Environmental Impact Assessment Review 31 (2011) 77–84

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Environmental Impact Assessment Review

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Strategic environmental assessment implementation in China — Five-year reviewand prospects

Jing Wu a,c, I-Shin Chang b,⁎, Olivia Bina a, Kin-Che Lam a, He Xu c

a Centre of Strategic Environmental Assessment for China, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kongb College of Environment and Resources, Inner Mongolia University, Inner Mongolia 010021, PR Chinac Research Center for Strategic Environmental Assessment, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, PR China

⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 471 4991460, +8+86 471 4991656.

E-mail address: heart.chang@yahoo.com (I.-S. Chang

0195-9255/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier Inc. Aldoi:10.1016/j.eiar.2010.04.010

a b s t r a c t

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:Received 20 January 2010Received in revised form 23 April 2010Accepted 24 April 2010Available online 3 June 2010

Keywords:Strategic environmental assessmentEffectivenessImpact-based SEAEvaluation criteria

Through literature review and questionnaire survey, the purpose of this study is to understand current statusand major fields of SEA implementation in China, and then to provide advice for future improvement of SEAsystem, according to objective evaluation of the effectiveness of SEA implementation. Major types and fieldsof SEA implementation were firstly studied to conclude that the attitude of decision-makers and competentauthority of SEA implementation does generate direct impacts on SEA implementation. Current status of SEAimplementation were then studied, in terms of timing, techniques and methodologies, public participation,information disclosure, alternative, and review organization, to conclude that SEA implementation in Chinais “impact-based SEA” and the major problems of SEA implementation are resulted from deficient anddefective management of SEA system, such as laws, regulations, and means of management. In order to haveobjective evaluation on the effectiveness of SEA implementation, to understand good practice of SEAimplementation, and to provide advice for future improvement of SEA system, it is necessary to establishreasonable and feasible evaluation criteria for the effectiveness of SEA implementation, based upon foreignexperience and political, legislative, administrative and cultural characteristics of China. Various types andstages of SEA should be carefully considered to be included into the evaluation criteria for the effectiveness ofSEA implementation.

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1. Preface

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) was initially introducedinto China in early 1990s. Now in China, SEA is mainly implemented atthree significant decision-making levels, regional environmental impactassessment (REIA), plan environmental impact assessment (PEIA), andpolicy environmental impact assessment (Policy EIA), respectively. SEAimplementation was greatly promoted as the “Law of the People'sRepublic of China on Environmental Impact Assessment” (the EIA Law)became effective in September 2003. As explicitly regulated in the EIALaw, PEIA is the legal requirement and shall be implemented for majoreconomic development activities, integrated plans (such as land use,regional development, watershed development, and marine develop-ment), and special plans (for example, industry, agriculture, husbandry,forestry, energy, water conservancy, transportation, municipal con-struction, tourism and natural resources development).

For the past five years, there are remarkable progress on SEAdevelopment, especially for PEIA, in many aspects, such as infrastruc-ture construction, methodologies and techniques improvement, and

practitioners training. In addition, abundant practical experience wasgradually accumulated through many pilot studies and empiricalcases. Nevertheless, there are many major and serious challenges toSEA implementation according to the perception of practitionersactively engaged in the planning and implementation of PEIA in China.Thus, the study is firstly to understand current status and major fieldsof SEA implementation in China through literature review andquestionnaire survey. And secondly, reasonable advice for futureimprovement of SEA system is then provided according to objectiveevaluation of the effectiveness of SEA implementation.

2. Methodology

Many international and domestic literatures from 2003 to 2009were reviewed to appraise the progress of SEA implementation inChina, in terms of major fields of applications, and technical andmethodological research. A survey on current status and effectivenessof SEA implementation in China was also conducted throughquestionnaire during ‘China Strategic Environmental AssessmentForum’ in Hong Kong, in February 2009. The questionnaire composedof questions with pre-defined answers was divided into four parts.The first part is focusing on SEA experiences of the participants. Thesecond part is designed to find out the techniques and methodologies

Table 2Participants from retrieved questionnaire.

Categories Amount %

Central and local government agencies 7 8.64Environmental assessing and consulting institutes 7 8.64Colleges and universities 38 46.91Environmental research organizations 29 35.80Total 81 100.00

78 J. Wu et al. / Environmental Impact Assessment Review 31 (2011) 77–84

used during SEA implementation. Then participants will be asked togive their opinions on the effectiveness of SEA implementation inChina. Finally, the participants will be requested to identify key issuesto affect the effectiveness of SEA implementation in China. Majorquestions of the questionnaire are listed in Table 1.

About 180 persons attended the Forum mostly professionalpractitioners and officers from government agencies and competentauthority of environmental affairs. There are 81 completed ques-tionnaires retrieved (45% of 180), 7 from central and local govern-ment agencies, 7 from environmental assessing and consultinginstitutes, 38 from colleges and universities, and 29 from environ-mental research organizations, as shown in Table 2.

