1、2023年1月30日星期一EPASEA战略环境评估战略环境评估Introduction what SEA is and why it is needed how it can be used as a planning tool how it links to sustainable development and project environmental impact assessment limitations of SEA where SEA is being used.What is SEAThere are many definitions of strategic environ
2、mental assessment(SEA).Sadler and Verheem(1996)call it:a systematic process for evaluating the environmental consequences of proposed policy,plan or programme initiatives in order to ensure they are fully included and appropriately addressed at the earliest appropriate stage of decision making on pa
3、r with economic and social considerations.Therivel et al.(1992)define it as:the formalised,systematic and comprehensive process of evaluating the environmental effects of a policy,plan or programme and its alternatives,including the preparation of a written report on the findings of that evaluation,
4、and using the findings in publicly accountable decision-making.Perhaps the simplest definition of SEA is that it is the environmental impact assessment process applied to policies,plans and programmes,keeping in mind that the process of evaluating environmental impacts at a strategic level is not ne
5、cessarily the same as evaluating them at a project level.SEA is meant to be a continuous source of environmental information throughout all the stages of decision-making,as shown below.Note that the stages do not necessarily follows one another:for instance,the identification of alternatives may sho
6、w that other aspects of the environmental baseline need to be analysed.Stages in SEAPlan-making stageSEA stagePurpose of SEA stageEarly in the plan-making processDecide whether SEA is needed“Screening”Context settingDescribe the environmental and policy context that affects the planEstablish how the
7、 plan is affected by outside factors,provide an evidence base for impact prediction and monitoring;help focus the SEA and streamlining subsequent stages;suggest ideas for how any constraints can be addressed and help to develop the SEA frameworkIdentify other relevant plans,programmes and environmen
8、tal protection objectivesProvide a means by which the environmental performance of the plan and alternatives can be assessCollect baseline information.Early consultations about scope of SEAEnsure that the SEA covers the likely significant environmental effects of the plan.Plan-making stageSEA stageP
9、urpose of SEA stageAs the plan evolvesAssessment and mitigationPlan objectives:test the plan objectives against the SEA framework;suggest mitigationIdentify potential synergies or inconsistencies between the plan objectives and SEA objectives and help in developing plan alternatives.Plan alternative
10、s:inform the development of plan alternatives and test the plan alternatives against the SEA framework suggest mitigation.Develop and refine plan alternatives;predict the significant environmental effects of the plan alternatives;and help in choosing the preferred option.Draft plan:test the draft pl
11、an(preferred option)against the SEA framework suggest mitigationPredict the significant environmental effect of the plan including alternativesConsultation:preparing the SEA report,including proposing monitoring measuresPresent the predicted environmental effects of the plan including alternativesGi
12、ve public and others opportunity to express opinionsPlan-making stageSEA stagePurpose of SEA stageAfter plan Documentation and monitoringProvide information on how the SEA report and consultees opinions were taken into account in deciding the final form of the plan AdoptionProvide information on dec
13、isions Track the environmental effects of the plan to show whether they are as predicted;and help to identify adverse effects.Develop aims and methods for monitoringSEA processAs a very minimum,the SEA process involves:predicting the environmental impacts of a strategic action;and using those predic
14、tions in decision-making.If those two basic criteria are not fulfilled,it is not an SEA.Strategic assessmentSeveral other terms are also used to refer to environmental assessment at the strategic level,including:policy environmental assessment;policy impact assessment;sectoral environmental assessme
15、nt;and programmatic environmental impact statement.The term SEA report refers to a report that describes the methods and findings of the SEA process.Preparation of an SEA report is part of most SEA processes.What is the aim of SEA?The main aim of SEA is to incorporate environmental/sustainability is
16、sues in strategic decision-making.Secondary aims of SEA are to:improve the strategic action by making it clearer,more internally consistent etc;involve the public or its representatives in the decision-making process;and educate decision-makers about the environmental impacts of their decisions.PPPs
17、 and Tiering SEA normally applies to public sector(government)decisions.The(government)body that makes the decision is called the competent authority.SEAs can be produced by the competent authority,independent consultants,non-government organisations(NGOs),other government bodies or a combination of
