Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of Plans and Programmes

What strategic environmental assessment is

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is the procedure that analyses the environmental effects of plans and programmes, as opposed to environmental impact assessment (EIA), which analyses the effects of specific projects. It applies to urban planning instruments, territorial plans, energy plans and other plans or programmes that set the framework for the future authorisation of projects, under Spanish Law 21/2013 on environmental assessment, which transposes the EU Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive (2001/42/EC); equivalent national transpositions apply across all EU member states.

As with project assessment, Spanish Law 21/2013 distinguishes between ordinary and simplified strategic environmental assessment, depending on the type of plan and its potential environmental effects.

Which plans are subject to SEA

• General urban development plans and their substantial revisions or amendments.
• Special Infrastructure Plans (PEI) organising energy or transport installations.
• Natural resource management plans and forestry plans of supra-municipal scope.
• Regional energy plans that set the framework for deploying renewable energy across the territory.
• River basin management plans and flood risk management plans.

Stages of the procedure

1. Initial document, prepared by the plan's promoter, setting out the objectives, scope and intended content of the plan and its alternatives.
2. Scoping document, issued by the environmental authority after consulting affected administrations and the interested public, which determines the content of the strategic environmental study.
3. Strategic environmental study, prepared by the promoter in line with the scoping document, analysing the plan's foreseeable environmental effects.
4. Public information period for the plan and the strategic environmental study, with a minimum of 45 working days.
5. Strategic Environmental Statement, the environmental authority's resolution determining the plan's foreseeable effects and setting the conditions for its final approval.

Difference from project environmental impact assessment

SEA assesses the planning framework (the plan), whereas EIA assesses specific projects developed under that plan. A project may require its own EIA even if the plan it falls under has already passed SEA, unless the regulation expressly provides otherwise for certain cases.

Common mistakes

• Confusing the scope of SEA with that of project EIA, applying the wrong level of detail to the document.
• Failing to correctly identify from the outset whether the plan is subject to ordinary or simplified assessment.
• Starting to draft the plan before receiving the scoping document, which may force already-advanced content to be reworked.

Why choose Ideas Medioambientales

We take part in the strategic environmental assessment of urban, energy and territorial plans, providing the environmental technical analysis needed for the initial document, the strategic environmental study and the monitoring of the procedure through to the Strategic Environmental Statement, across Spain.

Tell us the type of plan and its territorial scope, and we'll advise you on the scope of strategic environmental assessment it needs.