Monitoring, Implementation & Reporting Article 10 of the SEA Directive (2001/42/EC) requires that the significant environmental effects of implementing a plan/programme (the Strategy in this instance) are monitored in order, inter alia , to identify at an early-stage unforeseen adverse effects and to be able to undertake appropriate remedial action. The SEA environmental report should include a description of the measures envisaged concerning monitoring. The Strategy should include a commitment to implement SEA related environmental monitoring requirements and the associated reporting. The Strategy should include a commitment to implement the SEA environmental monitoring programme and associated reporting. We suggest including a separate section on ‘ Monitoring, Implementation and Reporting ’ in the Strategy, setting out the provisions for monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the Strategy. There may be merits in aligning the periodic reviews of the Strategy with existing cyclical reporting e.g. Ireland’s Environment , National Planning Framework , Water Framework Directive, etc. I refer you to the EPA guidance on SEA Statements and Monitoring (EPA, 2020) , and would draw your attention to the high-level monitoring indicators proposed in Table 1 on page 23, that may be useful to you to consider. The SEA-related monitoring should address positive, negative and cumulative effects where they are likely to occur and should include provision for on-going review to facilitate an early response to any unforeseen environmental issues that may arise. The SEA Environmental Report should specify the monitoring frequency and responsibilities and include provisions for reporting on the monitoring.
To avoid duplication in data collection, the same indicators should be used for the strategy-related and SEA-related monitoring aspects where possible.
SEA Statement Following the completion of the public consultation on the SEA environmental report and the Strategy, the final stages of the SEA process will be to integrate the environmental considerations of the SEA environmental report into the Strategy, as appropriate. In accordance with article 16 of the SEA Regulations, Cork City Council is required to publish a SEA Statement alongside the adopted Strategy, summarising: • how environmental considerations have been integrated into the Strategy. • how the environmental report and consultation comments on it have been taken into account; • the reasons for choosing the Strategy as adopted, in the light of the other reasonable alternatives dealt with (in the Environmental Report and the associated consultation); • the measures decided concerning monitoring.
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