Assessments of the environmental effects

The Kincardine Bridge spans the Upper Forth Estuary within the MHWS and as such a Marine Licence is required under Part 4 of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 and Part 4 of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. A seven-year Marine Licence application was submitted to Marine Directorate on 23rd April 2025. The application, as submitted included a Habitats Regulations Appraisal (HRA) of all projects scheduled to be undertaken on the Kincardine Bridge within the MHWS over the seven-year period. The list of schemes included within in the Marine Licence include the projects being considered within this RoD. The HRA Screening concluded that the proposed works had the potential to result in Likely Significant Effects (LSE) to some of the qualifying features of the Firth of Forth SPA and Ramsar Site, and River Teith SAC and as such an Appropriate Assessment (AA) was undertaken. The AA concluded that with mitigation measures implemented there will be no AESI for any of the qualifying features of Firth of Forth SPA and Ramsar sites or for the River Teith SAC for the seven-year duration.

As detailed in the Description of Main Environmental Impacts and Proposed Mitigation section, there are no significant effects anticipated on any environmental receptors as a result of the proposed works.