3. Major fields of SEA implementation

As described, the main modes of SEA implementation in China areREIA, PEIA, and Policy EIA. REIA is the earliest mode of SEAimplementation in China, which has been implemented since late1980s (Lam et al., 2009; Li et al., 2008). After the EIA Law becameeffective in 2003, PEIA has gradually become the main mode of SEAimplementation in China. Since the major differences between REIAand PEIA can be easily identified in many aspects, such as applicablescope, assessing objects, and management procedures for assessment(Li et al., 2008), REIA still plays a very important role in SEAimplementation. Policy EIA was mostly performed by the policy-making department, voluntarily. Nevertheless, same as othercountries and regions where SEA system is implemented, there areno specific regulations to require Policy EIA should be performed forpolicies, and national economic and social development plans, so far.However, after the EIA Law became effective, it is increasingly realizedby many regions and departments that environmental issues shouldbe included into the decision-making process. Policy EIA was thenperformed by some policy-making departments through the collab-oration with environmental departments. Though with years ofpractical experience in SEA implementation, unfortunately, thereare lacks of statistical information regarding how many cases of SEAimplementation, due to SEA was organized, performed and reviewedby governments and competent authority at various levels.

According to literature review, the top five interested fields of SEAresearch are land use (35.57%), transportation (14.77%), urbanconstruction (12.42%), industries (9.73%), and regional development(6.71%). Through questionnaire survey, we have found that five mainareas of SEA implementation are identical to five interested fields ofSEA research with different ratios, such as regional development(28.44%), urban construction (20.00%), land use (9.78%), industries(9.78%), and transportation (8.00%). Apparently, most of the interestand effort of SEA research and implementation were focusing onregional development, urban construction, industries, and transpor-tation, due to fast trend of industrialization, urbanization, and

Table 1Major questions of the questionnaire.

1. Which fields of SEA have you undertake or review?2. Which guidance did you refer to whilst undertaking the SEA?3. Which techniques have been used in each stage of the SEA process?4. Did the alternatives be evaluated in the SEA project you undertake or reviewed?5. If the public participation is effective in the SEA project you undertake orreviewed?

6. The method of public participation has you used?7. Do you think the information used in public participation is clear and easy tounderstand?

8. What are the main shortcomings of public participation from your experience?9. Which sector usually leads the review team from your experience?10. The timing of initiating SEA during the planning process.11. What is the attitude of planning departments towards the SEA solutionsaccording to your experience?

12. The key issues to affect the effectiveness of SEA implementation in China.

modernization from high economic development and growth. And,little interest and effort of SEA research and implementation werespent on forestry, husbandry, and agriculture, as shown in Table 3.

For regional development planning, as the earliest mode of SEAimplementation in China, REIA has been implemented since late 1980s.Therefore, many regulations have been promulgated and enforced. In1993, EIA for development zones and total emission control onpollutants were explicitly regulated in “Some Suggestions on FurtherImprovement for Environmental Protection Management on Construc-tion Projects,” promulgated by National Environmental ProtectionAgency (NEPA). In 1998, as stated in Article 31 of “Regulations onEnvironmental Protection Management for Construction Project,” EIAmust be performed for regional development plans, such as thedevelopment of watershed, the construction of development zones,new urban districts construction and old urban districts reconstruction,prior to compiling construction plans, which has further defined therequirement of REIA. In 2002, it is regulated that EIAmust be performedand environmental impact statement (EIS) must be compiled prior tocompiling regional development and construction plans, in “Notice onQuestions Concerning the Enforcement of REIA Implementation onDeveloping Zones,” promulgated by the State Environmental ProtectionAgency (SEPA). Though various regional development activities withconstruction plans have been gradually included into PEIAmanagementsystem after the effectiveness of the EIA Law (Li et al., 2008), REIA is stillthe most prolific part of SEA implementation in China, throughaccumulation of years of practical experience and direct managementfrom competent authority of environmental protection.

For urban planning, land use planning and transportationplanning, the planning management system is well established. Inaddition, detailed articles on urban planning, land use planning andenvironmental protection requirement were regulated in the “Law ofthe People's Republic of China on Land Management” (2004) and the“Law of the People's Republic of China on Urban and Rural Planning”(2007). Furthermore, various articles and technical guidance on PEIAimplementation were promulgated by competent authority, such as:

● “Notice on Some Questions Concerning PEIA Implementation onTransport Sector” by Ministry of Transport in August 2004.

● “Technical Guidance for PEIA Implementation on IntegratedPlanning for Provincial Land Use” by Ministry of Land andResources in December 2005.

● “Notice on the Enforcement of EIA Implementation on HighwayPlanning and Construction Projects” by SEPA in December 2007.

