Strategic Environmental AssessmentAn IntroductionWord格式.docx

Strategic Environmental AssessmentAn IntroductionWord格式.docx

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ThisdocumentgivesanintroductiontoSEAtheoryandpractice.Inthiscontext,itdrawsonafewselectedsectionsofthebook‘TheoryandPracticeofStrategicEnvironmentalAssessment–towardsamoresystematicapproach’byThomasFischer,publishedwithEarthscanin2007.ThebookisthemainoutcomeofWPDofthePENTA–ErasmusMundusproject.

Thedocumentconsistsofsixsections.First,theintroductionprovidesanoverviewofthecurrentunderstandingandperceivedbenefitsfromSEATheEuropeanSEADirectiveisintroducedandtherationaleforSEAisexplained.Furthermore,SEAeffectivenesselementsareintroducedandthequestionwhySEAisthoughttobeeffectiveinimprovingtheconsiderationoftheenvironmentalcomponentinPPPmakingisaddressed.SectiontwointroducesanddescribestheSEAprocess,aswellasthemostcommonlyusedmethodsandtechniquesinSEA.Section3introducesSEArequirementsworld-wide.Inthiscontext,formalSEArequirementsincountriesoutsidetheEUandthetranspositionandimplementationstatusoftheSEADirectiveinthe25memberstatesaredescribed.Section4introducessixSEAcasestudybriefs,includingfourfromspatial/landuseplanningandonefromtransportplanning.Section5introducesareviewpackageforidentifyingthequalityofanSEAreport,preparedfollowingtherequirementsoftheSEADirective.Section6,finally,listSEAcasestudiesfromthevariousEUmemberstates.

1Introduction

Thisintroductionconsistsoffiveparts.Firstly,currentunderstandingandperceivedbenefitsarisingfromSEAaredescribed.Secondly,theEuropeanSEADirectiveisintroduced.Thirdly,therationaleforapplyingSEAislaidout.Fourthly,SEAeffectivenesscriteriaareintroduced,andfinally,whyisSEAthoughttobeeffectiveinimprovingtheconsiderationoftheenvironmentalcomponentinPPPmakingisexplained.

1.1CurrentunderstandingandperceivedbenefitsfromSEA

SEAaimsatensuringdueconsiderationisgiventoenvironmentalaspectsinPPPmakingabovetheprojectlevel.Itisalsosupposedtosupportthedevelopmentofmoretransparentstrategicdecisions.Itattemptstoproviderelevantandreliableinformationforthoseinvolvedinpolicy,planandprogramme（PPP）makinginaneffectiveandtimelymanner.SEAisappliedinarangeofdifferentsituationsandcontexts.Regardingitssubstantivefocus（ieissuesandalternativestobeconsidered）,differencesparticularlydependontheadministrativelevel（egnational,regional,local）,thestrategictier（egpolicy,planandprogramme）andthesector（egland-use,transport,energy,waste,water）.WhilstcertainkeyelementsarelikelytobereflectedineverySEAsystem,otherswilldiffer,dependingonestablishedplanningandassessmentpractices,aswellasthespecifictraditionsoftheorganisationspreparingPPPsandassociatedSEAs.Box1.1presentsanup-to-datedefinitionofSEA.ThisdocumentwillbefocusingonEIAprocessbasedSEA,asdefinedbytheEuropeanSEADirective.

Generallyspeaking,arangeofbenefitsaresupposedtoresultfromtheapplicationofSEA.Inthiscontext,SEAaimsatsupportingpolicy,planandprogrammeprocesses,leadingtoanenvironmentallysoundandsustainabledevelopment.Furthermore,itattemptstostrengthenstrategicprocesses,improvinggovernanceandbuildingpublictrustandconfidenceintostrategicdecisionmaking.Ultimately,itishopedthatSEAcanleadtosavingtimeandmoneybyavoidingcostlymistakes.Box1.2showsthoseSEAcharacteristics,basedonwhichbenefitsarethoughttoresult.

1.2TheEuropeanSEADirective

Currently,probablythebestknownSEA‘frameworklawthatestablishesaminimumcommonprocedureforcertainofficialplansandprogrammes’（Dalal-ClaytonandSadler,2005,p37）istheEuropeanDirective2001/42/EC‘ontheassessmentoftheeffectsofcertainplansandprogrammesontheenvironment’（‘SEADirective’）.ThisDirectiveadvocatestheapplicationofapro-activeEIA-basedparticipativeprocessthatispreparedwithaviewtoavoidingunnecessaryduplicationintieredassessmentpractice.Inthiscontext,however,policiesandcabinetdecisionmakingarenotmentioned.AttheheartofaDirective’sbasedSEAprocessisthepreparationofanenvironmentalreport,whichissupposedto（EuropeanCommission,2001）:

&

#8226;

portraytherelationshipwithotherPPPs,

identifythesignificantimpactsofdifferentalternativesoncertainenvironmentalaspects,

explainhowtheSEAwasconsideredindecisionmakingand

provideinformationonthereasonsforthechoiceofacertainalternative（EC,2001）.

Furthermore,

anon-technicalsummaryneedstobepreparedand

monitoringarrangementsforsignificantenvironmentalimpactsneedtobeputintoplace.

