SEA IN THE CONTEXT OF LANDTUSE PLANNING

despite the committee’s suggestion that the same term should also be used for the EIA andSEA processes, the this suggestion was not included in the final legal implementation 11 .On the basis of the limited review of the application of the impact assessmentrequirements in the municipal plans it can be concluded that the implementation of the SEAdirective will require some changes from current planning practice. The review illustrates thatalthough examples of the requirements listed in the SEA directive are already beingundertaken on a voluntary basis, the practice of impact assessment differs greatly between themunicipalities. According to a review made by Åkerskog (2006) of the application of SEA inmunicipal comprehensive planning carried out according to requirements in 1997, theapplication hitherto are lacking with regard to definition, scope, integration into the planningprocess, inclusion in the public consultation and exhibition, inclusion of alternative,consideration of indirect and cumulative effects. According to Åkerskog vague formulation inthe legal texts have caused the planners to miss the importance of this part of the planningprocess. Likewise the importance of including impact assessment in the consultation processhas largely failed, as well as the consideration of indirect and cumulative effects. However,there are some examples of the presentation of alternatives and delimitation of the impactassessment, but with regard to the overall aim of leading to more strategic planning andconsideration of environmental issues early in the process the objectives were not fulfilled.Finally, the substantial responsibility is given to the municipal level with regard to themanagement of environmental and planning issues with limited control and supervision fromthe national level. The non-existence of a regional planning level further strengthens theautonomy of the municipal level, which is likely to be an issue with regard to theimplementation of the SEA directive. However, with the increasing criticism of the status andthe role of municipal comprehensive planning as a tool to control land use and present theauthorities’ strategy with regard to development of the municipality and the low level ofrevision of the plan can question the actual potential of municipal comprehensive plans as atool to fulfil the aims of providing for a high level of protection of the environment andpromoting sustainable development as intended in the aims of the EU directive 2001/42/EC(and hence the potential effects of the strategic environmental assessment can be questioned).4.9 Issues for further studyWith regard to the aspects that have been carried out at the national level, most of the studieshave focused on developing a methodology and guidelines for the implementation of SEA.From a research point of view, the empirical basis and the theoretical aspects are relativelyundeveloped. Furthermore, the experience of the existing requirements on ImpactAssessment in municipal planning has not been followed up systematically. In order to gain afuller understanding of the conclusions drawn out above further research is needed todetermine whether the trends identified in the study are correct, and to get morecomprehensive answers to the questions raised at the beginning of the study. This includesmore thorough research with regard to both the number of plans reviewed as well as a moredetailed examination of the specific aspects of the SEA process. Issues that would beinteresting to study in more detail during the later stages of the work include how theenvironmental aspects were integrated into the planning work, as well as the participants’experiences and their views on the purpose and usefulness of the work. Furthermore, themethods used for the analysis and presentation of the facts needs to be studied in more detail.Finally, aspects of public participation were not dealt with during this part of the study, norwas the issue of tiering or the connection to the requirements presented in detail planning.11 EIA: Miljökonsekvensbeskrivning, SEA: Miljöbedömning63