Chamber and committees

Guidance from the European Commission makes it clear that small populations of an animal species introduced deliberately or accidentally by man to locations where they would not have spread to naturally in the foreseeable future should be considered to be outside their natural range and consequently not covered by the Habitats Directive. Similarly, the beavers would not be protected under Scots law as they are not considered to be ordinarily resident in the wild in the UK during the trial reintroduction period.

There are no plans for the Scottish Government to underwrite the cost of the trial reintroduction of beavers should insufficient funds be raised by the project partners, the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.

In order for an activity to be authorised under a general binding rule the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) must be satisfied that the activity will not have a significant adverse effect on the water environment. Should the concentration of minor activities begin to indicate that there may be a potential risk to the water environment, SEPA has the power to require that authorisation for the activity takes the form of a registration or licence, by making use of regulation 11 of the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) (Regulations) 2005 (CAR). This will lead to an assessment under CAR in terms of regulation 15, which encompasses the general duty to have regard to the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994, and, if required, an appropriate assessment under regulation 48 of the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994.

The following table shows the number of registrations under the Controlled Activities Regulations, split between the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) regions, granted in 2007 within (i) European wildlife sites (Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) established under the Habitats Directive and Special Protection Areas (SPAs) established under the Birds Directive) and (ii) Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). SEPA does not record the number of registrations being refused or declined within SACs, SPAs or SSSIs.

SEPA Region	Registrations Granted within SACs/SPAs in 2007	Registrations Granted within SSSIs in 2007
North	28	28
South-East	14	2
South-West	1	1

Note: Fourteen of the 28 European sites in the North region were in SSSIs.

All registration-level engineering activities must comply with a set of rules. These rules are designed to ensure that the activities do not pose a significant risk to nature conservation. If SEPA considers that there is likely to be a significant adverse effect on a European site or an SSSI, they will undertake a further assessment of whether the rules are sufficient, and will consult SNH.

The Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 require all competent authorities to consider the effects of any plan or project, either alone or in combination with the effects of other plans or projects, that may be likely to have a significant effect on a European site. the Scottish Environment Protection Agency is the competent authority for applications requiring registration under the controlled activities regulations.

The responses to questions S3W-14139, S3W-14138 and S3W-14137 on 20 June 2008, outline how the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) fulfils the requirements of the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 (as amended) in relation to European wildlife sites for activities permitted under general binding rules or registration under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2005. For licence level activities, SEPA has a system of evaluation in place to identify activities likely to pose a significant risk. In any case where there might be a significant effect on a European site, SEPA consults Scottish Natural Heritage regarding the scope of any appropriate assessment required. SEPA will then use the licence determination process, together with licence conditions and inspections for authorised activities, to ensure that the conservation site is appropriately protected.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The new traffic management arrangements at the Forth Road Bridge came into effect on 26 May and it is too early to assess the traffic and other impacts of the abolition of tolls. Any environmental impacts of the changes arising from the abolition of the tolls are likely to be marginal, but we will work with the Forth Estuary Transport Authority and local authorities to monitor the situation and to see how any direct impacts might be addressed.

Under the terms of the ferry contracts between Scottish ministers and CalMac Ferries Ltd and NorthLink Ferries Ltd, the Scottish Government is required to pay additional grant by way of fuel supplement to cover any increase in fuel cost above the agreed levels set out in the contracts. Fuel prices have more than doubled since the contracts were first agreed and additional grant being paid to the ferry operators reflects this significant increase.

The Scottish Government is working closely with the ferry companies to consider a range of measures to reduce fuel costs without affecting services or increasing fares.

Police officer training is an operational matter for Chief Constables to determine. The recommendations of the report Natural Justice: A Joint Thematic Inspection of the Arrangements in Scotland for Preventing, Investigating and Prosecuting Wildlife Crime, are currently being considered by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland.

We are currently considering which gases to include in the 80% target in the proposed Scottish Climate Change Bill. The responses to the consultation are being reviewed and further evidence gathered in order to inform this decision.

We stated in the consultation on proposals for a Scottish Climate Change Bill that the target should include emissions from domestic aviation and shipping but that it should not include emissions from international aviation and shipping. However, we are considering whether the bill should allow for the inclusion of international aviation and shipping at a later date.