Division Specifications and standardised methods for monitoring and assessment

1. 1..

   Regarding methods for monitoring and assessment:

   1. (a)

      Monitoring shall focus on changes associated with infrastructure developments, either on the coast or offshore.

   2. (b)

      Environmental impact assessment hydrodynamic models, where required, which are validated with ground-truth measurements, or other suitable sources of information, shall be used to assess the extent of effects from each infrastructure development.

   3. (c)

      For coastal waters, the hydromorphology data and relevant assessments under F1any enactment which gives effect to Directive 2000/60/EC shall be used.

2. 2..

   Regarding methods for assessment, the data shall be aggregated so that:

   1. (a)

      D7C1 is assessed in relation to total natural extent of all habitats in the assessment area;

   2. (b)

      D7C2 is assessed in relation to total natural extent of each benthic habitat type assessed.

Units of measurement for the criteria:

• D7C1: extent of the assessment area hydrographically altered in square kilometres (km²),

• D7C2: extent of each habitat type adversely affected in square kilometres (km²) or as a proportion (percentage) of the total natural extent of the habitat in the assessment area.