For agriculture, husbandry and forestry planning, there were fewcases of SEA research and implementation. According to the survey,there was no case of SEA implementation on forestry plans, so far. As amatter of fact, Ministry of Forestry rejected the ideas to conductenvironmental impact assessment on any forestry plans, during thediscussion and review on the draft EIA Law (Bian, 2003). As indicated inan investigation of SEA implementation in China in 2006, therewere nocases of SEA implementation on agricultural plans and husbandry plans,as pointed out by an officer from Ministry of Agriculture (Zhu and Ru,2008). The results of this investigation and related studies have shownthat the attitude of decision-makers and competent authority towardSEA will directly affect SEA implementation.

Table 3Major fields of research and implementation of SEA in China.

Fields # of research papers(literature review)

% # of SEA cases(questionnaire survey)

%

Land use 106 35.57 22 9.78Transportation 44 14.77 18 8.00Urbanconstruction

37 12.42 45 20.00

Industries 29 9.73 22 9.78Regionaldevelopment

20 6.71 64 28.44

Watersheddevelopment

16 5.37 12 5.33

Energy 13 4.36 9 4.00Tourism 10 3.36 9 4.00Waterconservancy

9 3.02 7 3.11

Marinedevelopment

7 2.35 5 2.22

Agriculture 5 1.68 3 1.33Naturalresources

2 0.67 8 3.56

Husbandry – 0.00 1 0.44Forestry – 0.00 – 0.00Total 298 100.00 225 100.00

Table 4Initial time for PEIA implementation.

Timing Votes %

At the beginning of compiling plan 18 22.22During compiling plan 26 32.10At the completion of compiling plan 19 23.46Prior to submitting plan for approval 15 18.52Others 3 3.70Total 81 100.00

79J. Wu et al. / Environmental Impact Assessment Review 31 (2011) 77–84

4. Current status of SEA implementation

As the main mode of SEA implementation in China, presently, it isof great importance to understand current status of PEIA in terms of‘timing,’ ‘techniques and methodologies,’ ‘public participation,’ ‘infor-mation disclosure,’ ‘alternative,’ ‘review organization,’ ‘the effective-ness,’ and ‘key issues to affect the effectiveness.’

4.1. Timing

Regarding the timing to employ PEIA, there are basically fourdifferent periods, at the beginning of compiling plan, during compilingplan, at the completion of compiling plan, and prior to submitting planfor approval. According to the survey, the ranking sequence is: duringcompiling plan (32.10%), at the completion of compiling plan (23.46%),at the beginning of compiling plan (22.22%), and prior to submittingplan for approval (18.52%), as shown in Table 4. Overall, the timing ofPEIA implementation in China is late in comparingwith plans compilingprocedures. According to Bina, late timing of PEIA implementation inChina was mainly resulted from PEIA management system regulated inthe EIA Law, for example, the purpose of legislation, definition of PEIA,procedure design, and requirement for review and approval (Bina,2008). Hence, SEA implementation in China is so-called “impact-basedSEA” (Ahmed and Sanchez-Triana, 2008), which applies the proceduresand methods of project EIA to policies, programs and plans at strategiclevel.

Through the survey and interviewwith representative fromplanningdepartments, it was found that normally pre-study and baseline datainvestigation and analysis, which generally performed by contractedprofessional environmental research institutes, will be convened byplanning departments at the beginning of compiling plan, especially forlanduse, regional development andconstruction, andurban constructionrelated. In order to achieve sustainable development, issues onenvironmental protection and natural resources shall be carefullyconsideredwhile planning for economic development. Therefore, duringpre-study on planning, more and more researches are concentrating onecological, environmental and natural resource concerns in greater andgreater depth. This type of researchwork, usually recognized as a form ofSEA, named para-SEA (Dalal-Clayton and Sadler, 2005), does not adoptstandard SEA procedures andmethods but have the same goal as formalSEA: to provide environmental information and technical supports for

scientific decision-making. However, neither planning departments norenvironmental departments would admit this kind of research work isSEA.

Since it is not regulated as part of the formal SEA work, as theconsequences, there are two major disputable issues aroused fromthis kind of research work. Firstly, it is not the standard form forplanning procedures but a special method usually adopted for somespecific plans to bypass the necessary and required procedures. Thesespecial plans, such as land use, urban construction, watersheddevelopment, water conservancy, and mining, will certainly havegreat impacts on environmental protection, and the development andutilization of natural resources. Secondly, in case the outcomes of thiskind of researchwork are not in favor of planning objectives (typicallyeconomic objectives), the results could be and should be thenneglected or discarded, since it is not recognized as a formal SEAprocedure by planning departments or environmental departments(Bina et al., 2009).

4.2. Techniques and methodologies

Various techniques and methods for EIA practitioners arerecommended in “Technical Guidelines of Environmental ImpactAssessment for Plans (Trial)” (HJ/T 130-2003). The mostly usedtechniques andmethods at different stages of SEA by EIA practitionersare summarized in Table 5. According to the survey, the most adoptedschemes for environmental impacts identification are check-list(69.14%) and matrix (62.96%). For impacts prediction, quantitativemethods, such as scenario analysis (65.43%), mathematical analysis(46.91%) and carrying capacity analysis (37.04%), are mostly applied.For impact evaluation, comparative analysis (54.32%), carryingcapacity analysis (53.09%) and GIS (35.80%) are mainly adopted.

