The Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of plans, programs pursues the purpose of ensuring that human activity is compatible with the conditions for sustainable development, and therefore, in accordance with the regenerative capacity of ecosystems and resources, the preservation of biodiversity and an equitable distribution of the benefits related to the business.
The SEA is a process of participatory and integrated assessment of the possible impacts on the environment and the cultural heritage of plans or programs. It pursues the specific purpose of ensuring a high level of protection of the environment and contributing to the integration of environmental considerations into the preparation, adoption and approval of such plans and programs, ensuring that they are consistent and that they contribute to conditions for sustainable development.
At national level, plans and programs that can have significant impacts on the environment and the cultural heritage are subject to SEA, that is:
The activation request form of SEA procedure can be downloaded from the "Forms"section of the Environmental Assessment SEA-EIA website. The administrative and technical documentation forwarded to the Ministry of Ecological Transition must be provided in digital format (3 copies) according to the instructions contained in the " Technical Specifications for the preparation and transmission of SEA and EIA procedure’ documentation in digital format, in line with the legislative Decree 152/2006 and subsequent amendments” which can be downloaded from the "Techinical Specifications and guidelines" section of the website, and on hard copy (1 copy).
A full copy of the technical and administrative proceedings shall also be forwarded to all parties involved. For those recipients is appropriate that the developer contact in advance the individual public administrations, in order to find out any specific procedures for the preparation and transmission of the documentation (field offices, number of copies required and the type of format, soft or hard copy).
To facilitate contacts among the various parties involved, the references of the Directorate for Environmental Assessment of the Ministry of Ecological Transition, the Technical Verification Committee of Environmental Impact - SEA and EIA, the relevant regional structures, the provinces and municipalities are provided on the Environmental Assessment SEA-EIA website - "Contacts" and "Developer Area"sections.
If the plan or programme affects marine areas in whole or in part, in the request form to start the procedure the location must be completed with the name of the marine area concerned, according to the ranges reported in the following figure.
The preliminary report includes a description of the plan or programme and the information and data necessary for the assessment of significant impacts on the environment due to the implementation of the plan or programme, and is designed with reference to the criteria in Annex I to Part II of Legislative Decree 152/2006 and subsequent amendments.
The consultation phase on the preliminary report among the competent authority, the authority concerned and the experts on environmental matters, unless otherwise agreed, has to be concluded within 90 days after the submission of the preliminary report.
The communication of the consultation, in accordance with paragraph 5 of article 13, of Legislative Decree 152/2006, and the simultaneous transmission of the plan/programme proposal, the environmental report and the non-technical summary is forwarded on soft copy and also on hard copy to the Ministry of Ecological Transition:
delivered by hand, by the person or by an individual in charge, every day from Monday to Friday at the Post Office located in Via Cristoforo Colombo 44, -1st floor, open Monday to Friday from 7.00 to 14.40 (all day) - with hand delivery will be issued by the operator seal and date of receipt;
by registered mail with return receipt.
The environmental report, pursuant to article 10, paragraph 3 of the Legislative Decree 152/2006 and subsequent amendments, must also contain the appropriate assessment provided for in Article 5 of the DPR357/97 if the plan or programme, or the possible impacts arising from its implementation, affects even partially and/or indirectly Sites of Community Importance and/or Special Protection Areas, established under Directive 92/43/EEC "Habitats" and Directive 79/409/EEC "Birds" for the establishment of the Natura 2000 network).
The appropriate assessment is substantiated, pursuant to law, with the aspects defined in Annex G of DPR357/1997. About the integration between the two procedures is also given evidence in the notice in the Official Journal of the Italian Republic (see paragraph 2.c of the obligations for the developer).
The non-technical summary of the information enclosed in the environmental report is designed to allow easy understanding by the public of the plan or programme and its possible impacts on the environment. The non-technical summary must be prepared to allow for easy reproduction.
Publicity about the launch of the consultation (Article 14 of Legislative Decree 152/2006 and subsequent amendments)
Concurrently with the above communication the developer/proceeding authority shall arrange for the publication of a notice in the Official Journal of the Italian Republic. The notice must contain the title of the plan or programme proposals, the developer, the proceeding authority, indicating the locations where it can be taken vision of the plan or programme, the environmental report and the non-technical summary.
The developer/proceeding authority, as the competent authority, make available to the public the plan or programme proposals and the environmental report by the deposit at their offices and publishing on their website. From the date of publication run the timing of the preliminary examination and of the assessment
The developer authority may, at any stage of the procedure, ask the Directorate for Environmental Assessments - Division V environmental assessment Systems for the withdrawal of the request for activation of the procedure, which in this case will be closed. Archiving involves the launch of a new procedure if the same developer or other parties are interested in proposing the plan or programme again.
In accordance with the principles of economy and simplicity, the stages of storage, advertising and participation of the plan are coordinated with those of the SEA of the same, in order to avoid duplication and to ensure compliance with the deadline.