SEA / EIA

General part

According to the European Commission 1, environmental assessment is a procedure that ensures that the environmental implications of decisions are taken into account before the decisions are made. Environmental assessment can be undertaken for individual projects, such as a dam, motorway, airport or factory, on the basis of Directive 2011/92/EU (known as "Environmental Impact Assessment" -- EIA Directive), or for public plans or programmes on the basis of Directive 2001/42/EC (known as "Strategic Environmental Assessment" -- SEA Directive). A common principle of both Directives is to ensure that plans, programmes and projects likely to have significant effects on the environment are made subject to an environmental assessment, prior to their approval. Consultation with the public is a key feature of environmental assessment procedures.

The Directives on Environmental Assessment aim to provide a high level of protection of the envi­ronment and contribute to the integration of environmental considerations into the preparation of projects, plans and programs with a view to reduce their environmental impact. They ensure public participation in decision-making and thereby strengthen the quality of decisions. Hence, the Direc­tives on Environmental Assessment are crucial tools for sustainable development.

Impact assessment was the main process adopted worldwide (originated in 1969, The National En­vironmental Policy Act, USA). Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) subsequently emerged as a response to the need to identify potential negative environmental impacts early in the planning process. It is considered that the SEA offers more guarantees for sustainable development due to its pro-active strategic character (it has the ability to shape strategies, plans and programs) compared to the EIA that is traditionally reactive (analyses a previously defined project) (Partidario, 1996).

SEA has the capacity to better identify the potential of the cumulative impact and to avoid it by in­tervening in the types of projects that are promoted by strategies and plans. Therefore, it is important to note that while the main question that guides the EIA process is "how it is intended to be done", in the SEA process, the questions are: why?, what? where?

SEA Process

The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) process is governed in the European Union by Direc­tive 2001/42/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environ­ment (SEA Directive). The SEA Directive should have been transposed in the national legislation of the Member States by July 2004 (Nistorescu et al, 2019).

According to the Directive, its goal "is to provide for a high level of protection of the environment and contribute to the integration of environmental considerations into the preparation and adoption of plans and programs with a view to promoting sustainable development, by ensuring that, in accor­dance with this Directive, an environmental assessment is carried out of certain plans and programs which are likely to have significant effects on the environment".

SEA originated after the environmental impact assessment (EIA), with inputs from biophysical plan­ning and policy analysis. The overall purpose of SEA was to ensure that environmental issues would be adequately considered at early stages of development policy-making and planning (broadly con­sidered). SEA relates to highly complex issues, at multiple spatial and temporal scales, engaging a variety of stakeholders and consequently, multiple perspectives and expectations (Partidario, 2012).

SEA, in a strategic thinking approach, has three very specific objectives (Partidario, 2012):

  1. Encourage environmental and sustainability integration (including biophysical, social, institutional and economic aspects), setting enabling conditions to nest future development proposals;

  2. Add-value to decision-making, discussing opportunities and risks of development options and turning problems into opportunities;

  3. Change minds and create a strategic culture in decision-making, promoting institutional cooper­ation and dialogues, avoiding conflicts.

Through these objectives, SEA can contribute to (Partidario, 2012):

  • Ensure a strategic, systemic and broad perspective in relation to environmental issues within a sustainability framework;

  • Contribute to identifying, selecting and discussing major development options towards more sustainable decisions (intertwining biophysical, social, institutional and economic issues);

  • Detect strategic opportunities and risks in the options under analysis and facilitate the consider­ation of cumulative processes;

  • Suggest follow-up programmes, through strategic management and monitoring;

  • Ensure participative and transparent processes that engage all relevant stakeholders through dialogues, and foster more integrated decisions in relation to the array of relevant points of view.

Due to its systematic and participatory approach, SEA is particularly relevant in the context of connec­tivity projects for protected areas, and in for the integration of protected areas into wider landscapes and seascapes.

The SEA Directive applies to a wide range of public plans and programs (e.g. on land use, transport, energy, waste, agriculture, etc.). The SEA Directive does not refer to policies. Plans and programmes in the sense of the SEA Directive must be prepared or adopted by an authority (at national, regional or local level) and be required by legislative, regulatory or administrative provisions.

An SEA is mandatory for plans/programmes which:

  • are prepared for agriculture, forestry, fisheries, energy, industry, transport, waste/water manage­ment, telecommunications, tourism, town & country planning or land use and which set the framework for future development consent of projects listed in the EIA Directive;

Or

  • have been determined to require an assessment under the Habitats Directive.

EIA Process

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process is governed in the European Union by Directive 2011/92/EU on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environ­ment (EIA Directive).

