UCD Centre for Safety and Health at Work

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Assessment Title Page
Student Name

Michael OFlynn

Student Number

16205495

Assessment No / Title OSH40160 / WIKI

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Assessment Word Count 1584

OSH 40160
Module Code
Module Title

Environmental Legislation and Regulation

Module Co-ordinator

Dr. Conor Buggy

Tutor (if applicable)

Date Due

18/11/16

Date Submitted

17/11/16

Grade/Mark
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Assignment Topic - Directive 2001/42/EC of

the European Parliament and of the council of
27 June 2001

Table of Contents
1.0

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) - Regulatory Framework.....3

2.0

Nature of Law (Statute Law, Civil and Criminal Law)..............................5

2.1

Statute Law..........................................................................................5

2.2

Civil Law...............................................................................................5

3.0

Scientific Evidence Justifying Directive 2001/42/EC................................6

4.0

How Organisations Comply With Directive 2001/42/EC..........................7

4.1

Screening.............................................................................................7

4.2

Scoping................................................................................................7

4.3

Documentation.....................................................................................7

4.4

Consultation.........................................................................................7

4.5

Decision Making...................................................................................7

4.6

Monitoring............................................................................................7

5.0 Civil and Criminal Penalties for Non-Compliance with Directive

2001/42/EC......................................................................................................8
6.0

Responsibility for Directive 2001/42/EC at National Level (in Ireland)....9

1.0 Strategic
Environmental
Regulatory Framework

Assessment

(SEA)

Article 174 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (Nice)

provides that Community policy on the environment is to contribute to,
inter alia, the preservation, protection and improvement of the quality
of the environment, the protection of human health and the prudent
and rational utilisation of natural resources and that it is to be based
on the precautionary principle. Article 6 of the Treaty provides that
environmental protection requirements are to be integrated into the
definition of Community policies and activities, in particular with a view
to promoting sustainable development.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/ALL/?uri=CELEX:32001L0042

The SEA Directive 2001/42/EC of the European parliament and of the

Council of 27th June 2001 and is binding on each member state of the
EU. The SEA Directive 2001/42/EC applies to a wide variety of public
plans and programmes. SEA is the assessment of the likely significant
effects on the environment of certain plans and programs. The SEA
Directive does not have a list of plans / programmes similar to the
Environmental
Impact
Assessment
(EIA)
however
an
SEA
is mandatory for plans / programmes which are:
Prepared for agriculture, forestry, fisheries, energy, industry,
transport, waste/ water management, telecommunications,
tourism, town & country planning or land use and which set the
framework for future development consent of projects listed in
the EIA Directive.
Or
Have been determined
the Habitats Directive.

to

require

an

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eia/sea-legalcontext.htm

assessment

under

The main steps in the SEA Procedure are illustrated in figure 1 below;

Figure 1 SEA Procedure http://envirocentre.ie/Content.aspx?ID=dfb2b52a-a140-4bbbbe40-aab1abc2c7b2&PID=518accea-eec4-4cdf-b034-78ce58eacb4d

2.0 Nature of Law (Statute Law, Civil and Criminal Law)

2.1

Statute Law
As it is up to national authorities as to how they achieve compliance
with the 2001/42/EC Directive, in Ireland the SEA Directive was
implemented into Irish Law in SI 435 of 2004 European Communities
(environmental Assessment of certain Plans and Programmes)
Regulation 2004 and SI 436 of 2004 Planning and Development
(Strategic Environmental Assessment) Regulation 2004. These
Regulations were amended by two Regulations in 2011, SI 100 of 2011
European Communities (Environmental Assessment of certain plans
and programmes) (Amendment) Regulation 2011 and SI 201 of 2011
Planning and Development (Strategic and Environmental Assessment)
(Amendment) Regulations 2011 (SEA Regulations).
Under section (7A) (a) (b) (ii) of the Planning and Development Act
2000 to 2015 where a project is likely to have significant effects on the
environment (within the meaning of Annex II of Directive 2001/42/EC)
or on a European site (that i.e.: a special area of conservation or a
special protection area) then it shall require the relevant planning
authority to undertake a SEA or an Appropriate Assessment or both
such assessments, as the case may be, in relation to the making of the
proposed modification. The Department of the Environment circular
(PSSP6/2011) which issued in July 2011 also called for Further
transposition of EU directive 2011/42/EC and Strategic Environmental
Assessment (SEA) into Irish Law.
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2015/act/63/enacted/en/pdf

2.2

Civil Law
EU directives are not Common Law but rather Civil Law where
comprehensive codes are enacted by legislators that try to envisage
every possible legal contingency, case law is not as significant.

