Pilot Project on implementation of SEA for regional planning in Ukraine

1. Pilot Project on implementation of SEA for regional planning in Ukraine Prof. Dr. Michael Schmidt Dmitry Palekhov Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus, Germany

2. ACTION PLAN EU – UKRAINE(endorsed by the EU-Ukraine Cooperation Council on 21.02.2005) PROVIDES WITH NECESSARY CONDITIONS FOR GOOD ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE Main tasks • Completion of administrative structures and procedures to ensure strategic planning of environment issues and co-ordination between relevant actors; • Integration of environmental considerations into policies of key sectors, particularly industry, energy, transport, regional development and agriculture; • Establish procedures for the public participation in administrative decision-making, access to environmental information, including implementation of Aarhus Convention. Necessary Steps • Reinforce procedures to carry out environmental assessment of administrative decisions, including trans-boundary issues; support NGOs and local authorities; • Gradual approximation of Ukrainian legislation, norms and standards with those of the EU; • Development of framework legislation and main planning procedures to ensure implementation of the National Strategy on environmental protection; • Enhancement of administrative capacities, including those for permitting as well as enforcement and inspections.

3. Main directions in reformation of regional administration • Providing for strategic orientated administration, aimed at sustainable development – decentralisation of strategic regional development planning, programme-oriented approach, implementing procedures for strategic assessment of decisions, co-ordination between relevant actors; • Establishing principles for sustainable development of regions – strategies of regional development must systematically integrate different types of problems – economic, social, environmental and resource-saving; pro-active environmental protection; • Democratisation of decision-making procedures – public participation in discussing strategic alternatives of development (policies, plans and programmes).

4. Necessity for implementing SEA in procedures of regional planning SEA is an: • instrument for rational and appropriate decision-making in the view of ensuring and providing for sustainable regional development; • instrument of preventing significant impact of regional PPPs on environment (on local, trans-boundary and global scale); SEA provides for: • complex integration of economic, social and environmental factors in developing regional PPPs; • identification on earlier stages of significant environmental impacts of proposed PPPs, including their cumulative impact; • participation and consultations with interested parties regarding elaboration of regional development strategies; • SEA allows to: • improve relevance and interactivity of decisions made by regional administration; • systematically analyse, evaluate and select best alternatives for PPPs; • improve other types of environmental assessment (i.e. EIA); • use results of SEA for future decision-making, also on other levels of administration.

5. Regulation and/or support of the SEA procedure by Ukrainian legislation

6. Main tasks for the legal implementation of SEA in Ukraine 1) Legal definition of concepts and terminology of SEA, its place and role in the system of environmental assessment, correlation and characteristics of different levels of environmental assessment; 2) Legal regulation of SEA procedures – formalisation of its tasks, objectives, organisational forms, subjects, objects, methods, documentation and other formalities; 3) Development of adapted methodology for SEA of PPPs on different administration levels – national, regional, local (according to Ukrainian planning procedures).

7. Tasks and objectives of the pilot projecton implementation SEA for regional planning in Ukraine Aim of the project • acquiring the experience in implementing SEA in practice of regional planning (on example of Dnepropetrovsk region, Ukraine) according to priority objectives of the Action Plan EU – Ukraine. Research base Dnepropetrovsk region, Ukraine • Project partners • BTU Cottbus, Germany – project coordinator • Dnepropetrovsk regional council, Ukraine • Oxford Brooks University, UK • Finnish Environment Institute, Finland • Institute of Nature Management and Ecology Problems, Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine • National Mining University, Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine

8. Tasks of the Project • evaluation of potential and advantages of SEA in regional administration; • elaboration of the model development plan for Dnepropetrovsk region; • development of methodical recommendations for the application of SEA as an instrument of regional planning with a view of sustainable development; • development of recommendations concerning public participation in elaboration of regional development policies, plans and programmes; • development of conclusions and propositions for the improvement of regional development planning procedures; • development of conclusions and propositions regarding necessary changes in legislation currently in force