The concept of carrying capacity was initially brought forward inearly 20th century and gradually applied to various aspects ofresources and environmental management (Wang et al., 2005).There are two major elements for environmental carrying capacitystudy in SEA, integrated environmental carrying capacity study andkey environmental factors carrying capacity study (including land,water, and atmospheric environment). The core of key environmentalfactors carrying capacity study is consisted of environmental capacityand total emission control, where many well-developed quantitativemethods are available. In contrast, there is no consensus on thedefinition of integrated environmental carrying capacity, so far. Themost representative cognition for integrated environmental carryingcapacity study is to study the endurable limits of development factors(population and GDP) for regional ecological environment (Peng andZhou, 2008).

From the results of the investigation, quantitative methods arefrequently adopted during impact prediction and evaluation todemonstrate that the main measures adopted for SEA implementationin China are technical and inferential schemes (Bina, 2008). This is incontrast to the situation of SEA implementation in Europe despite thestrong overlap between the Chinese and European laws on SEA.According to the survey conducted in 2005 on SEA implementation inUK, 81%of the techniques adopted at different stages of SEAare involvedin people's opinions and knowledge, for example, expert judgment,

Table 5Techniques applied in SEA implementation.

SEA techniques SEA stage

Impactidentification

Impactprediction

Impactevaluation

Votes % Votes % Votes %

Check list 56 69.14 2 2.47 3 3.70Impact matrix 51 62.96 8 9.88 4 4.94Mapping 15 18.52 16 19.75 15 18.52Network analysis 9 11.11 1 1.23 3 3.70System flow diagram 12 14.81 4 4.94 4 4.94Analytic hierarchy Process 15 18.52 23 28.40 17 20.99scenario analysis 4 4.94 53 65.43 14 17.28Input-output analysis 0 0.00 19 23.46 12 14.81Mathematical analysis 2 2.47 38 46.91 10 12.35Weighted and comparison 1 1.23 7 8.64 13 16.05Comparative analysis 5 6.17 14 17.28 44 54.32Carrying Capacity analysis 4 4.94 30 37.04 43 53.09GIS 7 8.64 10 12.35 29 35.80Others 2 2.47 4 4.94 7 8.64

Table 6Evaluation on public participation.

Evaluation Votes % Major problems Votes %

Effective 66 81.48 Insufficient, ineffective and pro forma 63 77.78Information is not completelydisclosed

47 58.02

Ineffective 13 16.05 The system is not well established 37 45.68Insufficient dissemination andbroadcasting

36 44.44

Others 2 2.47 Insufficient environmentalconsciousness and low educationalbackground of the public

46 56.79

Others 3 3.70Total 81 100.00

80 J. Wu et al. / Environmental Impact Assessment Review 31 (2011) 77–84

public participation, and statutory consultees (Therivel and Walsh,2006).

Table 7Modes of public participation.

Public participation

Mode Votes %

Meeting 56 69.14Questionnaire survey 71 87.65Media report 35 43.21Others 10 12.35

4.3. Public participation

According to the survey, most of the interviewees agreed that publicparticipation in PEIA is effective (81.48%). Nevertheless, many inter-viewees also pointed out that themajor problem of public participationunder current circumstance is that participation is insufficient,insubstantial and pro forma (77.78%), as shown in Table 6. Thesecontradictive outcomes from the survey have reflected that theinterviewees adopted different criteria and standards to respond thesequestions. While evaluating the effectiveness of public participation,interviewees consented that public participation is effective as long asthe minimum legal requirements are fulfilled. But when talking aboutthe major problems of public participation, most interviewees werethen applying ideal modes of public participation to evaluate publicparticipation, in addition to minimum legal requirements.

Presently in China, modes of public participation are limited. Amongthem, questionnaire survey and public meeting are twomost popularlyadopted means (87.65% and 69.14%, respectively), and media report isused by 43.21% of the interviewees, as shown in Table 7. Questionnairesurvey, as the most familiar mode of public participation for EIApractitioners, is the major method of public participation for construc-tion project EIA. However, the effect of questionnaire survey on SEAimplementation is still doubtful.

Currently, questionnaire survey has become themost popular meansof public participation since questionnaire survey is a method to fulfillminimum legal requirements with more complete documentation,lowest costs (money, manpower, energy, time and etc.), and muchlesser pressure and conflict for EIApractitioners to confront thequestionsand interviewees, directly. Yet, it is very difficult to extract sufficientuseful and practical information from fragmentary, incomplete andlimited data contained in questionnaire survey. Furthermore, anothertwo major concerns are the qualification of interviewees and therequired quantity of effective questionnaire retrieved, which areexplicitly regulated for construction project EIA but not for PEIA. Inaddition, there are no researches or surveys to confirm and verify thatquestionnaire survey is effective to PEIA. As indicated by the inter-viewees, apparently, the purpose of questionnaire survey is only proforma to fulfill the minimum legal requirements for public participation.

