This Regulation, issued by the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities, lays down rules on significance and impact assessments pertaining to international nature conservation areas and protection of certain animal species in connection with certain projects within the Danish territorial waters, exclusive economic zone, and continental shelf. Projects included are: 1. Projects related to pre-exploration, exploration, extraction, and transportation of hydrocarbons and geothermal energy covered by the Act on Danish subsoil exploitation (No. 960 of 2011); 2. Other projects covered by the subsoil exploitation act, including projects related to the use of the subsoil for storage or purposes other than extraction; 3. Projects related to the geological storage of CO2 below 100 kilotons for the purpose of research, development, or testing of new products and processes in accordance with the respective regulation; 4. Projects on the continental shelf for the exploration of the seabed's or its subsoil's mineral and other non-living resources when the exploration is not carried out for exploitation purposes as stipulated in article 2 of the Continental Shelf Act; 5. Projects on the continental shelf for the establishment of pipelines for the transportation of hydrocarbons, in accordance with article 4 of the Continental Shelf Act; 6. Projects on the territorial waters for the establishment of pipelines for the transportation of hydrocarbons extracted outside Danish territory, in accordance with article 3a of the Continental Shelf Act; and 7. Other projects on the territorial waters for the establishment of pipelines for the transportation of hydrocarbons.
If a project covered by this Regulation is deemed to significantly impact designated international nature conservation areas within or outside Danish territory, permissions and approvals for projects may only be granted if there is an impact assessment of the project's effects on the site, taking into account the conservation objectives, and the impact assessment demonstrates that the project will not harm the integrity of the international nature conservation area.