3.0 Scientific Evidence Justifying Directive 2001/42/EC

Ecological principles are of particular importance when conducting
environmental
assessments and considering biological diversity,
flora and fauna in SEA, EIA and AA. While biodiversity, flora and fauna
are individual topics to be addressed in SEA, they are numerous
interrelationships with other topics such as water, human health,
landscape, soils, air and climate.
Precautionary Principle: The precautionary principle in essence is
about determining risk and taking preventative action, in order to
protect the environment.
It is fundamental to SEA and other
environmental protection legislation (EC (Europa), 201135) and must
be considered if potentially adverse environmental effects are
identified through an evaluation of available scientific data or if there is
sufficient scientific uncertainty.
http://www.epa.ie/pubs/consultation/manual/draft_SEA_manual_part2.pdf

Climate change (increases in temperature, changes in precipitation

and decreases in ice and snow) is occurring globally and in Europe;
some of the observed changes have established records in recent
years. Observed climate change has already led to a wide range of
impacts on environmental systems and society; further climate change
impacts are projected for the future.
Climate change can increase existing vulnerabilities and deepen socioeconomic imbalances in Europe. Damage costs from natural disasters
have increased; the contribution of climate change to these costs is
projected to increase in the future. The combined impacts of projected
climate and socio-economic development can lead to high costs; these
can be reduced significantly by mitigation and adaption actions. The
causes of the most costly climate impacts are projected to differ
strongly across Europe.
http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/climate-impacts-andvulnerability-2012

4.0 How
Organisations
2001/42/EC

Comply

With

Directive

To comply with the 2001/42/EC Directive Organisations must prepare

an environmental report to identify, describe and evaluate the likely
significant environmental effects of implementing the plan or
programme and any reasonable alternatives taking into account the
objectives of the geographical scope of the plan or programme, as part
of the decision making process, the relevant environmental authority
and the public should be consulted and their views should be taken
into account during the preparation of the plan or programme before
its adaption or submission.
There are six steps in carrying out a SEA as set out in sections 4.1 to
4.6 below;

4.1

Screening
Article 9(1) and 9(2) of the SEA Regulations set our when an
Environmental assessment shall be carried out, in the screening
process a brief outline of the plan or programme (or modification) is set
out including relevant background information and the geographical
information.

4.2

Scoping
The scoping provisions are detailed in Article 9(3) and 9(4) of the SEA
Regulations include for the evaluation of the scope and the level of
detail of the information to be contained in the environmental report.

4.3

Documentation
The preparation of documentation is required under Article 9(11) of the
SEA Regulations, this article requires the preparation of an
Environmental Report.

4.4

Consultation
The carrying out of consultations with the environmental authorities
and the public including the integration of environmental
considerations.

4.5

Decision Making
The publication of information on the decision (an SEA statement).

4.6

Monitoring

Articles 9(1) and (2) of the regulations state when a SEA should be
carried out.

http://www.epa.ie/monitoringassessment/assessment/sea/

5.0 Civil and Criminal Penalties for Non-Compliance with

Directive 2001/42/EC
Article 13(1) of the 2001/42/EC Directive states that Member states
shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative
provisions necessary to comply with this Directive before 21 July 2014.
They shall forthwith inform the commission thereof.
https://www.epa.ie/pubs/legislation/sea/EPA_
%20towards_assessment_benchmarking_across_europe.pdf

Article 226 of the European Community Treaty gives the Commission

powers to take legal action against a Member State that is not
respecting its obligations. The European Commission is taking Ireland
back to the European Court of Justice, with the possibility of fines, for
failing to implement an earlier ruling on quality standards for shellfish
waters on the Irish coast. The Commission proposes to ask the Court
to impose a lump-sum fine of over 3.8 million and a daily penalty
payment of nearly 40,000. However, because Ireland has announced
that it is finalising measures to comply with the judgment, the
Commission proposes deferring this legal action for three months to
allow the Irish authorities to complete the necessary steps. In a
separate case, the Commission is sending Ireland a final written
warning for allowing changes to development plans without requiring a
strategic
environmental
assessment
(SEA).
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-09-1647_en.htm?locale=en
Ireland fined 3.5m for failing to comply with environmental law Ireland has been fined 3.5m by the European Court of Justice for
failing to comply with environmental law. In two judgements the Court
of Justice of the European Union ruled that Ireland has to pay financial
penalties for failure to comply with earlier Court judgments that
established a breach of EU environmental law. The cases relate to

Irelands failure to regulate septic tanks, and to correctly transpose an

EU Directive on environmental impact assessments.
In the case of Kavanagh-v-Government of Ireland, [2007] IEHC 290
which is the only Irish case on SEA, Justice Smith stated that a plan is a
framework against which decisions are made concerning development
consent.
http://ie.vlex.com/vid/kavanagh-v-ireland-ors-56491516
The polluter pays principle is well established in the EU, but if there is a
polluter that means that ecological damage has already taken place
and prevention is no longer any use. A SEA identifies, describes and
evaluates the likely significant environmental effects of implementing a
plan or programme and any reasonable alternative, relevant
environmental authorities and the public should be consulted and their
views taken into account. With correct implementation of the SEA
directive the EU want to prevent or limit the incidence of pollution and
environmental damage. Implementation of all EU directives is overseen
by the EU Commission.
The following web page gives a list of cases where EU member states
have been fined for noncompliance with EU directives.
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/legal/law/press_en.htm

6.0 Responsibility for Directive 2001/42/EC at National

Level (in Ireland)
Ireland has a well-developed system of environmental legislation,
much of which is based on EU directives. Environmental legislation is
principally administered and enforced by the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), regional/local authorities throughout Ireland and the
Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government
(Minister). The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) is the competent
authority for implementation of the European Communities (Major
Accident Hazards of Certain Industrial Activities) Regulations (1986
1992) (COMAH), and the Radiological Institute of Ireland enforces
legislation in relation to protecting the environment from Ionising
Radiation. In relation to water pollution, harbour authorities around
Ireland and regional fisheries boards also have enforcement roles.
https://www.algoodbody.com/media/A%20Guide%20to%20Environment
%20Law%20in%20Ireland.pdf

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