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1.3 Policy and legislation ​

1.3.1.1 This section provides a summary of the policy and legislative context for the Mona Offshore Wind Project, with reference to the consenting process, including details of the Planning Act 2008 and associated planning policy.

1.3.1.2 Policy and legislation specific to individual environmental topics and EIA are set out within each topic chapter of this PEIR. This includes (as applicable) National Policy Statements, Planning Policy Wales and reference to the following local authorities and their Local Development Plans:

  • Conwy County Borough Council: Adopted Local Development Plan
  • Denbighshire County Council: Adopted Local Development Plan.

1.3.2 Consenting regime ​

1.3.2.1 The Mona Offshore Wind Project requires consent under the Planning Act 2008, as amended. A separate marine licence under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 is also required for licensable marine activities associated with the export cable. This section provides a summary of the consenting process and describes the legal requirements for EIA.

1.3.2.2 An EIA is required for the assessment of the effects of certain projects on the environment under EU Directive 2011/92/EU (as amended by Directive 2014/52/EU) (the EIA Directive). The EIA Directive is transposed into English law for NSIPs by the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017.

1.3.2.3 The Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 (as amended) and the Marine Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2007 (as amended) set out the requirements for EIA under the Planning Act 2008 (in compliance with the EIA directive) and the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 respectively.

1.3.2.4 The EIA ensures that the decision maker has enough information on the likely significant effects on the environment arising from a project . The approach to EIA for the Mona Offshore Wind Project is set out in section 1.6 below.

1.3.3 Habitats Regulations ​

1.3.3.1 The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (as amended) and the Conservation of Offshore Marine Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (as amended) require the assessment of significant effects on internationally important nature conservation sites where these may arise as a result of a project. These internationally important sites include Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), or candidate SACs (cSACs), Special Protection Areas (SPAs) or potential SPAs (pSPAs), Sites of Community Importance (SCI) and Ramsar sites. The assessment is to be undertaken by the 'competent authority', which in the case of the Mona Offshore Wind Project is the Secretary of State for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (formerly the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) for the infrastructure located wholly within Welsh inshore and offshore waters, English offshore waters and onshore, and NRW for the offshore export cables and related works located within Welsh offshore waters.

1.3.3.2 In order to carry out the Habitat Regulations Assessment (HRA), the competent authority requires a report to be submitted alongside the application for development consent that provides the information required to undertake the Appropriate Assessment. A Draft Information to Support Appropriate Assessment (ISAA) is provided alongside the PEIR. The ISAA will be finalised following completion of pre-application consultation and will accompany the application to the Secretary of State for development consent.