IAIA’08Perth Australia4 –10 may 2008

SEA: theory, praxis and methodology in European and Italian contexts

Some examples

V.Bettini, E. Furlan, C. Rosnati

Bettini@iuav.it

Contents

SEA as an efficient planning tool on an environmental basis

SEA as interpreted by European and Italian legislation

SEA in practise: effects of a plan on the territory and SEA efficiency

SEA as an efficient planning tool on an environmental basis

SEA is a part of a planning process and not an authorisation procedure

SEA should not be mistaken for just a ‘large’ EIA applied to plans and programmes

SEA should not follow the same procedural scheme as EIA

Some essential conditions

SEA should be based on cumulative effects analysis and assessment

SEA should be involved in selection and assessment of alternatives and not start when the plan is already definite

Directive 2001/42/CE: The environmental assessment referred to in article 3 shall be carried out during the preparation of a plan or programme and before its adoption or submission to the legislative procedure

Some essential conditions

European and national regulations requiring consideration of cumulative effects

Environmental ReportAppropriate assessmentEnvironmental statement

Environmental statement

Requirement

Plans and programmesProjects and plans affecting special Areas of Conservation

ProjectsProjectsApplications

EC Directive: Annex I: Information to be provided in the environmental report on the likely significant effects to include ‘cumulative and synergistic’ effects & annex II on the criteria for determining likely significance of effects should include the ‘cumulative nature of the effects’

Part IV (48) An ‘appropriate assessment’ should be carried out by a competent authority before authorising a plan or project which is likely to have significant effect on a European site either alone or in combination with otherplans and projects

Schedule 4 part I: a description of the likely significant effects to include cumulative effects & selection criteria for screening schedule 2 developments includes ‘cumulation with other projects’

Annex 3 (4): a description of likely significant effects of the proposed project should include the ‘cumulative’ effects of the project

Relevant section of regulation or directive

Dlgs. 152/2006 currently under revision

DPR 357/97 amended by DPR 120/2003

Dlgs. 152/2006 currently under revision

EIA (L.349/86) application fields: DPCM 377/88 and 12/27/88 DPR 4/12/96

Implementing Italian Regulations

Strategic Environmental Assessment (2001/42/EC)

Habitat Directive (92/43/EEC) amended by 97/62/EC

Amendment Directive on EIA (97/11/EC) (2003/35/CE)

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) (85/337/EEC)

EC Directives

Environmental ReportAppropriate assessmentEnvironmental statement

Environmental statement

Requirement

Plans and programmesProjects and plans affecting special Areas of Conservation

ProjectsProjectsApplications

EC Directive: Annex I: Information to be provided in the environmental report on the likely significant effects to include ‘cumulative and synergistic’ effects & annex II on the criteria for determining likely significance of effects should include the ‘cumulative nature of the effects’

Part IV (48) An ‘appropriate assessment’ should be carried out by a competent authority before authorising a plan or project which is likely to have significant effect on a European site either alone or in combination with otherplans and projects

Schedule 4 part I: a description of the likely significant effects to include cumulative effects & selection criteria for screening schedule 2 developments includes ‘cumulation with other projects’

Annex 3 (4): a description of likely significant effects of the proposed project should include the ‘cumulative’ effects of the project

Relevant section of regulation or directive

Dlgs. 152/2006 currently under revision

DPR 357/97 amended by DPR 120/2003

Dlgs. 152/2006 currently under revision

EIA (L.349/86) application fields: DPCM 377/88 and 12/27/88 DPR 4/12/96

Implementing Italian Regulations

Strategic Environmental Assessment (2001/42/EC)

Habitat Directive (92/43/EEC) amended by 97/62/EC

Amendment Directive on EIA (97/11/EC) (2003/35/CE)

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) (85/337/EEC)

EC Directives

Public Participation is an essential part of SEA Process (as defined by the Directive 2001/42/CE and by the previous conventions of Aarhus and Expoo)

