Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA) has emerged alongside the notion of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) [1], but was not instituted by countries and international agencies until mid-1990s. Only at the turn of the 21st Century was SEA recognised as a legal instrument with the adoption of the SEA Directive (Directive 2001/42/EC) on July 11th, 2001 [2].
Objective
The objective of the SEA Directive is to provide for a high level of environmental protection and the integration of environmental considerations into the adoption of plans and programmes with a view of promoting sustainable development. The point of the SEA Directive is to ensure that environmental assessment is carried out of certain plans and programmes (P&P) which have been determined to have significant effects on the environment. In comparison to EIA, SEA takes environmental concerns into consideration at the P&P level while EIA only takes environmental matters into account at the broader and later project level. This essentially means that, under the EIA Directive, a project can have been given the green light before all the significant environmental effects have been identified, whereas the SEA Directive takes all significant environmental considerations into account before a plan or programme is allowed to go ahead.
Scope
An environmental assessment shall be carried out for P&P which are likely to have significant environmental impacts. This specifically applies to P&P which are prepared for agriculture, forestry, fisheries, energy, industry, transport, waste management, water management, telecommunications, tourism, town and country planning or land use and P&P which have been determined under Annex I and II of the EIA Directive to require an environmental assessment. In the case of a P&P not falling within above-mentioned criteria, it is up to the individual Member State to determine, using a list of relevant criteria set out in Annex II of the SEA Directive, whether the P&P in question will have significant environmental effects, and as such to be subject to an environmental assessment. Member States are obliged to carry out the environmental assessment during the preparation of P&P before its adoption or submission to the country’s legislative procedure.
The Environmental Report
Where it has been determined that an environmental assessment is required for the P&P in question, an environmental report in which the likely significant effects on the environment of implementing the P&P as well as reasonable alternatives are identified, described and evaluated, must be drawn up. The information for this purpose is referred to in Annex I of the SEA Directive. Annex I, amongst others require the environmental report to provide information on the current state of the environment at the particular location and the likely evolution thereof without implementation of the plan or programme, the environmental protection objectives established at international, Community or Member State level relevant to the P&P, the likely effects on the environment including climate change and biodiversity, measured envisaged to prevent, reduce and offset any significant adverse impacts on the environment of implementing the plan or programme and an outline of reasons for selecting the alternatives dealt with.
Consultations and Public Participation
Before a final decision on the P&P in question is made, the draft P&P and the associated environmental report shall be made available to the public. All members of the public may voice any concerns they have, as can members of environmental non-governmental organisations or any other parties that may have an interest in the matter.
In addition, where a Member State considers that the implementation of a P&P is likely to have significant effects on the environment in another Member State, or where a Member State likely to be significantly affected so requests, a copy of the draft P&P and the associated environmental report must be made available for review by the requesting party. Where necessary, the two Member States must enter into consultation concerning the likely trans-boundary environmental effects of implementing the P&P and discuss the measures envisaged to reduce or eliminate identified effects.
Once a final decision has been taken, the opinions expressed by concerned parties and the results of any consultations must be taken into account. After a final decision has been made, information on how the decision was taken, how the environmental considerations and the environmental report have been taken into consideration and what other alternatives the decision-making process dealt with must be made publicly available.
Member States are also obliged to monitor the significant environmental effects of the implementation of the plan or programme in order to identify at an early stage any unforeseen effects in order to undertake appropriate remedial action.
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[1] http://www.energysavingwarehouse.co.uk/news/180/20/Environmental-Impact-Assessment-EIA.html
[2] http://www.uea.ac.uk/env/all/teaching/eiaams/pdf_dissertations/2007/Theophilou_Vassilia.pdf
