The EPA is one of the five environmental authorities specified in the SEA Regulations. We are required to be consulted in all cases at the SEA screening, scoping and environmental report/draft plan stages. Our role as an SEA environmental authority focuses on promoting full integration of the findings of the SEA into the plan and advocating that the key environmental challenges for Ireland are addressed. The EPA's functions as an SEA environmental authority do not include approving or enforcing SEAs or plans.
As a priority, we focus our efforts on reviewing and commenting on key sector plans.
For land use plans at county and local level, we provide a ‘self-service approach’ via our guidance document ‘SEA of Land Use Plans – EPA Recommendations and Resources’. This document is updated regularly.
Where we provide specific comments on plans and programmes, our comments will focus on the EPA's remit and areas of expertise (in particular water, air, climate change, waste, resource efficiency, noise, radon and the inter-relationships between these and other relevant topics e.g. biodiversity), as appropriate and relevant to the particular plan or programme
| The EPA role as an SEA environmental authority | Details |
|---|---|
| SEA Process | A step-by-step guide to the SEA Process |
| SEA Resources and Guidance | Links to the available EPA SEA process guidance resources. |
| SEA Topic and Sector Specific Guidance | Links to the available EPA SEA Topic and Sector Specific Guidance resources. |
| SEA Legislation | The SEA Directive requires that an environmental assessment is carried out of certain plans and programmes which are likely to have significant effects on the environment. Read on for more details of SEA Legislation. |
| SEA Action Plan | Links to various SEA Action Plans |
| Reviews of SEA Effectiveness |
The findings and outputs of reviews into how effectively the SEA Directive has been implemented in Ireland since its transposition in 2004, can be found in this section |
| EC REFIT Evaluation of the SEA Directive | EC REFIT evaluation of the SEA Directive by the European Commission. |
| SEA Statistics | This section provides a summary breakdown of all SEA related notifications received by the EPA. |
| SEA Contacts |
Contact details of the SEA Statutory Authorities |
| SEA Submissions |
EPA Submissions on key SEAs are available here |
