Standard Investigation of the Impacts of Offshore Wind Turbines on the Marine Environment (StUK4) Standard Investigation of the Impacts of Offshore Wind Turbines on the Marine Environment (StUK4) Status: October 2013 Issued in co-operation with: Ralf Aumüller Brigitte Hielen Christian Pusch Lothar Bach Reinhold Hill Karsten Runge Hermann Baier Thoralf Hoth Andreas Schmidt Holger Behm Ommo Hüppop Jörg Scholle Anika Beiersdorf Michael Joost Ralf Thiel Michael Bellmann Rudolf Kafemann Frank Thomsen Klaus Betke Christian Ketzer Björn Russow Jan Blew Matthias Kloppmann Antje Seebens Axel Binder Annika Koch Marco Schilz Kristin Blasche Jana Kotzerka Alex Schubert Maria Boethling Jochen Krause Bastian Schuchardt Uwe Böttcher Roland Krone Axel Schulz Alexander Braasch Kathrin Krügel Norbert Schulz Timothy Coppack Jan Kube Max Schuster Michael Dähne Olaf Kühnast Alexander Schröder Hans-Peter Damian Martin Laczny Monika Stamm Jennifer Dannheim Alexander Liebschner Jens Stecher Ansgar Diederichs Tristan Lippert Matthias Steitz Tobias Dittmann Klaus Lucke Katharina Teschke Monika Dorsch Dennis Lummer Dieter Todeskino Siegfried Ehrich Bettina Mendel Ursula Verfuß Helena Feindt-Herr Thomas Merck Felix Weiß Elvira Fredrich Max Meyer Veronika Wahl Angelika Fuß Andreas Müller Gottfried Walter Joachim Gabriel Dirk Nentwig Helmut Wendeln Marco Gauger Martina Nemitz Manfred Zeiler Stefan Garthe Verena Peschko Carsten Zerbs Frank Gerdes Werner Piper Lars Gutow Claudia Propp © Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (BSH) Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency Hamburg und Rostock 2013 www.bsh.de BSH-Nr. 7003 All rights reserved. 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Cover photos courtesy of: Roland Krone, Mathias Putze, Klaus Lucke, alpha ventus/DOTI 2009 Contents 3 Inhalt Part A – Framework conditions ....................................................................................... 5 1 Preliminary remarks .......................................................................................... 5 2 Possible adverse impacts ................................................................................. 6 2.1 Construction phase ............................................................................................. 6 2.2 Operation phase .................................................................................................. 6 2.3 Decommissioning phase ..................................................................................... 6 3 Objectives .......................................................................................................... 7 4 Deviation from the StUK, updates .................................................................... 7 5 Positioning of measuring instruments ............................................................. 7 6 Quality assurance .............................................................................................. 7 7 Decommissioning phase .................................................................................. 8 8 Further studies and analyses ........................................................................... 8 9 Procedure for the implementation and evaluation of studies relating to the planning as well as construction and operation of offshore wind farms .... 9 10 Assessment period ............................................................................................ 10 10.1 Baseline study ..................................................................................................... 10 10.2 Construction phase ............................................................................................. 10 10.3 Operation phase .................................................................................................. 10 11 Cluster study ...................................................................................................... 11 12 Assessment region ............................................................................................ 11 12.1 Project area and assessment area ...................................................................... 11 12.1.1 Benthos/fish ........................................................................................................ 11 12.1.2 Avifauna/marine mammals .................................................................................. 12 12.2 Reference areas ................................................................................................... 12 12.2.1 Benthos/fish ........................................................................................................ 12 12.2.2 Avifauna/marine mammals .................................................................................. 13 13 Reporting ............................................................................................................ 13 13.1 Baseline study ..................................................................................................... 13 13.2 Monitoring ........................................................................................................... 14 Part B – Technical instructions ........................................................................................ 15 Features of conservation interest ................................................................................ 15 1 Benthos .............................................................................................................. 15 2 Fish ..................................................................................................................... 25 3 Avifauna .............................................................................................................. 27 3.1 Resting birds ....................................................................................................... 27 3.2 Migratory birds .................................................................................................... 30 4 Marine mammals ............................................................................................... 34 5 Bats .................................................................................................................... 40 6 Landscape .......................................................................................................... 41 4 Contents Part C – Annex: Survey of features of conservation interest ............................. 42 1 Benthos .............................................................................................................. 42 2 Fish ..................................................................................................................... 44 3 Avifauna (Resting and migratory birds) ........................................................... 53 3.1 Resting birds ....................................................................................................... 53 3.2 Migratory birds .................................................................................................... 62 4 Marine mammals ............................................................................................... 66 5 Bats ..................................................................................................................... 70 Literature ................................................................................................................................... 76 Abbreviations and acronyms ............................................................................................ 84 Links ............................................................................................................................................ 85 Part A – Framework conditions 5 Part A – Framework conditions 1 Preliminary remarks Within the framework of the approval procedure for offshore wind farms in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), potential adverse impacts of the planned facilities on the marine environment have to be assessed. Besides, in line with the German regulation § 3 Abs. 1 Nr. 1 UVPG i.V.m. Anlage 1, Nr. 1.6, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is now mandatory. In the Standard for Environmental Impact Assessments (StUK) at hand, information is pro- vided to applicants on the scope of investigations required by the planning approval/approval authority, with all relevant details and explanations. Likewise, the planning approval/approval holders and operators of wind farms are provided with detailed information about the require- ments for operation-phase monitoring, which is currently considered indispensable. The StUK constitutes a framework of the current thematic and technical minimum require- ments for marine environmental surveys and monitoring of constituent criteria as per § 5 Sec- tion. 6 No. 2 Seeanlagenverordnung (Marine Facilities Ordinance) from 23 January 1997 (BGBI – German Federal Law Gazette. I p. 57), last amended by Article 11 of the law from 21 January 2013 (BGBI. I p. 95), (hereinafter called SeeAnlV) as well as for monitoring during the construction and operation phase. The third update of the StUK is based on experience that has been gained with the versions of December 2001, February 2003 and on data from the surveys conducted in the context of the research project “Ökologische Begleitforschung am Offshore-Testfeldvorhaben alpha ventus zur Evaluierung