Strategic Environmental Assessment –
Coming to Plans and Programmes near you!

Article from Sustain’ magazine – Vol. 4 Issue 6
www.sustainmagazine.com

Are you preparing a plan or programme that is likely to have significant effects on the environment? Yes? Then, according to Clive Harridge, Director, Entec UK Ltd, you need to know about the EU Directive on Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) which comes into force in July next year (2004).

The SEA Directive was issued by the European Union in June 2001 under the title Directive 2001/42/EC “on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes in the environment”. The overall objective of the Directive is to provide high level protection of the environment and to integrate environmental considerations into the preparation and adoption of plans and programmes. Through these means the Directive aims to promote sustainable development.

Will the Directive apply to my plan or programme?

There are some uncertainties because the Government has yet to transpose the Directive into legislation and issued guidance. The Directive applies to plans and programmes prepared by authorities at national, regional and local levels under legislative, regulatory or administrative provisions.
SEA will be required for plans and programmes in the following sectors if they set the framework for development consent of projects requiring EIA: Agriculture, forestry, fisheries, energy, industry, transport, water management, telecommunications, tourism, and town and country planning.
Plans and programmes requiring an appropriate assessment under the Habitats Directive will also require SEA.

In all cases the plans or programmes must be likely to have significant effects on the environment.
But beware! The Government may also identify additional plans and programmes requiring SEA.

Carrying out an SEA

The Government will issue guidance in due course on how to carry out SEA. Draft guidance is already available for land use and spatial plans*. Some of the key requirements for carrying out a SEA in accordance with the Directive are set out below:

• Integration - SEA will need to be integrated into the preparation of plans and programmes. This will enable policy makers to take account of environmental considerations from an early each stage providing the opportunity to prevent, reduce and offset environmental effects;
• Alternatives - It will not be enough to assess the impacts of just the chosen strategy. The Directive requires “reasonable alternatives” to be taken into account. This will enable policy makers to use environmental factors proactively in defining and then choosing between options;
• Environmental Report – The preparation of an environmental report will be a major part of the SEA. The components of the environment report are summarised below. A key aspect will be the likely evolution of the environment without the plan or programme in place – this will provide the baseline against which the environmental performance of the plan or programme can be assessed.
• Consultation - A critical part of the Directive is the requirement to consult appropriate authorities and the public;
• Decision-making - The environment report must be completed before the plan or programme is adopted or submitted for approval. Once adopted, the authority must prepare a statement on how environmental considerations have been integrated and the reasons for choosing between the alternatives. This requirement will help contribute to a more transparent decision making process.

Resources Costs and Timesales

The implications of the Directive will be substantial for many organisations – there may be implications for resources, costs and time-scales. For example the need to prepare an environmental report may have significant resource and cost implications if data is not readily available. Furthermore, the need to consult appropriate authorities and the public may have implications for the overall time-scale.

Overlap with Sustainability Appraisal

SEA overlaps significantly with the process of sustainability appraisal (SA) which is becoming much more widespread particularly in the planning field. SA is a methodology which assesses sustainability performance through consideration of environmental, social and economic effects. SA will be a requirement of the Government’s new planning system in England and the ODPM is currently considering the possibility of combining SEA and SA to avoid duplication. Examples of current best practice in the field of SA take into account the requirements of the SEA Directive**.

Opportunities for the Future

SEA provides opportunities to improve the process of preparing plans and programmes to achieve better outcomes. Incorporating environmental considerations into the preparation stages of plans and programmes will help improve environmental performance. Engaging with relevant authorities and the public during the process will provide transparency to decision making and achieve more effective “buy in” to the outcomes.

The focus of SEA will inevitably be the environment. Other considerations such as the social and economic effects of plans and programmes will be of lesser significance to an SEA. However an approach which combines SEA and SA enables environmental and social and economic effects to be taken into account during the preparation of plans and programmes. Integrating environmental, social and economic considerations into policy making will enhance sustainability performance; this is particularly significant given that promoting sustainable development is one of the objectives of the SEA Directive.

Real advantages can be achieved by combining SEA and SA – this will enable plans and programmes to secure more effective and sustainable outcomes which will help achieve a better quality of life for all.

* ‘Draft guidance on the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive’. ODPM 2002. (Also available on www.odpm.gov.uk)

** ‘Guide to Sustainability Appraisal’, C. Harridge, A. Mactavish, I. McAllister, S. Nicholson; Town and Country Planning Association, 2002. (Also available here in PDF format).

Back to top

Click here to load the Entec home page