18、 these,but it is the competent autority that makes decisions on the strategic action.Although policies,plans and programmes(PPPs)are generally all described as strategic actions,they are not the same things,and may require different levels and types of analysis in SEA.policyInspiration and guidance
19、for actionwhether or not to promote the development of nuclear power in country A whether to institute a carbon or CO2 taxwhether to promote genetically modified organisms in country As agriculture Planset of coordinated and timed objectives for the implementation of the policy How much nuclear powe
20、r to produce by 2035who should be charged how much carbon tax starting when A staged approach to testing and introducing genetically modified foodsprogrammeset of projects in a particular area four new nuclear power stations with X capacity in area Y by 2025 a series of test sites for genetically mo
21、dified foods PPPs However this terminology is not consistently used in practice:for instance a set of projects might be called a plan or guidance for action might be called a strategy.And no,it is NOT possible to get out of doing SEA by renaming a plan as a strategy!What is clear from the definition
22、s is that some(higher-tier or strategic)decisions influence and set the context for other(lower-tier or more detailed)decisions.This is called tiering.Normally,policies set the context for plans,and plans in turn set the context for programmes and then projects.National-level PPPs often set the cont
23、ext for,in turn,regional and local-level PPPs.TieringOutcomes of SEASEA can help to.1.Identify areas that are environmentally robust and can cope with development;and areas that are environmentally sensitive and where development should be avoided.Typically this is done through overlay mapping,for e
24、xample Baltic Sea Outcomes of SEASEA can help to.1.Identify areas that are environmentally robust and can cope with development;and areas that are environmentally sensitive and where development should be avoided.Typically this is done through overlay mapping,for example Baltic Sea Drainage Basin la
25、yers include population density,arable land,wetlands and land use.Outcomes of SEA2.Identify alternatives to a strategic action that are more environmentally sound and/or more sustainable.An example based on the SEA of a UK local transport plan is:Before SEAAfter SEADraft plan proposesLocal Transport
26、 Planners also consider4 major road schemesFewer road schemes:those that are less sustainable drop out of the plan100m road maintenance programme over 5 yearsDifferent ratios of expenditure on road maintenance v walking,cycling and public transport50m investment in walking,cycling and public transpo
27、rtDifferent ratios of expenditure between walking,cycling and public transport.Outcomes of SEA3.Identify a preferred alternative or reject alternatives.Table compares 3 alternatives(A,B and C)using a range of sustainability criteria.A is clearly least sustainable.This was dropped from further consid
28、eration and the plan-making process then focussed on various combinations of alternatives B and C.Comparison of Evaluation AlternativesAlternativesABCMaximal Access.Minimal detrimental impactsXX0*Quality built environment.Efficient land useX*Quality housing available to everyone0*Biodiverse attracti
29、ve natural environmentXX0*Minimal pollution levelsX*OverallX*Outcomes of SEA4.Identify constraints/problems and suggestions of ways of dealing with themFor example,urban area X already had little open space(e.g.playing fields,parks).This was restricting peoples ability to get informal exercise,and b
30、iodiversity was declining.The emerging land use plan was required to accommodate 20%more population within area X over 20 years.This would require more building which would exacerbate pressure on open space,and more people would be using the remaining open space.The SEA identified this problem.The p
31、lanners suggested a range of innovative solutions to this problem:improved recreational provision at existing open spaces rooftop terraces on top of new and existing buildings use of the waterfront along adjacent River Y as recreational space increased use of River Y for boating,surfing etc.The SEA
32、showed that existing open spaces and the waterfront could only accommodate a limited amount of additional use;that rooftop terraces were in the private realm and not publicly accessible;and that use of River Y for recreation required a financial outlay(rental or purchase of boat etc.)that many resid
33、ents of X would not be able to afford.The final plan also included requirements for new developments to be accompanied by provision of free,publicly accessible open space:2.5 hectares for every 1000 new residents.Outcomes of SEA5.Identify mitigation measures to minimise or avoid negative impacts.For
