Highly Protected Marine Areas - policy framework and site selection guidelines: ICIA – partial screening report

10. Complementary Impact Assessments

An initial Sustainability Appraisal has been completed which combines an initial Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Socio-Economic Impact Assessment (SEIA). This will be updated following selection and assessment of proposed HPMAs.

The SEIA aims to identify and assess the potential economic and social effects of HPMAs on the lives and circumstances of people, their families and their communities. The assessment investigates the potential cumulative economic benefits and costs, and associated potential social impacts, of implementing HPMAs. Within the SEIA, understanding of the distribution of impacts will include identification of whether any island communities in Scotland could be affected in a significantly different way from mainland communities, as required by the Islands Act 2018. The SEIA currently does not identify specific impacts for any islands as there are no proposed sites at this point but sets out a methodology for how evidence will be gathered during site selection and assessment.

A partial Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) has been completed to identify likely impacts of HPMAs to businesses and consider a methodology for how this will be assessed. The BRIA will be finalised following the public consultation on the designations for final site proposals and will assess impacts arising from those sites. The partial BRIA currently does not identify specific impacts for any islands as there are no proposed sites at this point.