ABSTRACT
Since its inception in the early 1970s, EA has been largely applied to project authorisation and therefore occurred late in the planning process. Despite the utility of project-level EA, such as improvements in project design and planning, there have been deficiencies which arise from focusing only at this level of the planning process. Examples of difficulties include the assessment of indirect and cumulative impacts and a lack of detailed analysis of project alternatives because they were ruled out at an early stage of planning. Sustainable development objectives cannot be achieved through this piecemeal approach to EA and there is a growing recognition that EA could be used to greater advantage if it were utilised earlier than in the project proposal stage, that is, in the evaluation of the likely significant environmental consequences of a policy, plan and programme. This process has been variously described as strategic environmental assessment (SEA), environmental appraisal and programmatic EA.