The development of the EIA concept took place in the 1960s with the onset of the environmental movement in the United States (IAIA, 2009; Felleman, 2010). From a legal point of view, the EIA bases were put in place in 1969 in the United States through the adoption of the National Environ­mental Policy Act (NEPA). The first EIA Directive was adopted in the EU in 1985 (Directive 85/337/ EEC). The EIA Directive of 1985 has been amended three times, in 1997, in 2003 and in 2009. The initial Directive and its amendments have been codified by Directive 2011/92/EU. Directive 2011/92/ EU has been amended in 2014 by Directive 2014/52/EU, which introduced new elements in the EIA procedure, e.g.: one-stop shop for assessments deriving from the EIA and Nature Directives, quality control mechanism, mandatory assessment of reasonable alternatives, monitoring, broader scope of the EIA covering new issues (climate change, biodiversity, risks prevention), as well as justification of screening/EIA decisions.

The goal of the EIA Directive is to ensure a high level of protection of the environment and human health, through the establishment of minimum requirements for the environmental impact assess­ment of projects.

The main objective of the 2014 amendments was to simplify the rules for assessing the potential effects of projects on the environment. The amending EIA Directive is in line with the drive for smarter regulation, as it reduces the administrative burden. It also improves the level of environmental protec­tion, with a view to making business decisions on public and private investments more sound, more predictable and sustainable in the longer term. The new approach pays greater attention to threats and challenges that have emerged since the original rules came into force some 25 years ago. This means more attention to areas like resource efficiency, climate change and disaster prevention, which are now better reflected in the assessment process. The main amendments are as follows:

  • Member States now have a mandate to simplify their different environmental assessment procedures;

  • Timeframes are introduced for the different stages of environmental assessments: screening de­cisions should be taken within 90 days (although extensions are possible) and public consultations should last at least 30 days. Members States also need to ensure that final decisions are taken within a "reasonable period of time";

  • The screening procedure, determining whether an EIA is required, is simplified. Decisions must be duly motivated in the light of the updated screening criteria;

  • EIA reports are to be made more understandable for the public, especially as regards assess­ments of the current state of the environment and alternatives to the proposal in question;

  • The quality and the content of the reports will be improved. Competent authorities will also need to prove their objectivity to avoid conflicts of interest;

  • The grounds for development consent decisions must be clear and more transparent for the public. Member States may also set timeframes for the validity of any reasoned conclusions or opinions issued as part of the EIA procedure;

  • If projects do entail significant adverse effects on the environment, developers will be obliged to do the necessary to avoid, prevent or reduce such effects. These projects will need to be monitored using procedures determined by the Member States. Existing monitoring arrange­ments may be used to avoid duplication of monitoring and unnecessary costs.

The EIA Directive applies to a wide range of public and private projects, which are defined in Annexes I and II:

  • Mandatory EIA: all projects listed in Annex I are considered as having significant effects on the environment and require an EIA (e.g. long-distance railway lines, motorways and express roads, airports with a basic runway length ≥ 2100 m, installations for the disposal of hazardous waste, installations for the disposal of non-hazardous waste > 100 tonnes/day, wastewater treatment plants > 150.000 p.e.);

  • Discretion of Member States (screening): for projects listed in Annex II, the national authorities have to decide whether an EIA is needed. This is done by the "screening procedure", which determines the effects of projects on the basis of thresholds/criteria or a case by case examination. However, the national authorities must take into account the criteria laid down in Annex III. The projects listed in Annex II are in general those not included in Annex I (railways, roads waste disposal installations, waste water treatment plants), but also other types such as urban development projects, flood-relief works, changes of Annex I and II existing projects etc.).

According to the European Commission31, the EIA procedure can be summarized as follows: the de­veloper may request the competent authority to say what should be covered by the EIA information to be provided by the developer (scoping stage); the developer must provide information on the environmental impact (EIA report -- Annex IV); the environmental authorities and the public (and affected Member States) must be informed and consulted; the competent authority decides, taken into consideration the results of consultations. The public is informed of the decision afterwards and can challenge the decision before the courts.

According to the EIA Directive, the environmental impact assessment shall identify, describe and as­sess in an appropriate manner, in the light of each individual case, the direct and indirect significant effects of a project on the following factors: (a) human beings, fauna and flora population and human health; (b) biodiversity, with particular attention to species and habitats protected under Directive 92/43/EEC and Directive 2009/147/EC; (c) land, soil, water, air and climate and landscape; (d) material assets, cultural heritage and the landscape; (e) the interaction between the factors referred to in points (a) to (d). The effects on the factors set out therein shall include the expected effects deriving from the vulnerability of the project to risks of major accidents and/or disasters that are relevant to the project concerned.

