Creating a Standardised Approach to Regional Environmental Management discusses establishing a regional approach to managing environmental impacts. It provides an example of managing aggregate extraction in the Eastern English Channel region through coordinated monitoring and assessment. A regional assessment identified priorities and knowledge gaps. Monitoring hypotheses and standard procedures were established. A "type site" allowed detailed analysis to inform other similar sites. Regular monitoring and review improved understanding of regional effects and ensured the program remained effective. The regional approach facilitated licensing, lowered costs, and provided robust science to stakeholders.

1. Creating a Standardised
Approach to Regional
Environmental Management
Rob Langman
26 April 2022
v 1.0

2. Contents
1. Regional management
• What does it mean?
• What does it look like?
• How is it achieved?
2. Regional priorities
• How can you prioritise?
• How can you fill knowledge gaps?
3. Compatibility and comparability of
data sets
4. Ensuring accessibility of reporting
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3. Regional Management – our experience
1. Regional management requires the
coordination of:
• Multiple operators
• Multiple survey contractors
• Multiple consultants and specialists
• Regulators and their specialist advisors
• Stakeholders with varying backgrounds
2. Must achieve:
• Tangible benefits for all
• An agreed framework and practical
solutions that can be used for future
licensable activities in the region
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4. Marine Aggregate Extraction – is it relevant?
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From: United Nations Environmental Programme: https://na.unep.net/geas/articleimages/Mar-14-figure-3-lrg.png

5. Defining the spatial extent of the activity
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From: BMAPA: https://bmapa.org/

6. Regional Management – Terms of Reference
• The Eastern English Channel
• Became focus of marine aggregate
exploration in the late 1990s
• Virgin site for aggregate extraction
• Stable seabed with diverse communities
thought to be slow to recover
• Aggregate companies looking to extract
top ~5m of sediment
• Direct effects of seabed removal and the
secondary effects relating to the
production of sediment plumes
considered the most important issues
• By early 2000s several applications were
made to the regulator
• The number and proximity of applications
coupled with the nature of the region and
the potential impacts triggered the
requirement for a detailed analysis of
cumulative and in-combination effects to
satisfy the regulator
• Industry realised collaboration and
coordination would be required to
account for environmental risk, satisfy the
regulatory requirement and achieve
affordable outcomes
• Regional Environmental Assessment
completed in 2003
• Maximum dredge scenario offtake of 34
million tonnes per year for 15 years from
a maximum area of 117km2
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7. Regional Assessment
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From: the ECA: www.eastchannel.info

8. Regional Assessment
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From: the ECA: www.eastchannel.info

9. Monitoring Blueprint
• Established the rationale, nature
and extent for the monitoring and
standard operating procedures
• Identified the components of
monitoring that could be
completed through:
• site specific work
• regional work
• identification of a suitable “type
site” that could be used for detailed
investigation and analysis of specific
issues
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From: the ECA www.eastchannel.info

10. Type Site
• Utilised a single site to test some of
the hypotheses developed from the
findings of the impact assessment
• Established a sound baseline for
highly detailed analysis of the “type
site”
• Allowed for development of many
sites with “similar” physical and
ecological conditions
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From: the ECA www.eastchannel.info

11. Results – Type Site
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From: the ECA www.eastchannel.info

12. Regional Monitoring Review
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From: the ECA www.eastchannel.info

13. Applicability
EIA
• Establish potential physical effects
• Establish key receptors for impacts
HYP
• Establish hypotheses to test during monitoring
• Establish survey methodologies to test hypotheses
PLAN
• Plan surveys to test hypotheses (including the use of a type
site if appropriate)

14. Applicability
SURVEY
• Conduct surveys according to agreed specification
• If issues arise, ensure hypothesis testing is not compromised
REPORT
• Review monitoring results in the context of the hypotheses
• Establish repeat survey methodologies to test hypotheses
REVIEW
• Feedback knowledge gained and lessons learned into the system
to ensure the monitoring remains current and fit for purpose

15. Applicability
EIA /
Substantive
Review
Hypotheses
Plan
Survey
Report
Review
Regulator
Industry
Survey Contractors

16. Evolution
• Monitoring of environmental samples now adjusted as a result of the data
collected in this region:
• Faunal samples no longer enumerated as part of the monitoring, but are assigned a
sediment and biological group at the baseline stage
• Physical change at baseline stations is then monitored to determine whether changes
have occurred in the physical characteristics of the habitat that may prevent recovery
after impact
• Statistical tests used to flag issues – actions may be required to return the stations to
the baseline characteristics in future
• ~700 samples across the region – PSA only rather than species
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17. Evolution
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Regional
Environmental
Assessment / EIA /
Substantive Review
Hypotheses
Regional
Monitoring
Monitoring Review
Regional
Supporting Studies

18. Cycle of Monitoring
• Allows for life cycle planning
• Can book contractors in advance
• Generally know the scope of works
required – established standard
operating procedures
• Regulators/stakeholders trust the
system and know what is coming
• Rolled out to other regions
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Year 0 , 5, 10, 15
Survey reporting and
analysis
Year 1, 6, 11
(Start dredging &
Full PDR), Substantive
Review
Interim survey planning
Year 2, 7, 12
Interim survey
Year 3, 8, 13
Full repeat survey (RGMP
&RSMP) planning
Interim survey reporting
Year -1, 4, 9, 14
Full repeat (or baseline)
survey completion

19. Cost Savings and Efficiencies
• More efficient management
• More efficient for the survey contractor
• More consistent delivery of more robust
science
• More engagement with the process from
all sides
• Better understanding of the regional
effects of the activity on the environment
• Highlighted where other changes were
occurring beyond the industries control
• Practical and pragmatic
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Individual licence
area
£75k*
£50k*
£50k
£100k
£250k
£10k
-
£535k
Split for an individual
licence area within
the region
*£75k
*£50k
£25k
£50k
£50k
£10k
£10k
£220k
Bathymetry & SSS
Resource
Seabed sediments
Ecology
Tracer/plume
Non-technical reporting
Regional Management
TOTAL

20. Other Factors to Consider
• Other research was conducted to
fill knowledge gaps using the
marine aggregate levy sustainability
fund (ALSF)
• Spent £22.5M on research between
2002 and 2011
• Plugged gaps in knowledge or
completed projects that would
benefit the whole industry
• Natural seabed resources
• Direct and indirect effects
• Mitigation and management
• Socio-economic issues
• Education, dissemination and
outreach
• Regional Environmental
Characterisation projects
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21. Other Factors to Consider
• High amount of collaboration required
• Regulatory
• Industry (allowing for fair competition)
• All stakeholders including NGS and
members of the general public
• No-one was allowed to run before
they could walk
• Also requires significant trust, an open
dialogue to exchange ideas to achieve
a common goal
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22. Conclusions
• Enabled the licensing of large-scale
production within a virgin region
• Realised cost savings for the
companies involved
• Provided regulators with a more
comparable and robust data set
• Provided a framework to enable
monitoring results to feedback into
adaptive monitoring
Ultimately regional monitoring
facilitated the licensing of the region,
lowered costs for the operating
companies through increased buying
power and rationalisation, and
ensured the robust monitoring
results were fed back into the system
to minimise ongoing monitoring costs
following testing of impact
hypotheses and provide certainty for
all stakeholders of the region
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23. Acknowledgements
• ECA:
www.eastchannel.info
• MALSF:
• BMAPA
• The Crown Estate
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