Renewable energy projects and species protection A comparison into the application of the EU species protection regulation with respect to renewable energy projects in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark and Germany Report commissioned by the ministries of Economic Affairs and Climate and Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality Prof. Dr. C.W. Backes and Sanne Akerboom, LL.M. Ms.c. 28 May 2018 1 Renewable energy projects and species law – a legal comparative research Contents The comparative report ................................................................................................................................ 11 1. Introduction and Background ............................................................................................................. 11 2. Scope and Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 12 2.1 Which Sustainable Energy Projects are Taken into Account? .................................................... 12 2.2 Geographical Scope .......................................................................................................................... 12 2.3 Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 12 3. Sustainable Energy Projects in Practice: Existing Capacity and Policy Aims ............................... 13 4. General Legal Framework: Procedural Framework to Apply Species Protection Requirements 17 4.1 EU law requirements ........................................................................................................................ 17 4.2 Structure of the national implementation ..................................................................................... 18 5. Environmental Impact Assessment .................................................................................................... 20 5.1 Impact Assessment of Projects ........................................................................................................ 20 5.2 Strategic Impact Assessment of Plans ............................................................................................ 22 6. If a Sustainable Energy Project may have an Effect on Species, how is it assessed whether a Derogation from the Prohibitions of the Birds and Habitats Directives (Art. 9 Birds Directive and Art. 16 Habitats Directive) is Required? (How do the Countries which are subject to this Research Apply the Criterion of ”Deliberate Killing”?). ....................................................................................................... 24 7. Which Reasons Justifying Derogations (Art. 9 Birds Directive and Art. 16 Habitats Directive) are Applied? .......................................................................................................................................................... 26 8. Is the ORNIS Criterion Applied? ........................................................................................................ 27 8.1 Total Annual Mortality or Total Annual Natural Mortality ....................................................... 29 8.2 Avaibility of Data.............................................................................................................................. 29 8.3 Population Scale ................................................................................................................................ 30 8.4 Reference Years ................................................................................................................................. 32 9. Cumulative Effects ................................................................................................................................ 32 10. Mitigation and Compensation Measures ...................................................................................... 35 10.1 Are Mitigation Measures Applied? ................................................................................................ 36 10.2 Are Mitigation and Compensation Distinguished? ..................................................................... 39 11. Monitoring requirements ................................................................................................................ 41 11.1 Are there any Monitoring Requirements? If So, what do they Look Like? ............................. 41 11.2 Are the Monitoring Data Accessible in a National or Regional Public Database? .................. 45 12. Is a Programmatic Approach Applied in the Decision-Making Process? ................................. 46 13 Solar Farms and Power Lines .......................................................................................................... 47 14. Indications of Current or Anticipated Legal Conflicts ................................................................ 48 2 15. Some Concluding Remarks ............................................................................................................ 49 15.1 Sustainable Energy Targets Differ, but they are Challenging .................................................... 49 15.2 Species Protection Law is not yet a Major Obstacle ..................................................................... 49 15.3 Different Application of Species Protection Law ......................................................................... 49 15.4 ORNIS Criterion................................................................................................................................ 51 15.5 Mitigation .......................................................................................................................................... 51 15.6 Cumulative Effects ........................................................................................................................... 52 15.7 Monitoring ......................................................................................................................................... 52 15.8 Overal Strategy Needed ................................................................................................................... 53 15.9 Integrated Approach ........................................................................................................................ 53 Attachment I Participants at the Workshop on 25 January 2018 ...................................................... 54 Attachment II Survey which was sent to the national reporters ............................................................. 55 Attachment III Table with distances which determine whether there is a possibility of deliberate killing or deliberate disturbance (in Germany) ......................................................................................... 57 Projecten voor hernieuwbare energie en soortenwetgeving - een juridisch vergelijkend onderzoek (Dutch translation) ......................................................................................................................................... 60 1. Inleiding en achtergrond ...................................................................................................................... 60 2. Reikwijdte en Methodologie ................................................................................................................ 61 2.1 Welke Duurzame Energieprojecten worden in acht genomen? ................................................. 61 2.2 Geografische reikwijdte ................................................................................................................... 61 2.3 Methodologie .................................................................................................................................... 61 3. Projecten voor duurzame energie in de praktijk: Bestaande capaciteit en beleidsdoelstellingen 62 4. Algemeen juridisch kader: Procedureel kader voor toepassing van vereisten voor soortenbescherming ...................................................................................................................................... 67 4.1 EU-rechtelijke vereisten ................................................................................................................... 67 4.2 Structuur van de nationale implementatie .................................................................................... 69 5. Milieueffectrapportage ......................................................................................................................... 70 5.1 Effectbeoordeling van projecten ..................................................................................................... 70 5.2 Strategische effectbeoordeling van plannen ................................................................................. 73 6. Als een project voor duurzame energie van invloed kan zijn op soorten, hoe moet dan worden beoordeeld of een afwijking van de Vogelrichtlijn of Habitatrichtlijn (art. 9 Vogelrichtlijn en art. 16 Habitatrichtlijn) nodig is? (Hoe passen de onderzochte landen het criterium "opzettelijk doden" toe?). 75 7. Welke redenen worden toegepast voor het rechtvaardigen van afwijkingen (art. 9 Vogelrichtlijn en art. 16 Habitatrichtlijn)? ................................................................................................................................ 77 8. Wordt het ORNIS Criterium Toegepast? ..........................................................................................