Paragraph 30 Piling conditionsI1

The undertaker must ensure adherence to JNCC’s guidelines ‘Statutory nature conservation agency protocol for minimising the risk of injury to marine mammals from piling noise’ (JNCC, 2010) during pile driving. This is to include checking for marine mammals during a pre-piling search prior to piling operations commencing, the establishment of a mitigation zone (that is, an area within which a marine mammal could be exposed to sound levels which could cause damage) and the use of “soft-start” techniques to allow any marine mammals time to leave the area of greatest disturbance.