Role of SEA/EIA processes in nature conservation

The SEA Directive contains a number of starting principles that provide a useful basis for considering biodiversity in SEA. 'Biodiversity' is specified in the list of factors to be assessed, as well as 'fauna' and 'flora'.

As previously presented, during the SEA procedure an environmental report is prepared in which the likely significant effects on the environment and the reasonable alternatives of the proposed plan or program are identified. Annex I(d) of the SEA Directive requires the environmental report to consider any existing environmental problems which are relevant to the PP including, in particular, those re­lating to any areas of a particular environmental importance, such as areas designated pursuant to Habitats Directive) and Birds Directive. Annex I(f) requires the environmental report to consider the effects on 'biodiversity', 'fauna' and 'flora'.

The recitals to the Directive acknowledge that "the Convention on Biological Diversity requires Parties to integrate as far as possible and as appropriate the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity into relevant sectoral or cross-sectoral plans and programmes".

Annex I of the SEA Directive requires the environmental report to consider environmental objectives at international, EU and Member State levels.

The EIA Directive also contains a number of principles that provide the basis for considering biodi­versity in EIA. The revised EIA Directive refers now explicitly to 'biodiversity', unlike its previous version.

The recitals to the Directive clearly link the EIA process with the Convention on Biological Diversity and the EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy: "The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity ('the Convention'), to which the Union is party pursuant to Council Decision 93/626/EEC(9), requires assess­ment, as far as possible and as appropriate, of the significant adverse effects of projects on biological diversity, which is defined in Article 2 of the Convention, with a view to avoiding or minimising such effects. Such prior assessment of those effects should contribute to attaining the Union headline target adopted by the European Council in its conclusions of 25-26 March 2010 of halting biodiversity loss and the degradation of ecosystem services by 2020 and restoring them where feasible".

The revised EIA Directive includes the following references to biodiversity:

  • Article 3: The environmental impact assessment shall identify, describe and assess in an appro­priate manner, in the light of each individual case, the direct and indirect significant effects of a project on the following factors: [...] (b) biodiversity, with particular attention to species and habitats protected under Directive 92/43/EEC and Directive 2009/147/EC [...];

  • Annex II A -- Information to be provided by the Developer on the projects listed in Annex II: 3. A description of any likely significant effects, to the extent of the information available on such effects, of the project on the environment resulting from: (a) the expected residues and emissions and the production of waste, where relevant; (b) the use of natural resources, in particular soil, land, water and biodiversity;

  • Annex III -- Criteria to determine whether the projects listed in Annex II should be subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment:

  • Characteristics of projects: The characteristics of projects must be considered, with particular regards to: [...] (c) the use of natural resources, in particular land, soil, water and biodiversity [...];

  • Location of projects: The environmental sensitivity of geographical areas likely to be affected by projects must be considered, with particular regards to: [...] (b) the relative abundance, availability, quality and regenerative capacity of natural resources (including soil, land, water and biodiversi­ty) in the area and its underground; (c) the absorption capacity of the natural environment, pay­ing particular attention to the following areas: (i) wetlands, riparian areas, river mouths; (ii) coastal zones and the marine environment; (iii) mountain and forest areas; (iv) nature reserves and parks; (v) areas classified or protected under national legislation; Natura 2000 areas designated by Mem­ber States pursuant to Directive 92/43/EEC and Directive 2009/147/EC [...];

  • Annex IV -- Information for the Environmental Impact Assessment report:

  • Description of the project, including in particular: [...] (c) a description of the main characteristics of the operational phase of the project (in particular any production process), for instance, energy demand and energy used, nature and quantity of the materials and natural resources (including water, land, soil and biodiversity) used;

  • A description of the factors specified in Article 3(1) likely to be significantly affected by the project: population, human health, biodiversity (for example fauna and flora), land (for example land take), soil (for example organic matter, erosion, compaction, sealing), water (for example hydro-morpho­logical changes, quantity and quality), [...];

  • A description of the likely significant effects of the project on the environment resulting from, inter alia: [...](b) the use of natural resources, in particular land, soil, water and biodiversity, considering as far as possible the sustainable availability of these resources [...].

Biodiversity is the subjects of a many pieces of EU legislation, policies and strategies, including bind­ing targets for Member States.