Meeting is anothermajormodeof public participation. InEurope andthe United States, there are many forms of meetings for publicparticipation, such as public meeting, seminar, citizen forum, represen-

tative conference, and etc. And inChinanow, themain typeofmeeting isconsultation meeting with experts and representatives from relateddepartments, which is very costly but effectively to collect useful andvaluable information. Rarely, the public or the representatives from thepublic will be invited to participate in these consultation meetings.Therefore, the opinions and viewpoints of the public cannot bepresented nor represented.

4.4. Information disclosure

According to the survey, 70% of the interviewees agreed that thecontents of disclosed information are easy to understand, but with30% of the interviewees disagreed. Since the respondents to thissurvey are professional EIA practitioners, their answers are certainlyaffected by personal perceptions and experience. The authors believeresults would be different had the respondents been numbers of thepublic.

As indicated in Table 6, when evaluating the major problems ofpublic participation, in addition to ‘insufficient, ineffective and proforma’ (77.78%), most interviewees consented that other majorproblems are ‘information is not completely disclosed’ (58.02%) and‘insufficient environmental consciousness and low educational back-ground of the public’ (56.79%). Even conceding the contents ofdisclosed information are easy to understand with professional andscientific background, the majority of the interviewees would regarddisclosed information is insufficient to meet the needs of the public,since the public might not be able to understand. The public is adiverse group with various differences. Therefore, practitioners haveto design the question based upon the assumption that the public arenot capable to evaluate problems scientifically (Lam, 2009).

4.5. Alternative

According to the survey, almost 80% of the interviewees agreedthat alternatives (including no-action alternative) are carefullyconsidered. Further analysis has shown that alternative research ismostly performed for special plans and less for integrated anddirective macro plans. In other words, alternative research is seldomperformed for strategic plans. In Liu's study in 2006, about 24 PEIA

81J. Wu et al. / Environmental Impact Assessment Review 31 (2011) 77–84

cases from 2003 to 2005 in Shanghai were analyzed to find out thatalternative analysis is conducted in just 21% of these PEIA cases. Mostof the analysis is only focusing on one or two specific environmentalelements, but not on structured alternative analysis (Liu et al., 2006).In Zhou's study in 2007, 9 PEIA cases for special plans in Shanghaiwere examined to find out that only generally alternative analysis isperformedwithin 7 cases, and among them only 1 alternative analysisis good with high quality (Zhou et al., 2007).

Some studies were concentrating on analyzing the difficulties toconduct alternative analysis in PEIA to demonstrate that theidentification and evaluation of alternatives through PEIA areremarkably weak due to the difficulties related to cultural andpractical differences in planning (Tang et al., 2007). The mostcommon alternatives considered during PEIA are ‘no-action plan’and ‘recommended changes and mitigation measures from theenvironmental perspective.’ The character of centralized administra-tive management system of Chinese government is from-central-to-local decision-making system, where central government will makethe decisions. According to “Some Suggestions on the Enforcement ofCompiling Works for National Economy and Social DevelopmentPlans,” promulgated by the State Council in 2005, special plans andregional plans should be in compliance with integrated planscompiled by local and superior governments, and plans from localgovernment should be in compliance with plans compiled by hersuperior government. Preferred options are determined at higherdecision-making level before the plans are detailedly developed.Therefore, the assessors are left with minimum options on alter-natives evaluation (Bina et al., 2009).

Table 8Acceptance of SEA reports.

Acceptance categories Votes %

Accepted 20 24.69Partially accepted 50 61.73Rejected 3 3.70Others 8 9.88Total 81 100.00

4.6. Review organization

Based upon the survey, the review team of SEA Report is mainlyconvened by the competent authority of environmental protection(58%), and secondly by plan compiling and approval departments(42%). Currently, there is a great controversy between competentauthority of environmental protection and other departments (plancompiling and approval departments) to fight for the power toconvene the review team for SEA report.

According to Article 13 of the EIA Law, the people's government ator above the level of municipality with districts shall designate thecompetent authority of environmental protection or other depart-ments to organize a review team participated by representatives ofrelevant departments and experts to examine the EIS of a plan, beforemaking any decisions on whether to approve the draft specific plan.There are discrepancies between the interpretations on this Articlefrom the Ministry of Environmental Protection (hereinafter referredas “the MEP”) and other ministries and departments. To theunderstanding from the MEP, the MEP is entitled with the power toconvene the review team by Article 13 (Li et al., 2008). In addition, it isclearly stated in “Decisions Concerning Consolidating the Perceptionof Scientific Development and Reinforcing Environmental Protection”:‘the competent authority of environmental protection at all levelsshould strictly implement all environmental surveillance works,……,and be in charge of convening experts and representatives fromrelated departments to propose the review comments on PEIA’ (TheState Council, 2005). However, other ministries and departmentsargued that they are also entitled with the power to convene thereview team (Zhu and Ru, 2008). This argument is even sharper atcentral government. Therefore, PEIA is usually reviewed by the plancompiling department at central government, directly. For localgovernment, this conflict is normally resolved by local regulationsto authorize local environmental protection bureau (hereinafterreferred as “the EPB”) to be in charge of convening the review teamof PEIA, such as Shanghai City, Tianjin City, and Liaoning Province. Theoutcome of the survey has shown the same result.

