STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT SEA

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STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT (SEA)

• as early as practical

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WHAT IS SEA?

• Formalized, systematic and comprehensive process
  of evaluating environmental effects of a policy,
  plan or program and its alternatives
• Aims at integrating environmental considerations
  into the earliest phase of policy, plan or
  program development on par with economic, social
  and other considerations.

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HISTORY OF SEA

• 1970s - focus on natural environment
• 1980s - social and economic issues addressed
• 1990s - integrated environmental management -
  transparency
• Today - strategic environmental
  assessment

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GOALS OF SEA

• Focus environmental assessment by ensuring need,
  purpose and alternatives are addressed at the
  policy, plan and program level
• Improve scope and assessment of cumulative impact
  for large and small projects
• Facilitate application of sustainable development
  principles and guidelines

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TYPES OF SEA

• Policy - existing or proposed
• Issue-based - factors for a specific issue
• Geographic - regional, national planning
• Temporal - social / economic change
• Technological - innovation technology
• Sectoral - industry sectors
• Generic project - framework / class assessment

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SCOPE OF SEA

• Currently or potentially applied to
• International treaties
• Privatization
• Transnational corporations
• Structural adjustment operations
• Structural operations programs
• National budgets
• Legislative proposals
• Area-wide or land-use planning
• Transboundary or global issues

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APPLICATIONS OF SEA

• May be used to address effects on
• single resources within single regions
• single resources among multiple regions
• multiple resources in a single region
• multiple resources in multiple regions
• and to answer assessment questions like
• what proportion of a countrys wetlands
  constitute critical natural capital?
• What would be the overall impact of a change in
  transport policy for a protected species?

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COMPARISION

• EA
• reactive
• effect on environment
• specific project
• direct effects
• mitigation of effects
• narrow perspective
• high level of detail
• project-specific effects

• SEA
• pro-active
• effect on development
• area, region, etc.
• cumulative effects
• environmental quality
• wide perspective
• low level of detail
• framework to assess effects and benefits

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CANADA MANITOBA

• Canada
• government policy to assess impact of policies,
  plans and programs
• Cabinet directive in place
• not legislated
• Manitoba
• future legislation?
• sustainable development principles and guidelines
• area planning

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CABINET POLICY

• 1999 Cabinet Directive on the Environmental
  Assessment of Policy, Plan and Program Proposals
• Strategic environmental assessment of a policy,
  plan or program proposal to be completed when
• The proposal is submitted to an individual
  Minister or Cabinet for approval, and
• Implementation of the proposal may result in
  important environmental effects, either positive
  or negative
• http//www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca/0011/0002/dir_e.htm

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GUIDING PRINCIPLES

• Early integration
• Examine alternatives
• Flexibility
• Self-assessment
• Accountability
• Use of existing
  mechanisms

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SEA BENEFITS

• Reduce environmental costs
• Address cumulative environmental effects
• Streamline environmental assessment process
• Improve efficiency
• Same time and money
• Avoid delays
• Speed up approval
• Promote credibility
• Provide leadership examples

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ENVIRONMENT CANADA APPROACH

• Six-step approach
• Determine the study approach
• Identify possible options for the policy, plan or
  program
• Identify the likely environmental effects of each
  viable option
• Determine what can be done to mitigate negative
  effects and enhance positive effects
• Identify any potential environmental effects that
  remain after mitigation
• Document the results of the analysis

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ECs SIX-STEP STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
APPROACH
If no potential for environmental considerations
then no further analysis is required
Determine study approach
Identify possible options
Identify environmental effects
Identify mitigation measures
Determine residual effects
Proceed with proposal
Document results of assessment
Abandon or modify proposal
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POLICY SEA - CONS

• Difficult to identify environmental effects
• More difficult to predict second-order
  socio-economic effects
• Less opportunities to mitigate
• Most policies are secret or confidential
  (assessments can also be secret/confidential)
• Some powerful policies are unwritten
• Assessments tend to be vague

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POLICY SEA - PROS

• Representative cross-section of government and
  electorate
• Increased efficiency - economies of scale
• Consider a wider range of development options
• Can be done with limited information
• Effective mechanism for assessing effects if
  coupled with geographic, temporal and/or sectoral
  assessments

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ADVANTAGES OF SEA

• Resource-based approach
• Avoidance of adverse effects on valued, sensitive
  or threatened areas or ecosystem components
• Effective consideration of alternative sites
• Earlier recognition of potential ecological
  constraints in infrastructure siting and design
• Provision of contextual information needed to
  focus ecological survey and analysis
• Ability to characterize baseline conditions
• Ability to institute suitable data collection
• More ...

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APPLICATION OF SEA

• International trade, finance, economic,
  environmental agreements
• Military and defense agreements
• Bi- and multi-lateral development assistance
• Ratification of international agreements
• Tax regimes, resource royalties, etc.
• Government ownership, privatization, etc.
• Examples - National Park Policy, National Energy
  Policy

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CONTEMPORARY ISSUES

• Global warming
• Acid rain
• Deforestation
• Endangered species
• Aquaculture
• Biodiversity
• Cultural resources
• First Nations
• Planning

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CASE STUDY EXAMPLES

• National park management plans Canada
• Roll out of genetically modified wheat Canada
• Sustainable development planning Netherlands
• Policy, plans and legislation Australia
• Coastal zones Australia
• Regional planning Denmark
• Land use plans Sweden

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Next class

• Read about cumulative effects assessment
• Do an Internet search for cumulative effects
  assessment
• Visit the Canadian Environmental Assessment
  website and review cumulative effects assessment
  pages
• Identify cumulative effects associated with your
  laboratory assignment
• Come to class prepared to discuss cumulative
  effects assessment