TOPICS㻌

Proposed Amendment ofEnvironmental Assessment Lawand Response to the SEA(Strategic EnvironmentalAssessment)

SONE Shinri, HeadINOUE Ryuji, Senior Researcher
YAMAMOTO Yuichiro, Researcher
ANDO Shingo, Guest Researcher
Road Environment Division, Environment Department(Key words) Environmental Impact Assessment Law, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), concept stage
PI, post-survey

Concept stage

already taking actions equivalent to SEA at thepublic involvement (PI) phase of the stage when theapproximate location and scale of the project aredecided (concept stage). Through the concept stagePI, it is important to comprehensively makejudgments from the environmental, social,economic, and various other perspectives, and toflexibly communicate smoothly with the residents
and other concerned parties.
[Concept Stage PI] Comprehensive assessment of the economy, society, and the environmen
S [Environmental Consideration Statement]
E
A
Determining plans (location, scale, etc.)[Scoping document]
Electronic
inspectionComments ofExplanatory
residents and themeetingElectronic[Draft environmental impact statement]
inspection

Explanatory
Comments of residentsmeetingand the governor[Environmental impact statement]Supplementing Environmental
Electronic
impact statement
inspectionImplementation of the project and environmental conservation measuresPost- survey reportFigure 1. Flow Chart After Revision of theEnvironmental Impact Assessment Law (New steps
shown in red)
assessment of environmental aspect

Comments of the Minister of the Environmentand competent cabinet ministers

Existing assessment procedures(EIA)

Project implementation stage (detailed stage)

1. Proposed amendment of the Environmental
Impact Assessment Law
 The Environmental Impact Assessment Lawcame into force (June 1999) over 10 years ago, andunder Supplementary Provision Article 7, its
revision has been discussed, and the results
submitted by the Central Environmental Council(February 2010). The proposed amendment of thelaw is still under consideration in the Diet (as ofFebruary 2011), but the following are the points ofrevision requiring new actions. (Fig. 1)
ձLegalization of the Strategic Environmental
Assessments (SEA)ղPreparation and public release of post survey
reports
ճ Electronic inspection of Environmental impact
statements etc.
մ Holding explanatory meetings for scopingdocuments  Of these, ղ post-survey reports are intended toreflect assessment results in projects, while ճelectronic inspection and մ meetings to explain
scoping documents are intended to encourage
understanding by residents. A detailed explanationof ձ SEA follows. 
2. Implementation of SEA during the concept
stage PI and related challenges
 SEA, which is a study of the protection of theenvironment performed at a stage earlier than theEnvironmental Impact Assessment (EIA) alreadyperformed at the project implementation stage, isreflected in the project plan. Road development and other public projects areAssessment items and methods(proposed)

Assessment results,environmental conservation measures (draft)

Revisionof the draft environmental impact statement

Comments of the Minister of the Environmentand competent cabinet ministers

Comments of the Minister of the Environmentand competent cabinet ministers etc.

Based on actual status of the above publicprojects, SEA under the proposed revision of thelaw is only an evaluation of the environmental
aspect without comprehensive judgments, andestablishes an obligation limited to procedures lesssweeping than those of an EIA (preparation of an
Environmental Consideration Statement, etc.). Butthe following questions remain to be answered inorder to implement SEA under the law at theconcept stage PI.(1) PI processes vary from project to project, so in
which process will the SEA procedure beimplemented?
(2) PI remains an optional process, so how canstanding out of the environmental aspect by legallyprescribed SEA be avoided?
(3) What is the specific method of preparing theEnvironmental Consideration Statement?
(4) Considering that the need for SEA was argued
partly to conserve biodiversity, how is theprotection of the natural environment considered at
the concept stage?
(See Research Trends and Results, Fully
considering the care of the natural environment at
the road project concept stage) 
3. Future schedule Following the enactment of the Revised
Environmental Impact Assessment Law, technicalguidelines applying to all categories of projects(basic guidelines) will be issued after one year,
technical guidelines by project category (bycompetent cabinet ministers) will be issued after
one year and a half, and the revised law will comeinto full force after two years. The NILIM intends
to study the challenges referred to above and torevise “Technical Methods for Road Environment
Impact Assessment” (see below).
http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/dcg/introduction/kadai5/
kadai5.htm