The Natura 2000 network of protected areas, created on the basis of the Habitats and the Birds Directives, is the backbone of the EU's biodiversity policy. However, it is important to remember that the concept of biodiversity is not limited to the Natura 2000 network; it is much broader (European Commission, 2013, Guidance on Integrating Climate Change and Biodiversity into Strategic Environ­mental Assessment and Guidance on Integrating Climate Change and Biodiversity into Environmen­tal Impact Assessment):

  • The Birds and Habitats Directives also cover species and habitats outside Natura 2000 sites;

  • Under Article 6(3) of the Habitats Directive, an 'appropriate assessment' is required for any plan or project likely to have a significant effect on Natura 2000 site, even if it is implemented outside these sites;

  • Article 10 of the Habitats Directive recognises the importance of ensuring the ecological coher­ence of the Natura 2000 sites;

  • Finally, the EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy as endorsed by the Council and European Parliament covers the whole territory and emphasises the benefits that ecosystems give us. It provides a package of actions needed to halt the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystem services by 2020 and to restore them so far as feasible.

Therefore, the SEAs and EIAs should look at all these aspects of biodiversity and the quality of sur­roundings. Biodiversity has been a core part of EU policy for over 20 years. Nevertheless, the overall trends are still negative and recent policy has been considered ineffective. This is shown by the EU's failure to achieve the target of halting biodiversity loss by 2010. In 2011, the European Commission adopted a new EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy with its 2020 headline target --- 'Halting the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystem services in the EU by 2020, and restoring them so far as feasible, while stepping up the EU contribution to averting global biodiversity loss.' Target 2 of this Strategy (restoring at least 15% of degraded ecosystems) is broken down into accompanying actions, two of which seek to influence planning practices: set priorities to restore and promote the use of green infrastructure (Action 6) and ensure 'no- net-loss' of biodiversity and ecosystem services (Action 7). These provide a good policy basis for preserving ecosystem services and the use of eco­system-based approaches and green infrastructure in SEAs to support PPs and in EIAs to support projects (European Commission, 2013).

It is very important to identify the key issues from the biodiversity perspective early in the SEA and EIA processes, when many options are still open, to ensure that they are assessed effectively throughout the process. It is necessary to consider not only the impacts of the plan, program or project on biodi­versity but also the impact of the natural environment on the plan, program or project.

Role of SEA/EIA processes in maintaining ecological connectivity

SEA & EIA represents the two major pillars for the development of sustainable plans and projects. Both for SEA & EIA processes, one of the main concerns is to address habitat fragmentation focusing on maintaining the level of interconnectivity among ecosystems which allow them to sustain the natural processes.

Both SEA & EIA Directives do not address directly the GI and ecological connectivity but contains most of the requirements needed to do so. For example, in the EIA Directive the GI or the ecological corridors are not mentioned in the Annex III (selection criteria to determine if projects listed in Annex II should be subject to an environmental impact assessment) but the existing criteria, particularly the ones related to the "location of projects" (e.g. "the relative abundance, availability, quality and regen­erative capacity of natural resources" or "the absorption capacity of the natural environment") allows for the consideration of site sensitivity and natural processes in the assessments of plans and projects.

Both procedures involve public participation and therefore they are extremely useful in debating the options regarding the socio-economic developments. SEA & EIA have also a technical component which constitutes a powerful instrument for adapting the proposed plans & projects. SEA process plays a crucial role in selecting the alternatives, particularly when the process is conducted at broader scales (national or regional). By doing so, SEA can contribute significantly to avoiding the significant impacts on green infrastructure and particularly on ecological connectivity by supporting alternatives which avoid sensitive areas or have the capacity to maintain a good level of permeability.

EIA, as a project-oriented process has also a good capacity to avoid significant impacts and also to contribute to the reduction of impacts when avoidance cannot be achieved at a satisfactory level. The best example is in the case of road infrastructure: large structures like bridges, viaducts or tunnels represent an ideal option to maintain ecological connectivity but when such constructions cannot be implemented, measures to reduce the impact of connectivity fragmentation have to be implement­ed (eco-ducts, green bridges or underpasses).

The key principles of using SEA & EIA to warrant ecological connectivity are:

  1. Apply Ecosystem Based Management: a correct assessment of impacts should rely on the identi­fication of ecosystems and their key processes. The intent is to maintain those spatial and tempo­ral characteristics of ecosystems such that component species and ecological processes can be sustained and human well-being supported and improved;

  2. No-net-loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. The principle requires that damages resulting from human activities must be balanced by at least equivalent gains;

  3. Assure interpenetration of grey and green infrastructure: development of grey infrastructure should not interrupt the connectivity of GI;

  4. Apply hierarchy of interventions: avoidance is preferable to mitigation and compensation is the last option. Avoidance of significant impacts cannot be achieved without taking in consideration all feasible alternatives of a plan/project;

  5. Apply adaptive management. As a formal response to the presence of uncertainty and risk, adaptive management is a systematic learning process that formally plans and monitors the out­comes of decisions to improve our ability to better manage natural resources given uncertainty.

