1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 SPP 6 RENEWABLE ENERGY GUIDANCE
The Scottish Ministers are fully committed to promoting the increased use of renewable energy sources as part of the energy generation regime within Scotland. The Executive's strategy for renewable energy is set out in ' Securing a Renewable Future: Scotland's Renewable Energy' which confirms a target of 18% of electricity generated in Scotland coming from renewable sources by 2010, rising to 40% by 2020. Under the existing guidance provided by NPPG 6, renewable energy capacity already installed, plus consented capacity not yet built, is likely to be sufficient to meet the Executive's 2010 target. Superseding NPPG 6, the intention of Scottish Planning Policy ( SPP) 6 will be to facilitate successful achievement of the 2020 target.
1.2 REQUIREMENT FOR SEA
Strategic Environmental Assessment ( SEA) is defined by Directive 2001/42/EC ( 1) (the ' SEA Directive') as:
'an important tool for integrating environmental considerations into the preparation and adoption of certain plans and programmes which are likely to have significant effects on the environment…because it ensures that such effects of implementing plans and programmes are taken into account during their preparation and before their adoption'.
The SEA Directive was approved by the European Parliament in 2001 and was incorporated into Scottish law on 20 July 2004 through The Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes (Scotland) Regulations (the ' SEA Regulations') ( 2). The SEA Regulations apply to a wide range of plans and programmes, and modifications to them, whose formal preparation begins after 21 July 2004. They also apply to plans and programmes for which formal preparation was begun before this date, if they have not been adopted (or submitted to a legislative procedure leading to adoption) by 21 July 2006.
The SEA Regulations do not, however, require the SEA of SPPs. The Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Bill, which was passed in November 2005, applies to plans and programmes at a national, regional and local level and will extend the provisions of the SEA Regulations by specifically stating that strategies should also be the subject of SEAs. It is anticipated that the Bill will become effective from February/March 2006 at which point it will supersede the SEA Regulations.
In light of this, and recognising the strategic importance of the proposed SPP 6, the Scottish Executive has opted to undertake an SEA, the results of which will be presented in an Environmental Report.
The SEA of SPP 6 will be undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes (Scotland) Regulations 2004, as follows:
- the findings of the SEA will be published in an Environmental Report which sets out the significant effects of the draft plan ie the draft SPP 6 document;
- consultation will be undertaken on the draft SPP6 and the Environmental Report;
- the results of consultation will be taken into account in decision-making relating to the adoption of SPP6; and
- information on how the results of the SEA have been taken into account will be made publicly available.
1.3 THE PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT
The purpose of this Scoping Report is to establish the scope of, and methodology for, the SEA and to identify appropriate data that may be of relevance to the study. Its aim is to set out, for the purpose of consultation:
- the proposed spatial, temporal and technical scope of the SEA;
- an outline of the assessment approach (including the approach to mitigation);
- the baseline context for the SEA;
- the proposed objectives of the SEA (drawing on other plans and programmes of relevance);
- an overview of the options to be considered in the SEA;
- how risk or uncertainty will be dealt with;
- the proposed structure of the Environmental Report; and
- an overview of the programme for the SEA, including the period for consultation on the draft SPP 6 and the Environmental Report.
This Scoping Report will be issued to the Consultation Authorities ( CAs), as defined within Government SEA guidance ( 3), namely:
- Scottish Natural Heritage ( SNH);
- Historic Scotland; and
- Scottish Environment Protection Agency ( SEPA).
By issuing this Scoping Report, the study team is seeking comments on the proposed methodology and scope of the SEA from the CAs. Existing information that may be of relevance to the study is also being sought. This includes data on:
- other relevant plans and programmes;
- environmental protection objectives;
- environmental or sustainability problems; and
- the existing and future state of the environment.
Comments received from the CAs on the Scoping Report will be taken into account in the SEA. The ways in which these comments are addressed in the developing SPP 6 will also be reported in the Environmental Report.
1.4 THE STRUCTURE OF THIS REPORT
Following this section, the remainder of this report is structured as follows:
- Chapter2 outlines the scope of the SEA and the key stages in the SEA programme;
- Chapter3 sets the context of the SEA and discusses other relevant plans and programmes, SEA objectives, and baseline data collection;
- Chapter4 provides an overview of the key options to be considered in the SEA;
- Chapter5 explains the methodology that will be used to assess the significance of the environmental issues considered as part of the SEA; and
- Chapter6 sets out the proposed structure of the SEA Environmental Report.