United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
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Resource Manual to Support Application of the Protocol on SEA
Draft Final
A2. Integration of SEA into plan and programme making |
Table A2.1: SEA elements
| Element |
Description |
| Scoping |
The first element is, having determined that a plan or programme is to be subject to SEA, to determine the scope of the environmental report. Determining the scope of the report implies also defining the scope of the analyses that will lead to the preparation of the report. Scoping provides an opportunity to focus the report on the important issues to maximize its usefulness to the public, authorities and decision-makers. It does not preclude changes in the scope of the report if the need for them were to become apparent at a later stage. Environmental and health authorities have to be consulted in scoping, and the public may be provided with opportunities to participate. |
| Environmental report |
The second element is the preparation of the environmental report (in line with the scope). The report will provide the public and the authorities consulted with information on the environmental effects of the plan or programme. |
| Public participation |
The third element is the participation of the public. This may have already begun during scoping or even during the determination of whether SEA is required under the Protocol for a plan or programme (see Chapter A3). The draft plan or programme and the environmental report must be made available to the public, and the public concerned must be consulted and given the opportunity to express its opinion on the draft plan or programme and the environmental report. |
| Consultation |
The fourth element is the consultation with the environmental and health authorities, which must be allowed the opportunity to express their opinion on the draft plan or programme and the environmental report. Consultation and public participation may occur at the same time. (The public and the authorities are consulted together under Art. 6 of the SEA Directive.) |
| Transboundary consultations |
If it appears that the plan or programme may have significant transboundary effects (on another Party to the Protocol), or if a potentially ‘affected Party’ so requests, the affected Party or Parties should be notified and invited to enter into consultations. Those transboundary consultations, which may be done at the same time as the public participation and the consultation with the authorities, must lead to an opportunity for the concerned public and the environmental and health authorities in the affected Party to express their opinion on the draft plan or programme and the environmental report. |
| Decision-making |
The sixth element is the taking of a decision on the adoption of a plan or programme. This decision has to take into account the environmental report and the opinions expressed by the public concerned and the authorities, both domestic and of any affected Party. The decision-maker has to produce a statement summarizing how that information was taken into account and why the plan or programme is being adopted in the light of reasonable alternatives. The adopted plan or programme, the decision and the justification must be made publicly available. |
| Monitoring |
The final element is monitoring. SEA does not stop with the decision to adopt a plan or programme. The significant environmental effects of implementation have to be monitored to, among other things, identify unforeseen adverse effects and enable appropriate remedial action to be taken. Monitoring results have to be made available to the authorities and to the public. |
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