Guidelines on Strategic Environmental Assessment
R&D project
Strategic environmental assessments (SEA) and strategic environmental monitoring for offshore wind farms
In cooperation with: University of Lueneburg – Department of Public and Environmental Law and BioConsult SH
Running time: July 2004 to August 2006
In order to offer a considerable contribution to climate protection, to the continued saving of finite resources and to limit the dependency on the imports of foreign energy, the Federal Government of Germany aims to develop the widespread use of wind energy in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) under specific consideration of environmentally friendly methods. The SEA Directive from 27th June 2001 (2001/42/EC) concerning the assessment of the effects of certain projects and programmes on the environment, offers an appropriate instrument to secure high standards of environmental protection at an early stage and in a wide geographic area. The SEA Directive was transferred into German law by the Enactment for the Introduction of a Strategic Environmental Assessment (Gesetz zur Einführung einer Strategischen Umweltprüfung) of the 26th May 2005. According to German law, the SEA becomes an integral part of the administrative approval procedure of certain projects and programmes. Compared with other land use planning instruments, the advantage of the SEA is that not only previous contaminations or cumulative effects but also potential planning alternatives can be considered both earlier and on a wider scale. The Department of Public Law at the University of Lueneburg has been working in cooperation with two private institutions, “OECOS GmbH” and “BioConsultSH”, on a guidance paper for the implementation of SEAs in Offshore Wind Energy Usage since July 2004. The Research and Development Project „Strategic Environmental Assessment and Strategic Environmental Monitoring for Offshore Wind Energy Farms” is based on current scientific literature.
Besides legal discussions, public participation procedures and research methods for SEA-planning, the main focus of the project includes prominent areas of marine ecology. The comparison of planning requirements and their instrumentation in the German EEZ to those of other states is vital in this research. In particular, information delivered by neighbouring states that have already implemented SEA tools is of utmost interest. The research project takes into consideration the fact that spatial planning (Raumordnung was initiated) in the EEZ in spring 2005 by the Federal Agency for Shipping and Hydrography (Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie) in Hamburg. In two scoping conferences (respectively for the North and the Baltic Sea) the framework of the SEA report was defined. Following this, the establishment of suitabillity areas (Eignungsgebiete) for offshore wind energy usage has been furthered. The plan dedication of large-scaled sea areas differs greatly from the dedication of similar terrestrial areas and has to be accepted as a long-term process.
The research report covers the development of the basics for the SEA in the German EEZ as well as recommendations for its implementation. The content of the report follows the various steps of the SEA, starting with the screening and ending with the measures for the minimisation and compensation of negative effects caused by offshore wind energy farms. In each step, the report contains three elements: legal, planning and biological issues.
Contact person: Dr. Karsten Runge, Jens Nommel