Re-Assessing the Barriers to Accessing and Using Spatial Data for EIA and SEA Studies

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1 Environmental monitoring in Europe: SEIS-BASIS 1 Joint Research Centre (JRC) Re-Assessing the Barriers to Accessing and Using Spatial Data for EIA and SEA Studies Lara Pavanello and Robin S. Smith SDI Unit, IES, EC-JRC INSPIRE Conference 2010, Krakow (Poland)

2 Background Environmental monitoring in Europe: SEIS-BASIS 2 In the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament, "Towards a Shared Environmental Information System (SEIS)", the lack of comparability and quality of data has been identified as a serious problem for both Member States and EU Institutions and bodies, since it limits the usability of the data, prohibits efficient assessment of data and their efficient conversion to information tailored to the users needs.

3 Environmental monitoring in Europe: SEIS-BASIS 3 The overall aims of our project SEIS-BASIS aims to address our current limited understanding of both the comparability and quality of data about the environment. to provide the necessary facts and evidence on which possible Community initiatives will be based.

4 The Survey Environmental monitoring in Europe: SEIS-BASIS 4 Our objectives include: examining the integration of environmental concerns in other policies undertaking a comparative analysis and fitness-for-purpose assessment of environmental data and related information.

5 Environmental monitoring in Europe: SEIS-BASIS 5 Context: EIAs and SEAs Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) act as a barometer of ready access to, and use of, environmental information They draw on data from many themes and demonstrate how environmental issues are integrated in other policy areas We repeated a questionnaire survey from 2002/2003 with EIA/SEA practitioners to understand the level of difficulty they have in accessing good quality spatial data to undertake their assessment, also providing a useful comparison to today.

6 Methodology Environmental monitoring in Europe: SEIS-BASIS 6 Our survey took place in the second half of 2009 Respondents recruited via: the International Association for impact Assessment s newsletter lists of contacts provided by the SEIS Task Force responses from parallel work focussed on the Italian region of Lombardy. Total valid responses: 128 in 2009, covering 21 countries (18 Member States). A much better response rate than the 50 respondents, covering 9 countries in the 2002/2003 survey

7 Environmental monitoring in Europe: SEIS-BASIS 7 Where organisations are based Country Italy Romania United Kingdom Spain Slovakia Czech Republic Belgium Portugal Estonia Finland Poland Other Norway Latvia Slovenia Netherlands Ireland Germany France Denmark No. of respondents

8 Environmental monitoring in Europe: SEIS-BASIS 8 Size and turnover of the organisations involved > 10 million Total annual turnover in Euro 5 million to 10 million 1 million to 5 million to 1 million to SEA EIA to < No. of responses

9 Environmental monitoring in Europe: SEIS-BASIS 9 Activities of the organisations involved General environmental consultancy Urban and land use planning Water mgt Waste mgt Environmental policy monitoring Activities Natural resource mgt Eco-audits Environmental health/pollution control Other Wildlife mgt Traffic mgt Civil emergency mgt Public health No. of responses

10 Environmental monitoring in Europe: SEIS-BASIS 10 Number of EIA studies carried out per year Number of EIAs per year 4% 4% 1% 7% >500 17% 46% 21%

11 Environmental monitoring in Europe: SEIS-BASIS 11 Number of SEA studies carried out per year 8% Number of SEAs per year 5% 1% 3% % 68%

12 Environmental monitoring in Europe: SEIS-BASIS 12 Projects/plans for which EIA is carried out Infrastructure projects Energy industry Disposal of waste Agriculture, silviculture and aquaculture Tourism and leisure Extractive industry project/plan Chemical industry Mineral industry Metal production/processing Food industry Other Textile, leather, wood and paper industries Rubber industry No. of responses

13 Environmental monitoring in Europe: SEIS-BASIS 13 Main Suppliers of Spatial Data They mainly use datasets such as: protected sites, administrative units, hydrography, transport networks, geology, land cover, land use, habitats and biotopes, regulation zones (etc.) and soil (based on the INSPIRE Annex Themes) The main data sources are local government, environmental agencies and mapping agencies Over a third of respondents produce their own data and two thirds re-use the data acquired

14 Average time & annual turnover Environmental monitoring in Europe: SEIS-BASIS 14 Average time to complete EIA/SEA report is 1-3 months (6 months 1 year in 2002) EIA SEA No. of responses ,000 EIA 34,000 SEA <2 weeks 2 weeks - 1 month 1 month - 3 months 3 month - 6 months 6 month - 1 year 1 year - 2 year > 2 years Time

15 Problems with the use of spatial data Environmental monitoring in Europe: SEIS-BASIS 15 In 2002, the most frequent problem was accessing data Over half the respondents in 2009 also had access problems; alongside finding and integrating data, and information on its quality For more than half of the respondents this means that, as in 2002, reports take more time and have more costs

16 Estimated increase in cost & time Environmental monitoring in Europe: SEIS-BASIS 16 Increase in time of around 16% of the project s duration and 14% for the total costs (not including outliers) Cost Time No. of responses % 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% > 30% Increase

17 Summary Environmental monitoring in Europe: SEIS-BASIS 17 - EIA/SEA practitioners still face problems connected with accessing and using environmental data - For 2006, COWI estimated the total number of EIA/SEA studies to be 24,000 x an average cost of 40,000 1 billion for the sector - If the 15% increase in cost (associated with data access/quality problems) were tackled, annual savings could be million, given increases in demand for SEA, inclusion of more local screening activities and EU membership

18 Environmental monitoring in Europe: SEIS-BASIS 18 For more information Full report of findings as available here: