SEA IN THE CONTEXT OF LANDTUSE PLANNING

Housing and Planning has argued that the work carried out at the municipal level in Swedenwith regard to environmental assessment is on even in some instances further advanced thanthe requirements in the EU directive (Johannesson 2002). This relates both to theimplementation of the existing requirements for impact assessment in the Planning andBuilding Act, as well as the voluntary initiatives on SEA carried out by the municipalitiesthemselves.With regard to the contents of the impact assessment, a pilot study carried out byBjarnadóttir and Åkerskog (2003) in 6 Swedish municipalities on the integration of impactassessment in comprehensive municipal planning showed that in most of the municipalities abroader assessment was carried out, including not only environmental aspects, oftenaddressing both economic and social aspects on an equal basis with strong focus onsustainability (Bjarnadóttir and Åkerskog, 2003). According to Lerman (1997) therequirements for impact assessment may best be described as an attempt to integrate differenttypes of impact assessments, in order to give a broad base for decision-making. Meanwhile,concerns are raised that the scope of the impact analysis is too broad and the results toogeneral, and thus not particularly useful for decision-making purposes (Emmelin 1997).Furthermore, voices have been raised that the requirements are probably aimed at a widerframework than that given by the planning and building legislation (Käärik and Svensson1999, Boverket, Naturvårdsverket 2000).4.6 The national planning frameworkAlthough the legal transposition of the directive occurs in the framework of the SwedishEnvironmental Code, relevant changes are made in other legislations and most notably thePlanning and Building Act. When discussing the relation between the SEA implementationinto the national legal system and spatial planning, some fundamental aspects of the Swedishplanning system are highlighted to enable understanding of the preconditions for land useplanning.The need to incorporate SEA into the Swedish land-use planning system was recognisedin 1979 in the first draft of the 1987 PBA (Hilding-Rydevik and Fundingsland 2005) and abroad and compulsory demand for an EIS in several sectors including spatial planning wasestablished in 1991 (Emmelin and Lerman 2005). However, no screening or scopingrequirements were presented, with the only criterion for the document that it should makepossible an overall assessment of the impact on health, environment and management ofresources (Emmelin and Lerman 2005). Procedures for scoping and specification for thecontents of the EIS were regulated in the PBA in 1998 and the methods for impact andenvironmental assessment have been developed in the context of municipal planning duringthe last decade. Provisions for EA of spatial plans at the municipal level, both for detaileddevelopment plans and municipal comprehensive plans have thus existed in Sweden prior tothe implementation of the SEA directive, but not at higher, strategic levels of spatial planningwhich corresponds with the structure of the Swedish planning system. With regard to theimplementation of the SEA directive within the framework of the Planning and Building Act,the requirements still only apply to municipal comprehensive plans (översiktsplaner) anddetailed development plans (detaljplaner).4.6.1 An overview of the Swedish planning systemLegal basisThe legal basis for the land use planning system is provided in the Planning and Building Act(PBA) that was first introduced in 1987, replacing the Building Act of 1947. The role of themunicipalities in land use planning was reinforced by the introduction of the PBA in 1987,53