Initsshortlifetimetodate,theSEADirectivehasnotonlyhadanimpactwithintheEU,butalsoinawiderinternationalcontext.Ithasbeenareferencepointforpractice,forexample,inAsia,AfricaandSouthAmerica.Furthermore,theKievprotocoltotheEspooConvention（UNECE,2003）ontrans-boundarySEAisalmostidenticalwiththeDirective,apartfromitalsoexplicitlymentioningthepossibilitytoapplySEAatthepolicylevel.ThisProtocolandtheassociatedResourceManual（UNECE,2006）arelikelytoenhanceSEAapplicationinUNECEstatesoutsidetheEU.

1.3RationaleforSEA

TherationaleforapplyingSEAisconnectedwithcurrentshortcomingsofpolicy,planandprogrammemaking.Inthiscontext,theneedforSEAresultsfromtheneedfor:

（a）astrongerrepresentationofstrategicenvironmentalthinkinginPPPmaking

（b）moreeffectivereasoningindecisionmaking,

（c）moreefficientdecisionmaking,and

（d）bettersupportofgoodgovernanceandsustainabledevelopmentindecisionmaking.

1.3.1TheneedforastrongerrepresentationofstrategicenvironmentalthinkinginPPPmaking

ThemainreasonforintroducingSEAhasbeenaperceivedweakrepresentationofenvironmentalaspectsinpolicy,planandprogrammemaking（Morrison-SaundersandFischer,2006;

Dusiketal,2003）.Inthiscontext,non-material,cultural,socialandethicalvalueshavetendedtobeunderrepresentedduetoutilitarianandeconomisticviewsprevailinginplanning.Havingidentifiedthisasaproblem,manycountriesnowhaveintroducedformalandinformalenvironmentalassessmentrequirements,aimingtoimprovetheconsiderationoftheenvironmentaldimensioninPPPmaking.However,despiteoftheeffortsmade,environmentalissues–andparticularlythosethatareofastrategicnature–arestillfrequentlytreatedassimple‘add-ons’thataretakenintoaccountnotduring,butafterPPPprocesseshavebeenconducted.Thismeansthatenvironmentalissuesaredealtwithinareactiveway.Thisreactiveapproach,however,meansthatthemainfocusofassessmentisonmitigationofenvironmentalimpacts,ratherthanonpro-activelyfindingwaysforavoidingthem.Furthermore,applyingSEAinareactivemannermeansthatenvironmentalstandards–ifavailable–areunlikelytobeeffectivelyusedtoguidePPPmaking.

1.3.2Theneedformoreeffectivereasoningindecisionmaking

SEAismorethantheapplicationofpredictiontechniquesandmethodswithinanassessmentprocess.Rather,itprovidesforasystematicdecisionmakingframework,identifyingtaskstobeaddressedatdifferenttiersandadministrativelevels（Fischer,2006a）.Inthiscontext,SEAcanhelpdecisionmakerstoaskthosequestionsthatarerelevanttoaspecifictier,leadingtomoreeffectivereasoningindecisionmaking.AgenericSEAframeworkcanthusguidedecisionmakersinsystematicallyaddressingquestions,suchas:

–initial‘why’and‘what’questions;

typicallyatthepolicy（vision）tierofdecisionmaking:

identifyingand/ordefiningunderlying–sustainability–objectivesandtargets

supportingidentificationofpossibledevelopmentscenariosandpolicyoptions

enablingtheassessmentofimpactsofpolicyoptionsonobjectivesandtargetsbyshowingimplicationsontheseobjectivesandtargets

–subsequent‘what’,‘where’and‘how’questions;

attheplantierofdecisionmaking:

pro-activelydevelopingpossible–spatial–developmentoptions

enablingtheassessmentofimpactsofdifferentoptionsonobjectivesandtargets

–‘where’and‘when’questions;

attheprogrammetierofdecisionmaking:

supportingrankingofpossibleprojectsand/oralternativesintermsof,forexample,benefitsandcosts.

Figure1.2showsastrategicplanningframeworkthatcanbeprovidedbySEA,specifyingtaskstobeaddressedatdifferenttiers.ThestagesintroducedthroughatieredSEAframeworkaresimilartothebasicstagesofcorporateplanningframeworks（see,forexample,McNamara,2006）,asisalsoindicatedintheFigure.

1.3.3Theneedformoreefficientdecisionmaking

SEAcansupportmoreefficientdecisionmaking,particularlyby（a）helpingtoachievemorestructureddecisionmakingframeworks,thuscreatingthecontextformorefocusedPPPmakingandsubsequentprojectplanningandEIA（seeprevioussectionandchapter3）,andby（b）supportingmoresystematicpolicy,planandprogrammeprocesses（seeFigure1.1）.Asystematicdecisionmakingframeworkmaysupportaddressing‘therightissuesattherighttime’atdifferenttiers,ashasbeenexplainedabove.Ultimately,aframework,withinwhichdifferenttiersandlevelsaddressdifferentissues,tasksandalternativesmayhelpavoidingdelaysinsubsequentprojectpreparation.Inthiscontext,SEAshouldhelptoaddressproblemsearlyenoughinordertobeabletopro-activelyso