4.7. The effectiveness

Regarding the acceptance of SEA Reports for the SEA casesinterviewees participated, according to the survey, the plan compilingagencies will agree to most of the conclusions summarized byassessment institutes (for example, accepted: 24.69% and partiallyaccepted: 61.73%). In rare cases the conclusions shall be rejected by theplan compiling agencies (3.70%), as shown in Table 8. Though, SEAconclusions will mostly be accepted by the plan compiling agencies, itcannot accurately reflect the effectivenessof SEA. Presently inChina, dueto late timing to initiate SEA, it is very difficult for SEA to fully act as anauxiliary tool and means for decision-making. Mostly, the plancompiling agencies will only accept mitigative measures from SEAconclusions. Thus, the functions of SEA are then limited. Under suchcircumstance, SEA did fulfill the objective to provide countermeasuresand actions to prevent or mitigate adverse environmental impacts, asstated in Article 2 of the EIA Law. However, SEA failed to accomplish theprimary objective to attain sustainable development, to prevent anyadverse environmental impacts resulted from proposed plans andprojects, and to promote and facilitate harmonic and balanceddevelopment between economy, society, and environment, as statedin Article 1 of the EIA Law.

As revealed in the survey, most of the interviewees have positiveappreciation towards the effectiveness of SEA (for example, veryeffective: 3.70% and effective: 79.01%). However, some intervieweesfrom universities and research institutes do have negative perceptionon the effectiveness of SEA (less effective: 9.88% and ineffective:2.47%), by applying higher and more stringent standards and criteriato evaluate the effectiveness of SEA, as shown in Table 9. In China, quitea few SEA cases have been deployed (including legally required andvoluntarily) since the implementation of the EIA Law in September2003. Therefore, it is very important and essential to objectivelyevaluate the effectiveness of these SEA cases for future improvementand development of SEA system.

In 2002, ‘SEA Performance Criteria,’ divided into 6 categories(17 items), were proposed by International Association for ImpactAssessment (IAIA) to evaluate the effectiveness of SEA, as shown inTable 10 (IAIA, 2002). According to SEA Performance Criteria, most ofthe SEA cases in China are less effective. In 2002, about 25 assessmentsfor transport and spatial/land use policies, plans and programs (PPPs)were evaluated by Fischer, based on the SEA Performance Criteria. It issuggested that SEA Performance Criteria are not equally valid for everySEA, but differ noticeably for three SEA types, policy EIA, PEIA, andprogramEIA, namely, as each SEA type focusing ondifferent aspects andhaving distinct assessment tasks (Fischer, 2002). In addition, theevaluation on the effectiveness of SEA is related to direct (achievementof identified goals, actual realization of impacts and impact manage-ment measures as forecast, quality of proposals emerging from theprocess, compliance with regulations and commitments, and mainte-nance of environmental quality) and indirect (contributions toenvironmental management principles, administrative structures andcultures, research and science in amore general sense, and to the state ofthe art in EIApractice) outcomes (Thissen, 2000). Furthermore, political,legislative, administrative, andpolicy characteristics of the governmentsshould also be included to evaluate the effectivenessof SEA (Bina, 2008).

Table 9Effectiveness of SEA.

Effectiveness Votes %

Very effective 3 3.70Effective 64 79.01Less effective 8 9.88Ineffective 2 2.47Not sure 3 3.70Others 1 1.24Total 81 100.00

82 J. Wu et al. / Environmental Impact Assessment Review 31 (2011) 77–84

Hence, the features of present SEA implementation in China can besummarized as the followings:

● SEA implementation in China is “impact-based SEA.”● Abundant practical experience have been accumulated through

empirical case studies and researches on technologies andmethodologies.

● SEA implementation, especially for PEIA, has only fulfilled theobjective to provide countermeasures and actions to prevent ormitigate adverse environmental impacts.

● In order to objectively evaluate the effectiveness of SEA imple-mentation and to guide SEA system for future improvement anddevelopment, appropriate SEA Performance Criteria should beestablished, by integrating both domestic and international

Table 10SEA Performance Criteria proposed by IAIA.

