| With information from the previous steps, all possible options and alternative means for the PPPs should be listed out for preliminary consideration, refinement and evaluation.
In the evaluation process, key environmental implications of the options and alternatives under different scenarios, in particular the “worst-case” scenario should be identified and examined. The issues and consequences of the ‘do-nothing’ scenario should also be identified, serving as a benchmark for evaluation. Those options and alternatives found to be environmentally infeasible or unacceptable should then be eliminated.
Environmental implications cover both direct and indirect, as well as cumulative impacts on the environment and environmental sustainability issues. Specific environmental concerns such as environmentally undesirable features and problematic areas should be highlighted. Depending on the scope of the PPPs, considerations might include economic and social sustainability. After the evaluation, the environmental performance of the options and/ or alternatives should be presented clearly to illustrate the possible extent and scale of their impacts. The objective is to discard options with environmental demerits and bring forward those options with merits. The objectives of the PPPs as set out in Step 1 should be constantly reviewed. The purpose is to see whether the objectives should be adjusted to achieve better environmental performance of the options and/ or alternatives. The assumptions set behind the objectives of the PPPs should also be re-evaluated to ascertain they are reasonable and valid. If this is not the case, adjustments have to be made to avoid causing environmental damages as a result of implementing a PPP with unrealistic objectives and policy assumptions. In the event that the objectives or assumptions are changed, the previous SEA steps taken should be reviewed to determine if corresponding changes are required. It is important to bear in mind that alternative identifications should not be limited by the existing policies (e.g. the existing land-use policies). If necessary, it is possible to identify and highlight new policies required along with options identified to substantiate that long-term impacts resulting from the options are preferable. After all, SEA would help to facilitate the formulation of balanced policies and at PPP level, very often the mitigation measures are indeed policy actions such as a new environmental policy to counteract the potential adverse impacts as a result of the implementation of the proposed PPP.
http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/eia_planning/sea/ebook1_7.html
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“The predicted environmental impacts ….. highlight concerns on the long-term sustainability. The many environmental issues brought out by the SEA clearly point to the need to develop a strategic sustainability framework …..” |
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(Page 91, TDSR Final Executive Report)
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“The Strategic Environmental Assessment Study ….. reinforces the need to pursue a range of policy issues to reduce or avoid adverse environmental impacts, and re-examine ….. the present development strategies…..” |
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(ACE Paper July 1996)
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Learning Points:
- Unacceptable options discarded at early stage
- Focus on cumulative impacts and tiers of sustainability issues
- Identify areas requiring policy change & linkages with other sectoral policies
http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/eia_planning/sea/waste_disposal_sites.html
Following the elimination of “Areas of Absolute Exclusion” and other ecologically sensitive areas, a long list of potentially available sites in Hong Kong of the required size were identified which include extension of existing landfills, new marine-based and land-based sites. The long-listed sites were then assessed at a broad-brush level against a number of strategic evaluation criteria including water quality, visual impacts, ecology, air and noise etc; and after the assessment, 15 sites were short listed for further study.
As mentioned before, SEA is not a one-way process so the option identification process is not just aimed at identifying possible options following the procedures described above but also makes considerations to the following areas:
- Justifications on the needs of the project, including forecasts for waste quantities
- Information on the overall waste planning, waste reduction and disposal strategies
- Consideration of different landfill technologies, handling alternatives etc.
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