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Legislation & Guidance
TRL were commissioned to undertake the development of guidance notes for Countryside Council for Wales. The guidance notes will be used by those undertaking SEA of a variety of relevant plans and programmes, taking into account CCW’s interests and remit. The topics covered are Air, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Cultural Heritage, Landscape, Material Assets, Soil and Water.
ENDS Compliance have published a document on SEA and SEA Case Law, with input from TRL. The document can be found here.
Scott Wilson have produced a report for the Planning Advisory Service on options in Local Development Frameworks. This guidance focuses, firstly, on using a sound evidence base as the platform for developing options and sets out the different types of options that Local Planning Authorities might consider. The guidance then sets out the key assessments that potential options should undergo. It finishes with sections on maintaining an effective audit trail and answers to frequently asked questions. The document can be found here.
Scott Wilson have also produced guidance on Local Development Frameworks and Sustainability Appraisal for the Planning Advisory Service. This document has been produced to help councils with the Sustainability Appraisal aspect of their Local Development Framework in order to promote a greater understanding of spatial planning and its relationship with other community strategies, deliver improvements in quality of policy development through the Local Development Framework and Sustainable COmmunity Strategy, improve the way in which councils undertake Sustainability Appraisals and to enable councils to promote sustainable development and achieve sustainability objectives. The document can be found here.
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In September 2007, SEPA (State Environmental Protection Agency) ran, with the main input from Holger Dalkmann (C4S) and Olivia Bina (University of Lisbon), a 2 day workshop on behalf of GTZ (German Technical Cooperation) in Beijing, China. The Chinese government plan to develop a new SEA legislation. The workshop was joined by high-level representatives like NDRC (National Development Reform Commission), Ministry of Railways and Construction, State Council as well as Universities and NGOs. Further details and presentations from the workshop can be found here (scroll down to past events).
The Portuguese Environment Agency have just published a strategic-based approach guidance to SEA that includes the Portuguese SEA legislation enacted in June 2007. This guidance is to be followed by the different authorities involved in SEA in Portugal, and has been distributed to European Union experts group on EIA and SEA. The guidance can be found here.
C4S were asked to produce a Policy Briefing Note on Strategic Environmental Assessment for ENDS legal compliance MANAGER, a forthcoming online subscription service that will provide information and tools to manage and keep up-to-date with environmental law. The note produced by C4S provides a brief overview of the legislative context of SEA, highlighting the differences between SEA Regulations in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It also provides a summary of the historical background to SEA and discusses the likely future policy developments and business implications of SEA. The Policy Briefing Note can currently be accessed through a free trial subscription on http://www.endscompliance.com/.
The RSPB has launched a publication entitled "Strategic environmental assessment - learning from practice". The booklet features examples of SEA provided by practitioners from around the UK. These case studies show how SEA and sustainability appraisal (SA) are being approached in various sectors to help improve the environmental sustainability of public plans and programmes. Each of the case studies demonstrates an aspect of SEA / SA that has been carried out to a good standard. The booklet also includes the RSPB's advice for carrying out effective SEA / SA. The booklet can be downloaded from the RSPB's website with hard copies available on request - please contact Lisa Palframan (lisa.palframan@rspb.org.uk) to request your copy.
The United Nations University and Oxford Brookes University have developed SEA WIKI to provide an online platform for the international community to engage in knowledge building in SEA. SEA WIKI can be accessed here.
A group of SEA consultants have developed a Do's and Don'ts Guide to Generating and Developing Alternatives. The guidance is aimed chiefly at local authorities. The guidance can be downloaded here.
The Scottish Executive have published new guidance on Strategic Environmental Assessment. The SEA Toolkit offers guidance for the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005. The Toolkit can be downloaded here.
The DCLG have published a consultation document entitled 'Planning for the Protection of European Sites: Appropriate Assessment', which provides draft guidance for Regional Spatial Strategies and Local Development Documents. The draft guidance can be downloaded here.
Guidance on Appropriate Assessment of Plans has been published by a consortium of consultants. The guidance aims to provide advice on the application of Appropriate Assessment. It is primarily aimed at local and regional authorities but may also be useful to national agencies, other competent authorities, developers and consultants. The guidance includes a useful section on links to SEA and SA. The guidance can be downloaded here.
Imperial College London have produced guidelines for cumulative effects assessment in SEA. The document can be downloaded here.
The Scottish Executive have published a report summarising the key points in response to the May 2005 consultation paper on Public Participation in Environmental Impact Assessment. The consultation paper sought views on the Executive's proposals for implementing EU amendments to the EIA Directive mainly in regard to public consultation. The summary report can be downloaded here
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe have published a consultation draft Resource Manual to Support Application of the UNECE Protocol on SEA. The manual highlights the main requirements of the Protocol on SEA, outlines the key issues for applying the Protocol in practice and provides materials for training and capacity-development programmes supporting application of the Protocol. The consultation draft can be downloaded here.
The OECD have published a document to introduce the concept and value of SEA as applied to international development. The document can be downloaded here. It draws from the OECD's 'Good Practice Guidance on Applying Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in Development Cooperation', which can be downloaded here.
