Scottish Marine Bill Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA): Environmental Report (ER)

2 SEA Topics

2.1 Introduction

This chapter sets out the topics that have been covered by the SEA. The list is derived from the SEA Directive and refined to make it relevant to the coastal and marine environment. The SEA topics were identified through the authors' knowledge of the SEA process, the requirements of the Directive, an understanding of the Scottish Marine Bill and based on views given at the scoping workshop (see Chapter 3 Section 3.2).

As mentioned in the introduction, some of the important factors listed below are reserved matters ( e.g. oil and gas, telecommunications and shipping) and therefore are not directly affected by the Scottish Marine Bill. However, there has been a need to consider these reserved matters as part of the SEA in particular where they influence, or interact with, devolved activities. The reserved matters have therefore been assessed both in terms of each of the policy areas ( e.g. marine planning) and in terms of in-combination effects of the Scottish Marine Bill and the UK Marine Bill.

2.2 SEA Topics

Table 2.1: SEA Topics Covered in the SEA of the Marine Bill

SEA Directive Topics	Key Areas for Consideration	Important Factors
Biodiversity, Flora and Fauna	Protected sites and species	Natura 2000 Sites ( SPAs and SACs) and Annex 2 species
		Biodiversity Action Plan species and habitats
		Sites of Special Scientific Interest ( SSSIs)
		Marine Protected Areas ( MPAs)
	Ecosystems and biological diversity	Plankton (phytoplankton and zooplankton)
		Benthic ecology
		Sea birds
		Marine mammals
		Fish
		Non-native species
Soil	Substrate	Sediment, geology, geomorphology (coastal processes)
Water	Water quality and ecological/environmental status of water	Munitions dumps
		Disposal sites
		Marine discharges
		Bathing Waters/Shellfish Waters Directive
		Water Framework Directive ( WFD) targets
		Diffuse pollution
Air	Air Quality	Transport emissions (ships/coastal transport)
		Oil and gas emissions
		Atmospheric transport (nutrients and pollutants)
Climatic Factors	Affecting climate change	CO2 emissions from marine/coastal activities
		Renewable energy
		Oil and gas exploration
		Carbon capture and storage
	Responding to climate change	Sea temperature change
		Increased 'storminess' and changes in weather patterns
		Storm surges
		Adapting to sea level rise
Cultural Heritage	Archaeological and historic natural/built environment	Wrecks e.g. ships and aircraft
		Submerged historic landscapes
		Marine archaeological features/remains
		World Heritage Sites
		Terrestrial archaeological remains/sites
		Listed buildings
		Conservation areas
		Gardens and designed landscapes
Landscape	Landscape and seascape and visual impacts	Landscape and seascape character and capacity
		World Heritage Sites
		National Scenic Areas
		National Parks
		Gardens and designed landscapes
		Areas of Great Landscape Value and Regional Scenic Areas
		Wild Land Search Areas
		Visual Amenity
Material Assets	Marine and coastal material assets	Cables and pipelines
		Ports and harbours
		Coastal infrastructure
		Telecommunications cables
		Oil and gas
		Electricity cables
		Renewable energy developments
Population	Marine activities/industries	Commercial fishing
		Aquaculture
		Shipping and navigation
		Recreation and tourism
		Ports and harbours
		Oil and gas
		Renewables (wave, tide and offshore wind)
Human health	Physical wellbeing	Bathing beaches
		Navigational safety (recreational/commercial)
		Food quality (fish and shellfish)
		Bathing waters/shellfish waters
		Nuclear emissions/discharge

Page updated: Monday, December 08, 2008

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