The East Anglia ONE Offshore Wind Farm Order 2014

Post construction

19.—(1) The undertakers must, in discharging condition 11(b), submit details of approval by the MMO in consultation with Natural England and JNCC of proposed post-construction surveys, including methodologies and timings, and a proposed format, content and timings for providing reports on the results. The survey proposals must specify each survey’s objectives and explain how it will assist in either informing a useful and valid comparison with the pre-construction position and/or will enable the validation or otherwise of key predictions in the environmental statement.

(2) The post-construction surveys referred to in sub-paragraph (1) must, unless otherwise agreed with the MMO, have due regard to, but not be limited to, the need to undertake—

(a) appropriate surveys of any benthic communities/benthos constituting Annex 1 Habitat in whole or in part inside the area(s) within the Order limits in which construction works were carried out;

(b) if existing data is not available, appropriate surveys to validate predictions made in the environmental statement in relation to habitat creation and the ability of structures to act as vectors for non-native species;

(c) appropriate ornithological surveys covering the area(s) within the Order limits in which construction works were carried out, and any wider area(s) where appropriate, as required to test predictions in the environmental statement concerning key ornithological interests of relevance to the authorised scheme;

(d) one high resolution swath bathymetric survey across the area(s) within the Order limits in which construction works were carried out to assess any changes in bedform topography and such further monitoring as may be agreed to ensure scour equilibrium has been reached and that the cables have been buried;

(e) side scan sonar and bathymetry survey(s) within the Order limits in which construction works were carried out after the first occurrence of a major storm event;

(f) appropriate marine mammal surveys covering the area(s) within the Order limits in which construction works were carried out and any wider area(s) where appropriate, as required to test predictions in the environmental statement concerning key marine mammal interests of relevance to the authorised scheme;

(g) low intensity information gathering (in conjunction with reports of fisheries catch data) within the Order limits in which construction works were carried out, to test predictions made in the environmental statement concerning impacts to elasmobranchs from electromagnetic fields;

(h) post-construction traffic monitoring in accordance with the outline navigation monitoring strategy, including the provision of reports on the results of that monitoring periodically as requested by the MCA.

(3) The undertakers must carry out the surveys agreed under sub-paragraph (1) and provide the agreed reports in the agreed format in accordance with the agreed timetable, unless otherwise agreed in writing with the MMO in consultation with Natural England and JNCC.