34、 instance,for a regional plan in an area where water abstraction already exceeds water supply,a mitigation could be:Require all new developments of 10 or more houses to be water neutral:total water use in the region after the development must be less than or equal to total water use in the region be
35、fore the development.For developments of less than 10 houses,water efficiencies of 40%over existing levels must be achieved.For a local plan that could affect the habitat of a rare bat,a mitigation could be:Until more information exists on the foraging habits of the Barbastelle bats at Site Z is ava
36、ilable,any development that could affect any trees,hedges or water bodies within 6km of the boundary of Site Z should require assessment to ensure that Barbastelle bat foraging grounds are not negatively affected.If more detailed information becomes available(e.g.if a bat foraging survey is carried
37、out)then this could reduce the need for project level assessment.The examples above show some typically used SEA techniques:maps to describe the baseline environment,identify problems,and predict impacts matrices that test alternatives or sub-sections of the strategic action against environmental/su
38、stainability criteria use of red/amber/green(traffic light colours)to allow key impacts to be easily identified qualitative,+/-,expert judgement type of appraisal where detailed,quantitative assessment is not possible The last example also represents two typical SEA principles:Tiering.In this case,i
39、n the absence of full information at the plan level,project-level mitigation measures are used.The precautionary principle:where there is uncertainty about the impacts of a strategic action,one should assume that negative impacts will occur,and mitigate for them,unless/until one can show that these
40、impacts are unlikely to occur.In this case,all trees and hedges are to be protected until studies show that some of them dont need to be.EIA of ProjectsSEA of policies,plans and programmesTakes place near the end of decision-making cycle:aims to minimise impacts Takes place at earlier stages of deci
41、sion-making cycle:aims to prevent impacts Reactive approach to development proposal Pro-active approach to development proposals Considers limited number of feasible alternatives Considers broad range of potential alternatives Limited review of cumulative effects Cumulative effects assessment is key
42、 to SEA Emphasis on mitigating and minimizing impacts Emphasis on meeting environmental objectives,maintaining natural systems Narrow perspective,high level of detail Broad perspective,lower level of detail to provide a vision and overall framework Well-defined process,clear beginning and end Multi-
43、stage process,overlapping components,policy level is continuing,iterative Focuses on standard agenda,treats systems of environmental deterioration Focuses on sustainability agenda,gets at sources of environmental deterioration SEA addresses the limitations of project EIA Because EIA takes place once
44、 many strategic decisions have already been made,it can often address only a limited range of alternatives and mitigation measures:those of a wider nature are generally poorly integrated into project planning.Consultation in EIA is also limited and the contribution of EIA to the eventual decision re
45、garding the project is unclear.Although project EIA is widely used and accepted as a useful tool in decision-making,it largely reacts to development proposals rather than proactively anticipating them:At this EIA stage,the prior questions of whether,where and what type of development should take pla
46、ce are either decided or largely pre-empted by earlier policy making processes.Often,these decisions will have occurred with little or no environmental analysis.This foreclosure of the range of choice is partially countered by provisions to addressing project justification and alternatives in EIA.In
47、 reality,however,prior policy,technological and locational options are not open to serious environmental reexamination;neither is project-by-project EIA an effective way of doing so.Far preferable is the use of SEA or an equivalent approach to incorporate environmental considerations and alternative
48、s directly into policy,plan and programme design.(Sadler and Verheem 1996)Project EIAs are also generally limited to the projects direct impacts.This approach ignores a wide range of impacts,including:cumulative impacts:the environmental impacts of multiple plans,projects and other actions;global im
49、pacts:impacts that go beyond the local,project level,for instance climate change;indirect,secondary or induced impacts:impacts that occur several steps away from the original action,for instance new houses that generate more vehicle movements that increase air pollution that affect the flora in an a
50、rea;synergistic impacts:where impact A+impact B have a total impact of more than A+B:for instance NOx emissions and ozone emissions which together cause smog,which has impacts over and above those of just the NOx+ozone.Need for SEA:promotion of sustainable development The second main reason for SEA