Categories Clarification

Integrated ●Ensures an appropriate environmental assessment ofall strategic decisions relevant for the achievement ofsustainable development● Addresses the interrelationships of biophysical, socialand economic aspects● Is tiered to policies in relevant sectors and(trans-boundary) regions and, where appropriate, toproject EIA and decision-making

Sustainability-led ● Facilitates identification of development options andalternative proposals that are more sustainable (i.e., thatcontributes to the overall sustainable development strategyas laid down in Rio 1992 and defined in the specific policiesor values of a country)

Focused ● Provides sufficient, reliable and usable information fordevelopment planning and decision-making● Concentrates on key issues of sustainable development● Is customized to the characteristics of the decision-makingprocess● Is cost-effective and time-effective

Accountable ● Is the responsibility of the leading agencies for thestrategic decision to be taken● Is carried out with professionalism, rigor, fairness,impartiality and balance● Is subject to independent checks and verification● Documents and justifies how sustainability issueswere taken into account in decision-making

Participative ● Informs and involves interested and affected publicand government bodies throughout the decision-makingprocess● Explicitly addresses their inputs and concerns indocumentationand decision-making● Has clear, easily understood information requirementsand ensures sufficient access to all relevant information

Iterative ● Ensures availability of the assessment results earlyenough to influence the decision-making process andinspire future planning● Provides sufficient information on the actual impactsof implementing a strategic decision, to judge whetherthis decision should be amended and to provide a basisfor future decisions

practical experience to include political, legislative, administrative,and policy characteristics of China.

● Different types and development stages of SEA should be alsoconsidered in SEA Performance Criteria to guide the effective SEAimplementation.

4.8. Key issues to affect the effectiveness

There are 7 major issues listed in the questionnaire to evaluate theirinfluence on the effectiveness of SEA implementation in China.According to the survey, these issues could be ranked by the influence(very significant+significant) on the effectiveness of SEA implemen-tation as following: decision-making process (42.0%+46.9%), informa-tion disclosure and sharing (48.1%+40.7%), legislative and politicalcontext (44.4%+37.0%), techniques and methods (33.3%+45.7%),organizations and practitioners (30.9%+45.7%), public participation(29.6%+46.9%), and international experience (3.7%+55.6%), as shownin Table 11.

● As described earlier, the attitude of decision-makers and competentauthority of SEA implementation does generate direct impacts on SEAimplementation. Certainly, it will have great influence on decision-making process to affect the effectiveness of SEA implementation.

● In China, information disclosure and sharing has always been themost criticized point for administrative management and scientificresearches. As a problem of current political system, inforamtion anddata acquired through public resources are retained as the profitablemeans by some departments, which seriously affect the progress ofscientification and democratization of decision-making.

● From other surveys, techniques and methods was the mostimportant issue to affect the effectiveness of SEA (Bina, 2008;Zhu and Ru, 2008). However, in this survey, the rank of techniquesand methods dropped from the first to the fourth to indicate thatthe direction for future development and improvement of SEA inChina has been changed greatly, after years of practice, develop-ment and accumulation of empirical experience.

5. Prospects of SEA in China

In China, EIA system is established according to comprehensive legalstatutes, from the “Environmental Protection Law of the People'sRepublic of China (on trial)” (1979) to the EIA Law (2003), which havepromoted the legalization, institutionalization, and systemization of thedevelopment of SEA (Zhu and Lam, 2009). However, to improve theeffectiveness of EIA, to build up implementing capacity, and toaccumulate experiences and lessons from practices, there are urgentneeds to enhance further andmodify Chinese EIA system.Many experts,scholars and academics did provide some constructive advices (Zhu andLam, 2009; Zhu et al., 2007; Zhu andWu, 2005) for the improvement ofChinese EIA system. Nevertheless, the authors would like to proposesome recommendations from various aspects for fine-tuning, adjust-ment and improvement of Chinese EIA system, as summarized in thefollowings.

● To expand the targets and scopes of SEAInChina, the national economic and social development plans are themost important integrated plans to causemost significant influencesand impacts on environment,whichare normally exempted fromtherequirement of SEA. In addition, the majority of environmentalproblems resulted from disregarding environmental issues andfactors during policy-making and plan compiling. Consequently, itis essential to expand the targets and scopes of SEA to cover thenational economic and social development plans and policies.

● To build up EIA liability system to strengthen the supervision and

management of EIA

Table 11Key issues to affect the effectiveness of SEA implementation.

Key issues Internationalexperience

Legislativeand politicalcontext

Decision-makingprocess

Organizationsandpractitioners

Publicparticipation

Informationdisclosure andsharing

Techniquesand methods

Level of influence # % # % # % # % # % # % # %

Very significant 3 3.7 36 44.4 34 42.0 25 30.9 24 29.6 39 48.1 27 33.3Significant 45 55.6 30 37.0 38 46.9 37 45.7 38 46.9 33 40.7 37 45.7Slightly significant 20 24.7 12 14.8 5 6.2 11 13.6 12 14.8 6 7.4 7 8.6Slightly insignificant 7 8.6 1 1.2 0 0.0 2 2.5 4 4.9 1 1.2 5 6.2Insignificant 2 2.5 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 3 3.7Very insignificant 0 0.0 0 0.0 1 1.2 1 1.2 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0Others 4 4.9 2 2.5 3 3.7 5 6.2 3 3.7 2 2.5 2 2.5Total 81 100 81 100 81 100 81 100 81 100 81 100 81 100