It should start in a preliminary stage of planning,

contribute to the choice of indicators to be used in the selection of alternatives and the weight to be attributed to the indicators,

SEA and public participation

actively involve all the interested stakeholders and it should not limit itself to a single act of formal public consultation

The steps of SEA as planning processon environmental basis

Identification of scenarios Identification of scenarios

Cumulative impactassessment

Cumulative impactassessment

Analysis andassesment of scenarios

Analysis andassesment of scenarios

Plan definitionPlan definition

Assessment report draftAssessment report draft

Public presentation Public presentation

Plan approval Plan approval

Based on:- CEA results- Participation input

Based on previous steps

SIMULTANEOUS START OFPARTICIPATION:- stakeholders identification- participation method selection

Including:- description of the whole assessment process- monitoring plan

Possible correction measures

SEA as interpreted in Italian

legislation

SEA as an authorization procedure and not a part of the planning process

SEA follows the similar scheme adopted for the environmental assessment of a project (EIA)

The need for Cumulative Effects Assessment is mentioned only once and in an unclear way, within the definition of ‘environmental assessment’:

Change in the environment that could be qualitative and/or quantitative, direct and indirect, short, medium and long-term, permanent and temporary, single and cumulative, positive and negative.

SEA in the Italian legislation

The steps of SEA

as authorization procedure

Draft plan Is SEA required? Preliminary report including:- plan description- information and data to verify significant impactsExclusion

(with possible prescriptions) SEA procedure

Public consultation

Environmental Report (ER) draft

Monitoring programme

ER and consultation results assessment

Announcement of Decision

SEA in practise Effects of a plan on the territory and

SEA efficiency

A case study

Venice

Veneto Region

Stu

dy a

rea

Stu

dy a

rea

Area SIC/SPZIT3240008 Olmè

wood

Venice - T

rieste

Highway A4

Venice-

Trie

ste

railw

ay

S.S.

n°14

Canale

Bidoggia

Canal

e

Piavo

n

S.P.

n°58

Cessalto

Ceggia

Province of Treviso

Province of Venice

17401798-18051950sWood dimension during the first industrial expansion (1980s)Current state

Olmè Wood area

Alternative AAlternative BAlternative C

AC

B

S.P. n°58

Measures against agricoltural fragmentation

PTRCPTRCRegional Coordination and Territorial Plan

High protection agricultural area

PGBTTRGeneral Plan of Rural Territory Drainage and Conservation

Ecological networks

PTCPProvincial Coordination and Territorial Plan

A critical analysis of this approach

the use of DC G.I.S. to analyse impacts

Dynamic Computational G.I.S. is a Java software tool designed and implemented for multi-scenario environmental assessments. It is based on numerical matrix correlation representing stressor elements and environmental vulnerabilities on/of the territory to assess. DC G.I.S. analisys follows Risk Analysis and Assessment, Exposure Assessment, Stressor Identification Process and Environmental Control US EPA guidelines.

Impact analysis is carried out through the characterization of dynamic interaction levels between human pressure components and environmental vulnerability components expressed through space-temporal vector functions.

DC G.I.S. to analyse impacts

Stressor Vulnerability Interaction Frame – SVIF

1u

2u

3u

4u

nu

1v

nv

2v

4v

3v KSVIFm

Conceptual model to assess alternatives

PROCEDURE PHASE DESCRIPTION

1 Assessment goals definitionIdentification and description of

assessment goals

2Analysis of available data supporting the

assessmentSelection and description of available

data concerning the study area

3Preliminary considerations on potential impacts

generated by the proposed alternatives

Preliminary hypothesis on potential impacts deriving from each alternative

analysed

4Employment of Dynamic Computational G.I.S.

