TY - RPRT
TI - 2024 State of the Science Report - Chapter 6: Strategies to Aid Consenting Processes for Marine Renewable Energy
AU - Freeman, M
AB - Over the past four years, OES-Environmental has focused on presenting the science behind what is known about the potential risks of MRE development on marine animals, habitats, and ecosystem processes, in formats and methodologies that are accessible and applicable to consenting processes, across the OES-Environmental countries. Chapter 6 documents the work and describes the use of the various tools that have been developed by OES-Environmental and other groups. The overall risk retirement process has been expanded to include the concept of data transferability, whereby datasets collected and analyzed for MRE deployments in one locale can be made available and relevant to new projects with similar attributes. In addition, the process of retiring risks for certain small MRE developments has been evaluated across several stressors, using evidence bases of seminal papers and reports, and tested at a series of expert workshops. This process resulted in consensus around retiring risks for four stressor-receptor interactions for small numbers of MRE devices: underwater noise, EMFs, changes in habitats, and changes in oceanographic systems. There is not sufficient evidence to retire the risk of collision, while displacement and entanglement risks have not yet been evaluated.The results of the risk retirement and data transferability processes were made more accessible to consenting processes by equating the stressor-receptor interactions with the appropriate category of environmental regulation. The major categories of environmental regulation found across OES-Environmental countries include those that address: protection of species and populations; protection of habitats; protection of water quality; and support for social and economic well-being. A series of guidance documents have been written that provide access to the science that supports understanding the potential risk of MRE development on the marine environment. The guidance documents can provide a starting point for discussions around consenting between developers and regulators.Other strategies and tools that can be used to assist with regulatory processes have also been reviewed, including adaptive management, marine spatial planning, and a series of tools specific to individual countries. The chapter includes case studies that have successfully applied these strategies and tools for MRE development.Chapter 6 Supplementary Material The 2024 State of the Science Report consists of 11 chapters which can be downloaded as a whole or individually. Download Chapter 6: Strategies to Aid Consenting Processes for Marine Renewable Energy here.
DA - 2024/09//
PY - 2024
PB - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
LA - English
KW - Marine Energy
KW - Human Dimensions
KW - Marine Spatial Planning
ER -