C7.5 Strategic Environmental Assessment Process
The SEA process is similar to that of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in that it is of an iterative nature. The steps within an SEA should be completed as a series of feedback loops, allowing the development proposal to be amended and improved.
The Directive does not prescribe who is to carry out an SEA, but it is normally the task of the Responsible Authority.
Responsible Authority
This is the body which prepares and/or adopts the plan or programme.
The SEA process is demonstrated in the diagram below:
Source: “A Practical Guide to the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive”;
Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly Government, Department of the Environment, Northern Ireland, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister: London, September 2005
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