Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of water industry plans and programmes

Journal of Water Law

Volumn 16, Issue 4, 2005, Pages 115-121

  Sheate, William R ^a   Leinster, Timothy ^b  

^a IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON   (United Kingdom)

^b NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

BASIN MANAGEMENT; ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT; WATER INDUSTRY;

EID: 33644515643     PISSN: 14785277     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (36)

1. C Wood Environmental Impact Assessment: A Comparative Review (Longman Scientific and Technical Harlow 1995);
2. J Glasson, R Therivel and A Chadwick Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment (2nd edn UCL Press London 1998);
3. WR Sheate Environmental Impact Assessment: Law and Policy - Making an Impact II (2nd edn Cameron May London 1996).
4. RJ Cerny and WR Sheate 'Strategic Environmental Assessment: Amending the EA Directive' Environmental Policy and Law (1992) 22 (3) 154-59.
5. WR Sheate 'The EC Directive on Strategic Environmental Assessment: A Much-Needed Boost for Environmental Integration' European Environmental Law Review (2003) 12 (12) 331-47;
6. 'Changing Conceptions and Potential for Conflict in Environmental Assessment - Environmental Integration and Sustainable Development'(2003) Environmental Policy and Law 33 (5) 219-30.
7. Scottish Executive Proposals for Green Government news release 23 October 2003 Edinburgh available at www.scotland.gov.uk/pages/news/2003/ 10/Seen667.aspx (accessed 4 December 2003).
8. SEA Pathfinder project: SEA Case Studies evaluation, being undertaken by EnviroCentre and Collingwood Environmental Planning 2005-2007.
9. Sheate 'The EC Directive' (n 5).
10. Plans and programmes'... which are subject to preparation and/or adoption by an authority at national, regional or local level or which are prepared by an authority for adoption, through a legislative procedure by Parliament or Government, and - which are required by legislative, regulatory or administrative provisions' (art 2a).
11. Plans and programmes'.. which are prepared for agriculture, forestry, fisheries, energy, industry, transport, waste management, water management, telecommunications, tourism, town and country planning or land use and which set the framework for future development consent of projects listed in Annexes I and II to Directive 85/337/EEC' (Art 3(2)).
12. Commission of the European Communities 2003 para 3.4.
13. ODPM A Draft Practical Guide to the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive (ODPM Welsh Assembly Government Scottish Executive and Dept of the Environment Northern Ireland July 2005).
14. Commission of the European Communities Implementation of Directive 2001/ 42 on the Assessment of the Effects of Certain Plans and Programmes on the Environment (European Commission 23 September 2003) available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/eia/030923_sea_guidance.pdf (accessed 5 December 2003).
15. Water Company Water Resource Management Plans were in the original indicative list in the draft ODPM guidance in 2004, and then removed in the 2005 final version. However, it is likely that they will be in the ODPM's web-based indicative list which will be continuously updated. The varying status of such plans reflects Defra's uncertainty as to the extent to which such plans meet the SEA Directive criteria.
16. H Byron and WR Sheate 'Strategic Environmental Assessment: Current Status in the Water and Electricity Sectors in England and Wales' Environmental Policy and Practice (1997) 6(4) 155-65.
17. J Robinson, D Elvin, 'The Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes' [2004] JPL 1028-1048.
18. ibid p 2.
19. Recital 10 can also be read ambiguously.
20. ENTEC Comparative Legislative Review of the Water Framework Directive and Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive Final Draft Report (Entec UK Ltd/University of Manchester School of Planning and Landscape October 2003).
21. The Commission guidance (CEC 2003 para 3.16) provides only marginal help, suggesting administrative provisions are 'formal requirements for ensuring that action is taken which are not normally made using the same procedures as would be needed for new laws and which do not necessarily have the full force of law.... Extent of formalities in its preparation and capacity to be enforced may be used as indications to determine whether a particular provision is an "administrative provision" in the sense of the Directive. Administrative provisions are by definition not necessarily binding, but for the Directive to apply, plans and programmes prepared or adopted under them must be required by them, as in the case with legislative or regulatory provisions.'
22. http:/www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects/waterres/137651/ ?version=1&lang=_e (emphasis added) [accessed 11 September 2005].
23. At para 3.23 of the guidance the Commission recognises that 'setting the framework' may be indirect, eg the plan or programme contains criteria or conditions which guide the way the consenting authority decides an application for development consent (for projects under the EIA Directive), such as placing limits on the type or extent of activity.
24. Environment Agency Water Resources for the Future: A Strategy for England and Wales (Environment Agency Bristol 2001).
25. National Rivers Authority (NRA) Water - Nature's Precious Resource - An Environmentally Sustainable Water Resources Strategy for England and Wales (National Rivers Authority March 1994).
26. Implementation of Directive 2001/42 (n 14).
27. Eg Thames Water Planning for Future Water Resources: Best Practicable Environmental Programme (2000) final report prepared by Consultants in Environmental Science, Land Use Consultants, OXERA and Wessex Archaeology.
28. See for example Implementation of Directive 2001/42 (n 14) paras 3.11-3.13;
29. Robinson and Elvin (n 16) p 13.
30. T Leinster Interpreting the SEA Directive with Particular Reference to Drought Plans (MSc Thesis in Environmental Technology Imperial College London September 2005).
31. See Environment Agency Water Company Drought Plan Guideline 2005 (September 2005) s 7 p 14-15 available at www.environment-agency.gov.uk. While the guideline discusses at some length the need for environmental considerations in the monitoring proposals within drought plans (s 8 p 15), it is equivocal over whether SEA is needed, leaving the responsibility firmly with the water companies (s 8.4 p 18).
32. Robert McCracken QC, 2 Harcourt Buildings, personal communication, 2005.
33. Environment Agency CAMS Sustainability Appraisal Guidance (Version 4) (Environment Agency Bristol 2002).
34. WR Sheate H Byron S Dagg and L Cooper The Relationship between the EIA and SEA Directives Final Report to the European Commission August 2005. To be available on http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/eia.
35. ENTEC Comparative Legislative Review of the Water Framework Directive and Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive Final Draft Report (Entec UK Ltd/University of Manchester School of Planning and Landscape October 2003).
36. Water Company Drought Plan Guideline (n 29) s 2 p 5.