The new round of the EU Structural and Cohesion Fund Operational Programmes run from 2007-2013. For the first time many of these Operational Programmes may require assessment under the SEA Directive. Members of the GRDP (Greening Regional Development Programme) have produced a Handbook providing information and guidance on how to comply with the SEA Directive in developing the new UK Structural Fund Programmes. It can also be used for the SEA of Regional Economic Strategies and other development programmes. The handbook can be downloaded here.
The European Commission have undertaken research to identify and explore the potential areas of overlap between the EIA and SEA Directives among the EU 15 member states. To download the final report please click here.
The English Consultation Bodies (Countryside Agency, English Heritage, English Nature, Environment Agency) have published an advice note that describes the services and standards which ‘Responsible Authorities’ can expect when consulting them in relation to the SEA Directive. The service standards are available to download here.
Directive 2001/42/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment was adopted in July 2001. The full text of the Directive is available here.
The SEA Regulations for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland came into force on the 20th July 2004. These regulations apply the Directive in the UK. In Scotland these regulations have been superseded by the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 which came into force on the 20th February 2006.
To assist Member States in implementing the SEA Directive, the European Commission has published supporting guidance on Implementation of Directive 2001/42/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment.
The ODPM, the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Northern Ireland Department of the Environment following consultation have released the final Practical Guide to the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive (September 2005). The Guide is intended to apply to all plans and programmes in the UK that fall within the scope of the Directive, and should be used for plans and programmes where specific guidance does not exist (see other sectors). The draft version of the Guide (July 2004) can be viewed from here.
English Nature in conjunction with the Environment Agency, RSPB and Countryside Council for Wales have published their SEA and Biodiversity Guidance. Hard copies are available from the respective organisations web sites. A PDF version can be downloaded from here.
The Environment Agency's Good Practice Guidelines for SEA are available on their website. The guidelines aim to assist practitioners responsible for plans and programmes requiring SEA, explain the role of the Environment Agency in the process and promote good practice approaches. The guidlines can be downloaded here.
Strategic Environmental Assessment and Climate Change: Guidance for Practitioners' has been published by Countryside Council for Wales, Environment Agency, English Nature, Levett-Therivel Consultants, CAG Consultants, Institute of Environmental Change, and UK Climate Impacts Programme. The guidance can be downloaded from here. Initiatives & Research
The Austrian Federal Ministry of Environment commissioned a study on 'Strategic Environmental Assessment: From Scoping to Monitoring'. The study discusses the content related and methodological requirements to be met when carrying out an SEA. Key areas covered include scoping, preparation of the Environmental Report, the SEA Statement and monitoring. The report can be downloaded here.
The UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) have published a paper summarising the key lessons that have been learnt from the initial capacity development for the implementation of the Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment to the UNECE Convention on EIA in a Transboundary context - known as the "SEA Protocol" - in Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and the Ukraine. The report can be found here.
A recently published NGO survey shows a "lacklustre and patchy transposition and application of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive, thereby undermining the EU’s efforts in halting the loss of its biodiversity by 2010". The report – ‘Biodiversity in Strategic Environmental Assessment, quality of national transposition and application of the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive’ – was published by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and is based on a survey completed end-2005 by respondents from 16 EU Member States and one Accession Country. To download the report click here.
Somerset County Council commissioned TRL to undertake research on how significance can be assessed as part of a Strategic Environmental Assessment of a Local Transport Plan. This report is the first phase of the research and documents the results of a literature review. The second phase of the project (completed in October 2005) designed a significance assessment system for Somerset. To download the report click here. Please direct any comments or queries to Rob Gardner at rgardner@trl.co.uk.
In 2001 the World Bank commenced a Structured Learning Programme (SLP) involving clients and partners, with the objective of expanding the effective application of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). Further information can be downloaded here.
The final report by Barry Sadler and Barry Dalal – Clayton entitled the ‘International review of SEA experience and practice' is available to download from the IIED website. The report provides an overview of SEA with a special focus on developing countries and countries in transition and its potential role as a key tool for strategies for sustainable development and poverty reduction.
During the IAIA04 Conference in Vancouver Paul Tomlinson facilitated a Practitioners Workshop on significance criteria for SEA. The results of the discussions can be found in this PowerPoint presentation.
The South West Regional Assembly (SWRA) and local authorities in the region have collaborated to coordinate research to support the effective implementation of SEA in the South West of England. Information on this South West based project is available on the website of the SWRA.
In early 2003 the Environment Agency commissioned the Centre for Sustainability to conduct an R&D scoping project on cumulative effects assessment within SEA. The results of this project are published in this report.
On 5 November 2003 The Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment held a workshop for stakeholders interested in the implementation of SEA. The aim of the workshop was to stimulate discussion on: the current situation of SEA in the UK and key requirements to achieve effective SEA practice. The presentations and findings of the workshop are summarised in the Report of the SEA workshop.
The IAIA have published Performance Criteria on how to evaluate the effectiveness of the SEA process.
In 1997 the European Commission published a series of Case Studies in SEA to promote the application of SEA in the EU.
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