figure 1.1 Open ▸ . All meetings were held via conference calls unless otherwise specified. This was due to Covid-19 pandemic restrictions throughout the pre-Application phase.

The Applicant has presented an overview of the consenting and Road Map process and the points of discussion that have taken place as part of this Marine Mammal Road Map. In addition, as requested by MMS-LOT an Audit Document for Post-Scoping Discussions has also been provided in volume 3, appendix 5.1, summarising key points of advice received subsequent to receipt of the Berwick Bank Scoping Opinion in February 2022 and LSE screening advice, and how these have been addressed in the Application documents.

Table 3.2: Programme for Stakeholder Engagement: Marine Mammals

3.3 Record of Marine Mammal Meetings

Table 3.3 Open ▸ records the meetings that have taken place, the attendees and the key discussion points in relation to the marine mammal offshore EIA and HRA assessments. This table was updated after each meeting and a tracker representing this table as circulated to all attendees as a record of the meeting and the key points of discussion. Table 3.3 Open ▸ does not record full minutes, however a meeting minute reference is provided for each meeting in this table and meeting minutes have been circulated following each meeting.

Table 3.3: Record of Marine Mammal and Underwater Noise Meetings Undertaken as part of the Marine Mammal Road Map

4 Record of Discussions

This section of the Marine Mammal Road Map documents discussions and areas of agreement or outstanding discussion points following each meeting as set out in section 3. Further detail on key aspects of discussion are provided in meeting minutes which are not appended to this Road Map.

The following subsections record associated discussion:

receptors expected to occur within the ZoI of the Proposed Development – section 4.1;
key impacts that require to be assessed relevant to both draft offshore EIA and RIAA (including UXO, and those that can be scoped out from further assessment) – section 4.1;
study area and data sources to be used to inform the baseline characterisation, including additional evidence requirements – section 4.1;
approach to analyses of site-specific data and results of interim data report – section 4.2;
density values for key species – section 4.2;
Proposed Development design envelope and maximum design scenarios – section 4.3;
underwater noise modelling methodology; approach to noise impact assessment; population modelling – section 4.3;
approach to the CEA – section 4.3;
sensitivity of the relevant receptors and evidence available on potential impacts – section 4.3;
approach to offshore EIA, including the determination of significance of effects – section 4.3;
potential measures which could be applied to remove significant effects and agreement on specific mitigation to reduce risk of effect (to be included in a MMMP) – section 4.3; and
initial outputs of the offshore EIA and RIAA supporting the HRA assessment – section 4.3.

4.1 Receptors, Key Impacts and Data Sources

This section aims to document and agree key areas of agreement and outstanding discussion points associated with the marine mammal baseline for the Proposed Development EIA and HRA. These include the following:

receptors expected to occur within the ZoI of the Proposed Development;
key impacts that require to be assessed relevant to both draft offshore EIA and RIAA (including UXO, and those that can be scoped out from further assessment); and
study area and data sources to be used to inform the baseline characterisation, including additional evidence requirements.

Table 4.1 Open ▸ summarises the points of discussion, areas of agreement and outstanding discussion points in relation to the marine mammal baseline for the Proposed Development.

Table 4.1: Summary of Discussion and Agreed Position on Marine Mammal Baseline Data for the Offshore EIA and HRA

