Canada
From SEA.unu.edu/wiki
The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) Website is the prime site for information on SEA in Canada. Addition information is given below.
Eileen McGrath
Contents |
Regulations and Guidelines
A two-tier system operates in Canada: project EIA mandated by legislation and SEA based on administrative orders or Cabinet decisions.
Early guidance on Canada's Environment Assessment and Review Process (established in 1973) directed federal agencies 'to ensure that environmental effects are taken into account early in the planning of new federal projects, programmes and activities'. The earliest case of this was in the early 1970s with the Mac Kenzie Valley Pipeline inquiry (1974-77).
In 1990, the Cabinet Directive established The provision for policy EA. This was part of a comprehensive proposal to reform the federal Environmental Assessment and Review Process (EARP, which was replaced in 1995 by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act). Earlier SEAs of policies and programmes were generally patterned after project EIA.
The Directive requires all federal departments and agencies tsubmitting policy and programme proposals for Cabinet consideration to consider and document their potential effects. There are no formal requirements for the SEA procedure, guidelines only. Individual Ministers are responsible for assessment of the proposals generated in their departments and agencies
In 1995, the Canadian International Agency produced a draft guide for assessment of its policy and programme initiatives. This has been updated since to The 1999 Cabinet Directive on the Environmental Assessment of Policy, Plan and Program Proposal.
CEAA (Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency) is nominally responsible for administering the SEA process. Except for in Nova Scotia, Canadian provinces do not have a comparable system, although several have elements of SEA.
Federal departments and agencies are required to
- Take account of the potential environmental effects of policy and program proposals submitted for Cabinet consideration. For an effective integration of environmentally considerations in the development process, appropriate environmental authorities must be fully engaged in both the SEA process (particularly during scoping and reviewing) and the development of the programme, plan or policy.
- To outline in memoranda to Cabinet and other relevant documents the environmental effects.
- Prepare a public statement demonstrating that environmental factors have been integrated into the decisions making process.
- Consult with the public, when appropriate. Public participation is essential for the quality of the SEA process and should be an integrative part of the SEA procedure, with certain exemptions for reasons of confidentiality i.e. defence.
Stages of SEA
The Report of UNECE Task Force on Application of EIA to Policies, Plans and Programmes recommended that SEA procedures should as much as possible reflect the principles of EIA. Specific recommendations were directed at 7 procedural elements.
* initiation, * screening/scoping* * outside review, * public participation, * documentation and information, * decision-making, * post decision analysis.
(*Screening involves the use of a checklist or equivalent device to identify whether a proposal is likely to have potential environmental effects. Scoping focuses on important issues and determines the process for addressing them).
The SEA process is based on a number of principles that are to make it flexible.
* self assessment, by the initiating Minister * separate from project EIA, therefore requiring different approaches and methods * discretion and flexibility, using approaches and procedures suited to the agency's needs * level of effort, the scope and content of policy EA should be proportional to the magnitude of the potential environmental effects identified, i.e. no more and no less than required.
(Source: LeBlanc and Fisher, 1994)
Evaluation
Case Studies Canada
Further Reading
Books
Gariepy, M. (1997) "L'evaluation environnementale 'a la Quebecoise' dans le deploiement du reseau d'infrastructures d'Hydro-Quebec", in M. Gariepy and M. Marie, Ces reseaux qui nous gouvernent?, L'Harmattan, Montreal.
Petts, J. (1990) Handbook of Environmental Impact Assessment, Wiley
Sadler, B and R. Verheem (1996) Strategic Environmental Assesment: Status, Challenges and Future Directions, Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environmental, the Hague, Netherlands
Therivel, R and M.R. Partidario (1996) The Practice of Strategic Environmental Assessment, Earthscan, London.
Internet
EIA Newsletter 14, http://www.art.man.ac.uk/eia/NL14SEA.htm
SEA Newsletter13, http://www.art.man.ac.uk/eia/Lf13.htm
SEA & Canada, http://www.ceaa.gc.ca/act/sea_e.htm
Sustainability and SEA, http://www.art.man.ac.uk/eia/NL18sadl.htm
Sustainability, SEA and Shell Canada, http://www.art.man.ac.uk/eiaNL18oil.htm
Canadian Environmental Agency, http://www.ceaa.gc.ca/agency/agency_e.htm
1999 Cabinet Directive, http://www.ceaa.gc.ca/act/dir_e.htm
Cabinet Directive Guidelines, http://www.ceaa.gc.ca/act/dir_e.htm#Guidelines
