Airspace change masterplan: scoping the environmental assessments

UK airspace is an invisible but vital piece of our national infrastructure. The basic design has remained the same for decades, despite technological advances and an increase in demand from airspace users. Modernisation is long overdue and is critical to ensure that UK airspace is fit for purpose in the future. The Department for Transport and CAA are working together to deliver it through an Airspace Modernisation Strategy.

Airspace modernisation will be achieved, in part, through of a series of individual airspace change proposals initiated by airports (for routes close to airports) and the en-route air traffic control provider NATS (for upper airspace routes connecting airports). The airspace changes proposed by these ‘sponsors’ are being coordinated by the Airspace Change Organising Group (ACOG), which was set up to prepare an airspace change masterplan. The masterplan is a single coordinated implementation plan for airspace changes in the UK up to 2040 to upgrade the UK’s airspace and deliver the objectives of airspace modernisation at a system level. The masterplan must be consistent with the delivery of airspace modernisation as described in the Airspace Modernisation Strategy.

SEA is an iterative process of gathering data and evidence, assessment of environmental effects, developing mitigation measures and making recommendations to refine plans or programmes in view of the predicted environmental effects. The aim is to influence strategic decisions taken early on, to take account of alternatives and assess the cumulative effects of multiple proposals. The SEA complements the more specific assessment of environmental impacts carried out by each sponsor of individual airspace change proposals through the CAP 1616 process. The SEA must be kept up to date through monitoring as the masterplan is developed and implemented.

SEA is wide-ranging in terms of the scope of environmental impact and is not just confined to noise or emissions. Also in scope are issues such as biodiversity, population, human health, fauna, flora, soil, water, air, climatic factors, material assets, cultural heritage including architectural and archaeological heritage, landscapes and the interrelationship between these factors.

HRA refers to the several distinct stages of assessment which must be undertaken in accordance with law on conservation of habitats and species. HRA determines the potential effects of the masterplan on protected sites, referred to as ‘European sites’, in view of the sites’ conservation objectives. The first stage of the process is screening for ‘likely significant effects’. Any potential adverse effects which are not screened out at the first stage are taken forward to detailed assessment (called the ‘appropriate assessment’).

If we are not satisfied that adverse effects on integrity can be ruled out, the CAA can only accept the masterplan by relying on a legal derogation. To rely on the derogation, the CAA must satisfy itself that there are no alternative solutions, and that the masterplan must nevertheless be accepted for ‘imperative reasons of overriding public interest' (often shortened to IROPI).

For more information, please see the draft SEA Scoping Report and draft HRA Screening Report, and the third document explaining our proposed Approach to the SEA and HRA. The reports include an explanation as to why the law requires these assessments to be carried out for the masterplan.

The CAA is the ‘responsible authority’ for the SEA. We must ensure that it is carried out at an appropriate stage, based on current knowledge and the level of detail available. The CAA is also the ‘competent authority’ for the purposes of the HRA assessment. Again, we must consider the assessment and be satisfied that our statutory obligations have been properly discharged.

In each case the CAA is therefore responsible for preparation of the necessary reports, including how these assessments should be scoped proportionately so as to best inform the masterplan (the purpose of this consultation), and later on the SEA and HRA assessment reports, including consultation on drafts of those reports.

The CAA will require ACOG to show how the SEA and HRA assessments have been taken into account in the masterplan as Iteration 3 matures and later iterations are developed. 

These reports are the early stages of the SEA and HRA processes that determine what the assessments must cover. This consultation is only about these reports and how we propose to approach the SEA and HRA for the masterplan.

In the case of SEA, we have already carried out a screening stage which has determined that the masterplan must be subject to SEA. A scoping stage then determines the extent and coverage of the SEA assessment, hence the draft SEA Scoping Report on which we are consulting.

In the case of HRA, the screening stage is an initial assessment to check if the masterplan will have a ‘likely significant effect’ on a ‘European site’ on its own or in combination with other plans and projects.

This consultation is about the application of SEA and HRA to the masterplan.

By integrating environmental impacts into the masterplan development, the purpose of SEA is to influence strategic decisions taken early on, to take account of alternatives and assess the cumulative effects of multiple proposals. The CAA then takes this into account (alongside other factors) when deciding whether to accept the masterplan into the Airspace Modernisation Strategy.

The purpose of HRA is to assess the possible harm the masterplan as a whole could cause to certain protected sites.

At the level of each individual airspace change proposal, the specific environmental impacts are also considered by the CAA, but as part of the CAP 1616 airspace change process. The potential impacts considered are noise, CO₂ emissions, local air quality, tranquillity and biodiversity. Consequently, an airspace change proposal may require its own HRA, depending on its environmental impact.

CAP 1616 already makes reference to the potential need for an airspace change proposal to require its own HRA, but we plan to augment CAP 1616 with further guidance. Where appropriate, we will use responses to this consultation to inform that further guidance.