4.1.1 Additional Details on Key Discussions

4.1.1.1 Baseline characterisation:

4.1.1.1.1 Scientific literature:

Bottlenose dolphin PhotoID surveys and SAC site condition monitoring (May-September 2009 to present) (Quick et al., 2014; Cheney et al., 2013; Arso Civil et al., 2019; Cheney et al., 2018);
Bottlenose dolphins for coastal east Scotland (Arso Civil et al., 2021; Arso Civil et al., 2014; Palmer et al., 2019);
East Coast Marine Mammal Acoustic Study (ECOMMAS) Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) data (2013 to present) (Brookes, 2017);
Marine Ecosystems Research Program cetacean density surfaces (1980 to 2018) (Waggitt et al.,2020);
Seal haul-out counts (up to 2019) (Data provided by SMRU);
Seal telemetry (1990 to 2018) (Data provided by SMRU);
Small Cetaceans in European Atlantic Waters (SCANS) III (July 2016) (Hammond et al., 2017);
SCANS II (July 2005) (Hammond et al., 2006);
SCAN-III Block R (Hammond et al., 2021);
Seal at-sea usage (telemetry: 114 grey seals and 239 harbour seals, count: 2015-2020) (Carter et al., 2020);
Forth and Tay Offshore Wind Developers Group cetacean survey data analysis report (2009 to 2011) (Mackenzie et al., 2012; King and Sparling, 2012);
JNCC Report 544: Harbour Porpoise Density (1994 to 2011) (Heinänen and Skov, 2015);
Analysis of The Crown Estate aerial survey data for marine mammals for the Forth and Tay Offshore Wind Developers Group (1994 to 2011) (Grellier and Lacey, 2011);
Joint Cetacean Protocol Phase III (1994 to 2010) (Paxton et al., 2016);
Cetacean Baseline Characterisation for the Firth of Tay: Bottlenose dolphins (PhotoID: 2009 and 2010, PAM: 2006 to 2009) (Quick and Cheney,2011); and
Regional Baselines for marine mammal knowledge across the North Sea and Atlantic areas of Scottish waters (2020 report on MUs for marine mammals) (Hague et al., 2020).

4.1.1.1.2 Historic specific surveys:

The Crown Estate aerial surveys (Grellier and Lacey, 2011) providing inshore and offshore waters (including Firth of Forth and Tay) surveyed between May and August 2009 and November 2009 and March 2010;
Seagreen Firth of Forth Round 3 (Sparling, 2012) providing visual boat based surveys carried out between May 2010 and November 2011.The survey area comprised the Firth of Forth Round 3 Zone (approximately 2,850 km2); and
Seagreen Phase 1 (boat-based surveys May to August 2017).

4.1.2 Summary Statement of Final Position

The lists of receptors, impacts and relevant sites to be scoped in and out of the offshore EIA assessment as well as the baseline characterisation data sources followed the suggestions from the Applicant in Table 4.1 Open ▸ with the inclusion of the following advice from the stakeholders agreed by the Applicant:

consideration of MUs as reference populations against which to assess impacts and the use of SCANS III Block R as harbour porpoise vulnerable subpopulation;
use of the latest information on the five year weighted mean abundance estimates for bottlenose dolphin and data from SCOS report 2021 for the assessment;
Southern Trench MPA screened out; and
the impacts of low order techniques scoped in the assessment.

4.2 Data Analyses of Site-Specific Data and Density Estimates

This section aims to document and agree key elements of the marine mammal data analysis for the Proposed Development offshore EIA and HRA. These include the following:

approach to analyses of site-specific data and results of interim data report; and
density values for key species.

Table 4.2 Open ▸ summarises the points of discussion, areas of agreement and areas of outstanding non-alignment in relation to the marine mammal data analysis for the Proposed Development.

Table 4.2: Summary of Discussion and Agreed Position on Marine Mammal Surveys and Data Analysis

4.2.1 Summary Statement of Final Position

The data analysis approach for the assessment of effects and the interim results followed the suggestions and data presented by the Applicant as agreed with the stakeholders as in Table 4.2 Open ▸ with regards to the following agreed points:

the perception bias is not an issue since the cameras can be angled to reduce glare;
the availability bias is accounted for absolute and relative densities;
the use of absolute density instead of relative densities;
the use of 224 animals for population of bottlenose dolphins for Coastal East Scotland;
the use of Carter et al. (2020) data to estimate numbers affected; and
to present both non-site and site specific data in the assessment along with a better rationale for distinguishing seal species.