Abstract
This report presents the outcomes of the ‘Closing the Loop: Feasibility study to determine a feedback approach for post-consent monitoring to reduce consenting risk in future assessments’ project.
There is not currently a strategic feedback mechanism or requirement for data collected during postconsent monitoring (PCM) of offshore windfarm developments to be integrated back into the assessment process. Using these data effectively could help reduce uncertainty in the consenting process and is crucial in the context of both cumulative and future project-based assessments.
Using seabirds as a key receptor group, we focused on the barriers and potential solutions to incorporate post-consent monitoring data back into the consenting process for the offshore wind sector using existing tools, thereby ‘closing the loop’ as part of the wider and essential adaptive management paradigm. This is particularly important to the offshore wind sector because developers are typically required to conduct post-consent monitoring of offshore wind farms (OWF) impacts as part of their licence conditions, which is costly and may be challenging to implement.
A set of recommendations was developed to remove barriers and set out pathways for proposed solutions to be implemented, providing a mechanism for ‘closing the loop’. Development of the recommendations was based on detailed engagement with a diverse set of relevant stakeholders to ensure recommendations are specific and reflect the context and constraints around the current legal, policy, regulatory and process frameworks.
Outputs and findings from a second receptor group, marine mammals, are integrated into the report. An ‘evidence bridges’ approach was used for marine mammals to develop and demonstrate a swift, transparent and auditable mechanism to facilitate evidence transfer and uptake.
The high-level recommendations from the project are:
A: Improve communication and coordination within and between organisations to benefit the sector
B: Stakeholders across the industry establish greater clarity on governance and responsibility of postconsent monitoring data and reporting requirements
C: Continue to improve and invest in data management frameworks, communicating this facility to stakeholders
D: Develop FAIR data and data standards for PCM, working with developers to achieve this