Introducing the SEA System: Interview with EPA Department of Planning

摘要

The first strategic environmental assessment (SEA) system originated in 1970 with the US' National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and was the main purpose behind implementation of that act. NEPA stipulates that all federal and state government legislation, mandates, rules, treaties and official plans or special policy programs should undergo strategic environmental assessment. Since then, numerous other countries including Holland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Canada, and New Zealand have successively implemented similar systems to assess the environmental impact of government policy. The SEA system provides a systematic and comprehensive framework for assessing the environmental impact of policies, plans and programs (PPP). SEAs are unique in that they bring potential environmental impacts into consideration at the early stages of each department's policy drafting process. The comprehensive nature of the SEA system helps overcome the limitations of assessing individual development activities, allowing reflection on accumulative environmental impacts from a holistic perspective.