DRAFT Sustainability Appraisal Report for the Emerging Local Plan ...

effects on the environment of certain plans and programmes and the findings taken into account in the
decision making process. Under the European Communities Act 1972 (7) , the requirements of the SEA
Directive are transposed into UK law in England in 2004 by virtue of the Environmental Assessment of
Plans and Programmes Regulation 2004 (SEA Regulations) ( 8) .
2.7 Where an SEA is required under the Regulations, the authority responsible for the production of the
plan must follow a specified procedure during its preparation. A major deliverable of this procedure is
the production of the ER. The ER must be prepared which examines likely significant effects of the
proposed plan, programme or strategy, including reasonable alternatives, as well as the information
listed in Schedule 2 to the Regulations and Annex I of the SEA Directive.
2.8 SEA is not defined in law, however, the full requirements of an environmental assessment under the
SEA Directive are summarised in Box 1 below. The SEA process is frequently quoted as being:
‘the formal, systematic and comprehensive process of evaluating the effects
of a proposed policy, plan or programme or its alternatives, including the
written report on the findings of that evaluation, and using the findings in
publicly accountable decision making’.
2.9 In order to avoid duplication of effort between the various assessment processes ( 9) work carried out in
completing this SA Report for the Local Plan will not be replicated in subsequent RBC LDF DPDs or SPDs.
2.10 The Council’s Local Plan and its accompanying SA Report incorporate the SEA ER. As required by the
regulations, the SA Report is being made available in two formats ‐ a full report which includes
technical appraisal and assessment detail, and a non‐technical summary (NTS). Both consider the
following:
A description of the plan and analysis of its relationship with other relevant plans and
programmes, and an outline of the alternatives to the proposed plan that will be subjected to
an assessment in parallel to the plan to enable the comparative analysis of its impact on the
environment;
A description of the current state of the environment in the area covered by the Local Plan,
including aspects that are likely to be significantly affected and any relevant existing
environmental problems, and an analysis of its likely future condition in the absence of the
proposed plan.
Description and assessment of the likely significant effects of the proposed plan on the
following SEA Directive Factors. For the purposes of this assessment, the factors have been
modified to facilitate a source‐pathway‐receptor method of assessment. The resulting
modification is outlined in Table 1 – SEA Factors.
The effects of the plan will be described and assessed in terms of their duration (short,
medium or long term, and permanent or temporary), their consequence (beneficial or
adverse), their status (direct, indirect or induced) and their capacity to contribute to
cumulative and synergistic impacts. Summaries of these assessments are presented in table
form.
Description of measures that could be taken to prevent, minimise or compensate for any
significant adverse effects that the proposed plan is expected to have on the environment,
and of the steps that should be taken to monitor and report on the actual environmental
performance of the plan when it is implemented.
7 The European Communities Act 1972 (c. 68)
8 The Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004, Statutory Instrument 2004 No. 1633, HM Government,
London.
9 Article 4(3) of the SEA Directive makes explicit reference to avoiding duplication of assessment where a plan or programme forms part of a
hierarchy as is the case with the RBC SCS and its CS DPD.
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