(DC GIS) system to assess impactsDefinition of assessment phases to be

realised using DC GIS software

5 Building of the stressor spaceIdentification and characterisation of

human pressure elements

6 Building of the vulnerabilities spaceIdentification and characterisation of environmental vulnerability elements

7Building of the Stressor Vulnerability Interaction

Frame (SVIF)

Analysis of the possible interactions between human pressure actions and

vulnerability components of the territory

8 Identification of the main impact scenarios Building and selection of impact scenario

9Analysis of the impacts detected for every

scenarioImpact assessment based on rules and

urban planning tools in force

Human pressure elements analysed

Autostr

ada

A4

S.S.

n°14

S.P.

n°58

Alternativa

C

Alternativa

B

Alt

ern

ati

va

A

San Stino di Livenza

San Donà di Piave

2548425130

CeggiaCessalto

3746

3903

San Stino di Livenza

San Donà di Piave

7849

7613

Indicators used in the assessment

Impact indicatorsIndicators of environmental

system conditions

noise generated by traffic

Atmospheric impact (PM10)

generated by traffic

Biological territorial capacity

–BTC-

percolation of the environmental system

Comparison of noise impact from different alternatives

Zero

hyp

oth

esis

Alte

rnativ

e C

Alte

rnativ

e A

Alte

rnativ

e B

Comparison of atmospheric impact (PM10) from different alternatives: high population density

Comparison of atmospheric impacts (PM10) from different alternatives: lower population density

Zero

hyp

oth

esis

Alte

rnativ

e C

Alte

rnativ

e A

Alte

rnativ

e B

BTC is a synthetic function referred to vegetation, measured in Mcal/m2/year, that expresses the flux of energy that an ecological system must dissipate to mantain its degree of organisation and

metastability.

It provides a measure of metastability thresholds of landscape system. Metastability means a ‘satisfactory condition of the dynamic balance between natural processes and low impact human actions’.

Biological Territorial Capacity BTC

Territorial transformations on wide scale, in fact, are difficult to measure, also in landscape. Often it is impossible to evaluate if a change would be positive. However, it is possible to assess if the changes in force are carrying the landscape to an unbalanced condition, analysing its metastability.

Alte

rnativ

e C

BTC: current stateBTC: post project state

Percolation theory, formulated to study the behaviour of fluid spreading randomly through a medium, has found an interesting application in landscape ecology.

As in fluid behaviour, there is a critical threshold, around it an enviromental system changes behaviour and conformation. For example, when landscape fragmentation reaches its critical threshold, a small amount of deforestation will be sufficient to eliminate the last percolating cluster and, consequently, drammatically reducing the connectivity of the whole matrix.

Percolation

Percolation in landscape ecology is an index that shows the ecological connectivity of a territory. It shows the capability of a species to cross a landscape mosaic formed by different patches

Alte

rnativ

e C

Percolation: current statePercolation: post project state

The alternative B was subjected to 4 different environmental assessment procedures which have highlighted several problems:

The project did not comply with European, National and Regional procedures provided for the Appropriate Environmental Assessment concerning actions in Special Protection Zones and Sites of Community Importance

Cumulative and synergistic impacts with other present and future plans/projects were not considered

Some considerations

Ecological systemic investigations at regional and local scale, which are preparatory to an efficient assessment of impacts on habitats and biological components, were not carried out.

Different options were not considered, such as do-nothing, traffic diversion on the existing roads and other projected roads

SEA is making the first move now, and only on the preliminary draft of the Intermunicipality Territorial Plan

While the EIA of the project procedes….What about SEA?

SEA should come before, and not after the definite project

SEA should be carried out at the eco-region scale and not limited to the municipal boundaries

INTEGRATION BETWEEN PLANNING, ASSESSMENT AND DECISION- MAKING PROCESS

ASSESSMENT

Quantitative and cumulative assessment of impacts magnitude

deriving from interconnecting projects

SEA as interpretive key for an integrated and interdisciplinary reading

of the territory

Monitoring of the effects and

assessment of plan results

Impacts analysis on territorial scale, indipendently from administrative

boundary

PLANNING PROCESS

Planning process on territorial scale, indipendent of administrative

scale

The complexity of planning process

managed through the consensus attainment

Not only conservation, but also active planning aimed at the

improvement of territorial potential

SEA as territorial strategic planning and not as

administrative duty