< Previous | Contents | Next >

Strategic Environmental Assessment
A Consultation on Proposed Legislative Measures to
Introduce Strategic Environmental Assessment in Scotland

5. LIST OF THE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS RAISED IN SECTION 4

a. The Proposed Regulations

Scope

Q1 To what extent do private companies, carrying out public functions under the control or direction of the Government, develop plans or programmes as defined in the Directive (ie required by legislative, regulatory or administrative means and setting a framework for future development consents)?

Definition of Plans and Programmes

Q2 Are you content with our proposed definition of plan or programme and our view that it is sufficiently robust to close a potential loophole in the Regulations, that might otherwise allow authorities to bypass SEA for certain activities they do not regard as either a plan or a programme even if that activity is required by legislative, regulatory or administrative means and sets a framework for future development consents?

Q3 Is the definition clear enough to ensure the screening process is not overwhelmed with submissions from responsible authorities anxious to ensure that they do not fall foul of the Regulations?

Handling plans and programmes prepared by groups of authorities

Q4 What are your views on the assumption that the likely number of groupings of responsible authorities which would be developing plans or programmes within the scope of the Directive is small?

Q5 What views do you have on the proposed mechanism for identifying a lead authority in such cases and what proposals do you have for alternative mechanisms?

The screening process

Q6 What are your views on the proposed screening process described in paragraphs 4.11 to 4.13 above?

Q7 What are your views on the alternative approaches described in paragraph 4.14 above?

Q8 What other alternatives do you suggest for a screening process?

Q9 Will each consultation authority need to establish a specialised unit to respond to SEA demands?

Q10 Does the case-by-case approach to screening offer the most practical method of screening or would listing the types of plans and programmes to be screened be more effective?

Q11 What is the likely impact of the case-by-case approach to screening on the responsible authorities and on the consultation authorities?

Q12 What are your views on the approach described in paragraphs 4.18 and 4.19 above for the responsible authorities to engage with the screening process?

Q13 Is 28 days a suitable time period for the consultation authorities to process an SEA screening report?

Q14 Should the responsible authority have to resubmit to screening if it does not pursue a plan within a certain time period and/or if external factors affecting the plan change significantly?

The role of the Scottish Ministers

Q15 Are the processes described sufficient to allow Scottish Ministers to deal with disagreements about the need for SEA in respect of plans or programmes prepared by the Scottish Executive or its agencies on behalf of the Scottish Ministers themselves?

Environmental assessment

Q16 Is any additional guidance necessary on any aspect of Annex I to the Directive?

Q17 Are the measures described in paragraph 4.27 sufficient to ensure the quality of environmental reports?

Q18 What remedial measures should be taken if an environmental report is considered not to be of sufficient quality?

The point by which assessment should be carried out

Q19 Is it necessary to define "adoption" and/or "submission to the legislative procedure" in the draft Regulations? If so, how those terms might best be defined?

Q20 Should the Regulations specify that the consideration of plans and programmes, and the opinions expressed on them, during the legislative process are not subject to Article 8 of the Directive?

Avoiding duplication of assessment

Q21 To what degree might a less detailed SEA be carried out on a plan or programme because the same subject matter is already subject to SEA at another level?

Q22 Should any time limit be set for the use of information procured as part of an earlier SEA?

Q23 Should provisions be introduced to provide a check on the value of information procured as part of an earlier SEA, or do the consultation mechanisms in place already provide a sufficient control mechanism?

The list of consultation authorities

Q24 Who should the consultation authorities be for the purposes of the draft Regulations?

Q25 Should the Regulations specifically list the consultation authorities or simply provide that the Scottish Ministers determine the relevant consultation authorities on a case-by-case basis?

Q26 Should all those on any list be involved in every case, or should the Regulations provide for relevant consultation authorities to be consulted — if the latter, how should relevant consultation authorities be selected; should there be a requirement to consult the Scottish Ministers and SEPA in all cases?

The definition of the "public"

Q27 What views do you have on the proposal to define "public" in the Regulations in broad terms?

Q28 What mechanisms do you suggest for making plans and programmes and environmental reports available to the public?

Q29 Should any mechanisms for making plans and programmes available to the public be specified in the Regulations; should the Regulations leave this to the responsible authorities; or should the Regulations include a menu from which the responsible authorities must select the most appropriate mechanism?

Timescale for consultation

Q30 What are your views on the proposal for a period of a minimum of 28 days and of sufficient length to allow consultees to express their opinions?

Monitoring

Q31 Do the proposals for monitoring fully meet the Directive’s requirements?

Q32 Should the Regulations provide for the Scottish Ministers to determine the monitoring methods to be used in specific cases, if they do not consider the measures proposed by the responsible authority to be sufficiently robust?

Implementation and entry into force

Q33 Is it necessary to define "first formal preparatory act"?

b) The Proposed Bill

The definition of "strategies"

Q34 What is your view of the proposed definition?

Q35 What will be the likely extent of the Bill if that definition of strategies were to stand (eg how many voluntary strategies, plans and programmes might fall within its scope?)

Q36 Are any modifications required to the criteria in Annex II to the Directive?

The application of the screening process

Q37 Do you agree that the screening process described in paragraphs 4.11 to 4.13 above is generally applicable to strategies, plans and programmes outwith the scope of the Directive?

Q38 What are your views on whether a pre-screening process as described in paragraphs 4.59 and 4.60 above is desirable?

Q39 What are the potential implications of separate regimes for plans and programmes within the scope of the Directive and wider strategies, plans and programmes within the context of the Partnership Agreement?

The impact on private companies carrying out public functions under the control or direction of the Government

Q40 Should such companies be subject to the provisions of the Bill?

Q41 What is the likely number of strategies, plans and programmes to which the Bill might apply if its provisions extent to such companies?

Whether to modify Annex I and II to the Directive

Q42 What are your views on whether modifications are necessary, and on the proposal to create an enabling provision in the Bill for future modifications?

Whether socio-economic factors should be taken into account in the preparation of environmental reports

Q 43 Do you agree with the approach set out in Paragraph 4.66 that notwithstanding the importance of socio-economic factors in reaching final implementation decisions, the SEA report should only contain environmental factors?

Possible additional exemptions

Q44 Should the Bill enable the Scottish Ministers to make additional exemptions?

Q45 Should the Bill should go further than enabling provisions and list those organisations whose strategies, plans and programmes are exempt from the wider SEA requirement (but not from the requirements of the Directive)?

Q46 Which organisations might sensibly be exempted from the wider provisions of the Bill?

Likely numbers of strategies, plans and programmes to be subject to SEA and the likely costs

Q47 What are your views the Scottish Executive’s estimate of resource impact based on the likely annual numbers of plans and programmes within the scope of the Directive that might require SEA, and the associated costs to the responsible authorities (including private companies carrying out public functions) of preparing such SEAs?

Q48 What are the likely additional annual numbers of strategies, plans and programmes within the scope of the Bill that might require SEA, and the associated costs to the responsible authorities (including private companies carrying out public functions) of preparing such SEAs?

Q49 What are the likely costs, for each consultation authority, of the screening and other consultation processes under the provisions of the Directive and the Bill?

Q50 What are the likely costs, for each non-governmental organisation with a particular interest in environmental protection, of the public consultation process under the provisions of the Directive and the Bill?

< Previous | Contents | Next >