Hi,
IMPACT has recently been looking at the relationships between SEA and HIA.
My initial thoughts in relation to SEA are as follows.
1) It is a legal requirement of the SEA directive that health is
considered. The SEA Directive identifies the human health at three points:
Page one of the directive (1) in describing its purpose states:
that the directive should 'contribute to, inter alia, the preservation,
protection and improvement of the quality of the environment, the
protection of human health'
Annex 1 of the directive - which lays out the scoping and assessment
procedure (a-e and f to j respectively) identifies, under (f), that the
issue of human health must be considered.
Annex 2 (additional help for judging effects) mentions risks to human
health, for example accidents.
However, health is not defined, nor is the depth/level to which it should
be considered.
2) SEA itself should be carried out on all 'plans and programmes'....'which
are subject to preparation and/or adoption by an authority at national,
regional or local level'..... 'which are required by legislative,
regulatory or administrative provisions'.
i.e. SEA is applicable to all 'required' plans and strategies that
developed/adopted by authorities, including, for example, local planning
authorities and PCTs. An example of 'required' plans (within the planning
sector) are those that are identified within the Town Planning and
Compulsary Purchase Act 2004. We are currently mapping the applicability
of SEA to planning and some other areas.
3)SA guidance (just out - we have not looked at this yet in detail)
mentions HIA as a possible element of SA.
Planning to submit an abstract to the HIA conference on SEA and HIA - so
more to follow.
Hope this helps a little, kind regards, Andy.
--On 09 November 2005 10:36 +0000 Jayne Parry <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> What are people's perspectives on the present situation with regard to
> statutory requirements to do HIA in various countries? (How) have things
> changed recently - especially in England and the rest of the UK. How do
> things link in with SEA?
>
> I ask because a student pushed me on these issues in a recent MPH
> tutorial and I found myself getting into a bit of a muddle. Any answers
> that throw light on this topic would be most welcome.
>
> Many thanks
>
> Jayne Parry
> University of Birmingham, UK.
>
>
Andrew J Pennington
Research Associate
IMPACT
International Health Impact Assessment Consortium
Department of Public Health
Whelan Building
University of Liverpool
Liverpool
L69 3GB
UK
|