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Difference between a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
In terms of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA), two different but legally equivalent routes towards the authorisation of a project are possible. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) considers a project impact within a specific geographic area with fixed information on the project location and design.
A Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a more flexible but nevertheless rigorous process more appropriate for a project such as the SKA_MD. An SEA is an integrated assessment of regional accumulative impact and is used to enable the development of a sustainability framework to inform continuous decision-making over a period. An SEA follows the same principles as an EIA where the focus is on combining environmental, social and economic considerations. An SEA has the potential to promote an integrated system of planning that incorporates sustainability objectives throughout the planning process.
The SKA project in South Africa has been recognised as a national priority which reports to the Presidential Infrastructure Coordination Council as a Strategic Integrated Project (SIP). The cumulative environmental impacts of the SKA project are assessed by the National Department of Environmental Affairs through the SEA to ensure legislative compliance with the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA). The National Research Foundation (NRF – the overarching legal entity that includes the South African SKA business unit) is responsible for implementing the management outcomes of the Integrated Environmental Management Plan (IEMP) which has been developed as part of the SEA.
This includes the implementation of the minimum requirements for construction and operation of the SKA; the environmental principles and environmental management outcomes; mitigation actions and a long-term environmental research and monitoring programme to be implemented by the SKA site.
Differences of emphasis between legally equivalent SEA and EIA processes are summarised in the table below.
EIA | SEA |
Is reactive to a development proposal | Is pro-active and informs development proposals |
Is used to assess the effect of a proposed development on the environment and socio-economic conditions | Is used to assess the effect of an existing environmental and socio-economic conditions on development opportunities and constraints |
Relates to a specific project | Relates to areas, regions or sectors of development |
Enables the identification of project-specific impacts | Enables the development of a framework against which positive and negative impacts can be measured |
Has a well-defined beginning and end and focuses on informing a specific decision at a particular point | Is a process aimed at the development of a sustainability framework to inform continuous decision-making over a period of time |
Is focused on the mitigation of negative impacts and the enhancement of positive impacts | Is focused on maintaining a chosen level of environmental quality and socio-economic conditions (e.g., through the identification of sustainable objectives and limits of acceptable change) |
Has a narrow perspective and induce a high level of detail | Has a wide perspective and includes a low level of detail to provide a vision and overall framework |