The main methodological steps to assure the implementation of the above-mentioned principles for road infrastructure plans/projects are:

  1. Identification of ecosystems and their key processes (which might be affected by the implemen­tation of proposed plan/project) based on an up-to-date and comprehensive database. Identifi­cation of critical connectivity areas should be an important task along the identification of other highly sensitive components like wilderness areas or critical habitats;

  2. Identification of existing dysfunctionalities (existing pressures) in terms of GI carrying capacity and connectivity;

  3. Analysis of a large spectrum of alternatives (including different locations and different construc­tive options);

  4. Assessment of potential impacts for all feasible alternatives which has the potential to sustain and develop the GI (mainly the ecological connectivity);

  5. Selection of the alternative(s) with the highest degree of avoidance for significant impacts;

  6. Prediction of the impacts and quantification of all forms of impacts, particularly the ones leading to habitat loss and habitat fragmentation;

  7. Defining all the mitigation measures required in order to reduce significant impacts on GI taking also, in consideration "historical" and cumulative impacts;

  8. Implementation of compensatory measures if this is the only way to reduce the significant im­pacts on Natura 2000 sites. All mitigation or compensatory measures proposing the restoration, rehabilitation or creation of natural areas should primarily be focused on regaining/maintaining the ecological connectivity;

  9. Implementation of a monitoring program during construction and operation in order to assess the efficiency of mitigation measures, to quantify the residual impacts and to propose and imple­ment possible corrective measures.

References

  • European Commission, 2013, Guidance on Integrating Climate Change and Biodiversity into Environ­mental Impact Assessment, Study Contract No 07.0307/2010/580136/ETU/A3, implemented for the Eu­ropean Commission by Milieu Ltd, Collingwood Environmental Planning Ltd and Integra Consulting Ltd;

  • Felleman, J., Herz, J., Draggan, S., 2010, „Environmental Impact Assessment". In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Sci­ence and the Environment). http://www.eoearth.org/article /Environmental _Impact_Assessment;

  • IAIA, 2009, What Is Impact Assessment?, <http://www.iaia.org/publicdocuments/special-publications/ What%20is%20IA_web.pdf>;

  • Nistorescu M,, Ioniță A. and Doba A. (2019): Keeping Nature Connected -- EIA for Integrated Green Infrastructure Planning -- Training Package, Propark, Romania.

  • Partidário, M.R., 2012, Strategic Environmental Assessment Better Practice Guidance - Methodological guidance for strategic thinking in SEA, Lisbon, Portuguese Environment Agency and Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN), SA;

EIA/SEA Training Package

Within TRANSGREEN Project, a comprehensive EIA/SEA Training Package had been developed to help stakeholders obtain theoretical and mostly practical knowledge about these two processes.

The course aims at presenting some specific aspects that need to be applied in identifying and assessing the environmental impact generated by infrastructure projects so as to ensure that the best measures to avoid, reduce and mitigate impacts are taken into account in the design, construction and operation of these projects.

Target group includes representatives of the national road and rail infrastructure companies, representatives of the Ministry of Transport, environmental consultants involved in the elaboration of environmental impact assessment studies and appropriate assessment studies for transport infrastructure projects, NGOs with activity in environmental protection and transport infrastructure.

Duration of the course is 16 hours that are to be spread across two consecutive days.

Main objective of the course it that participants understand and adopt good working practices presented in the field of environmental impact assessment and management of green infrastructure so as to ensure the quality of impact assessments and their contribution to the improvement of transport infrastructure projects.

The course approaches these topics:

  • What are Green Infrastructure and ecological connectivity?

  • Means to preserve, enhance and restore ecological connectivity;

  • Legal framework for SEA/EIA/AA and why is SEA & EIA essential for maintaining ecological connectivity?

  • Grey infrastructure permeability assessment;

  • What is a significant impact and how to avoid and reduce significant impacts on habitat fragmentation;

  • Quality review of Environmental Reports (SEA/EIA/AA);

  • Best practices in data collection for ecological connectivity and in the identification of maintaining, enhancing and restore ecological connectivity.

Three practical exercises are prepared for course participants to sharpen their understanding:

  • Exercise 1 -- The identification of suitable areas for the placement of ecoducts, where multiple barriers for wildlife connectivity are present

  • Exercise 2 -- Permeability

  • Exercise 3 -- Measures

The full course including all the training materials can be accessed here: http://transgreen.patko.sk/?page_id=654