Paragraph 12 Pre-construction baselineI1

England, Wales and Scotland

(1)

Any pre-construction baseline report shall take account of any existing environmental data, assessments and reports relevant to the Order limits.

(2)

Prior to the commencement of the licensed activities the undertaker shall submit a pre-construction baseline report to the MMO for written approval at least 4 months prior to the start of any licensed activities. No licensed activities shall commence until the MMO has approved in writing the pre-construction baseline report. The form and content of the report, including any additional environmental monitoring, shall be agreed in writing by the MMO following consultation with Cefas, Natural England and English Heritage.

(3)

The pre-construction baseline report shall include—

(a)

data concerning the location and abundance of any benthic communities within the Order limits;

(b)

a Phase 1 survey of the intertidal area;

(c)

a swath-bathymetric survey including a side scan sonar survey including seabed anomalies of archaeological interest and those anomalies subject to exclusion zones and scour/spud marks across the Order limits;

(d)

data concerning existing fish and shellfish populations and spawning activity in the vicinity of the Order limits;

(e)

data concerning existing ornithological activity in the vicinity of the Order limits; and

(f)

a desk based assessment of known and predicted archaeology and paleo-environmental deposits.

(4)

In the event that the pre-construction baseline report contains sufficient information regarding the effects of the licensed activities on individual matters listed at sub-paragraph (3)(a) to (e) the MMO shall not require further monitoring to be carried out in respect of that matter.

Annotations

Commencement

I1: Sch. 2 para. 12 in force at 20.2.2013, see art. 1