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Though construction units and certified EIA agencies and practitionersare mainly responsible for the authenticity of EIA documentation, thecompetent authority of review and approval are responsible for theapproval of EIA documentation. In order to strengthen the supervisionandmanagement of EIA, it is necessary to establish EIA liability systemto explicitly regulate legal responsibilities of construction units,certified EIA agencies and practitioners, approval departments andrelevant personnel. In addition, it is important to set up supervisingmechanisms and review criteria of EIA documentation to ensure thequality of EIA documentation and to prevent any misleadingconclusions. Furthermore, the committee of environmental consulta-tion, convened through legal authorization and process, should be ableto provide substantial and professional recommendations on EIAdocumentation. Most of all, lateral collaboration between differentdepartments and agencies shall be established to build and enhancecooperative mechanisms.

● To enhance the effects of the public

Public participation is an essential part of environmental manage-ment. To ensure a good practice of EIA, it is necessary to encouragegeneral public to actively and aggressively participate in theprocess of EIA. All non-governmental organizations (NGOs), suchas social organizations, business associations, academic associa-tions, are also encouraged to participate in public participationactivities, such as demonstration meetings, public hearing, semi-nars, and etc. In order to guarantee the effectiveness of publicparticipation, all information should be disclosed (unless classifiedor confidential); the accesses to environmental information andrelated should be available to the public; and all channels formutual communication should be widely open.

● To build the EIA information platform

It is necessary to build the EIA information platform to facilitateinformation disclosure, to enhance information exchange, and topromote public participation. Unless classified or confidential, allEIA information and related, such as the status of EIA documen-tation, the final decisions on EIA documentation, completion andacceptance of construction projects, reviewing comments, review-ing time, project sites, construction methods, key indices in SEA,mitigating measures and etc., shall be placed on the platform. Also,practical experience and empirical data, both international anddomestic, shall also be uploaded to the platform.

● To strengthen basic and theoretical researches to expand the

coverage of SEACurrently, theoretical researches on SEA applications are focusingon three major categories, for example, technical and methodo-logical researches on various types of SEA, SEA for ecological cityconstruction, and applicable researches on circular society con-struction, namely. With the fast pace of economic and socialdevelopment, many perceptions, such as sustainable development,clean production, circular economy, low-carbon emission andenergy conservation, green building, and renewable and clean

energy, shall be included into the theoretical framework of SEA tofurther expand the domain, the objectives, and the missions of SEA.

● To strengthen education and training system and to establish

certifying and registering management systemWell-trained practitioners and professionals are the foundation ofSEA system.Well-planned education and training programs shouldbe designed, according to different purposes, objectives, topics, andlevels, to enhance the learning on laws and regulations, legislativerequirements, basic theories, applicable techniques, practicalexperience, empirical data, and lateral collaboration. To ensurethe quality of SEA and to strengthen the capability and ability ofpractitioners and professional, it is of great needs to establish amanagement system to guide certifying and registering process forpractitioners and professionals, such as minimum requirements,qualifications, educational background, special training, practicalexperience, examination, licensing, registration, performanceaudit, annual review, renewing, and etc.

● To enhance mechanisms for domestic and international commu-

nication and cooperationTo facilitate the exchange of applied techniques and methods,practical experience, and empirical data, it is necessary to build theplatform for domestic and international communication and coop-eration. Two major means can be adopted for internationalcooperation. The first one is to work together with internationalSEA research institutes and associations to concentrate on SEAstudies, and to introduce Chinese experience to the world. Thesecond one is to work with international financial organizations onSEA development, including capacity construction, professionaltraining, materials compiling, and information exchange. Fordomestic, first thing is to enhance the mechanisms for vertical andlateral interaction and collaboration, which is very essential for theeffectiveness of SEA implementation. Second thing is to build aninformation center to provide informationmanagement and enquiryservices for internal training, cooperation and communication.

6. Conclusions

All participants of this survey are from central and local competentauthorities of environmental protection, environmental consultingagencies, university and colleges, andenvironmental research institutes,with many years of practical experience in studies, consulting andmanagement on EIA. In addition, most participants have experience instudies, consulting and evaluation on PEIA. Therefore, the outcomes ofthis survey have comprehensively reflected the viewpoints andperspectives from experienced professionals on current status of SEAimplementation in China, and shall exert guiding effects on futuredevelopment of SEA in China, especially for institutional constructionand studies on techniques and methods. The other purpose of thissurvey is to understand the effectiveness of SEA implementation inChina. Nevertheless, due to the nature of professional background and

84 J. Wu et al. / Environmental Impact Assessment Review 31 (2011) 77–84

expertise of all participants, there is a possible tendency that theeffectiveness of SEA implementation in China has been optimisticallyevaluated and over-estimated.

The major fields of SEA implementation are REIA, PEIA and policyEIA, to cover major economic development activities, such as land use,regional development, watershed development,marine development,and special plans for industry, agriculture, husbandry, forestry,energy, water conservancy, transportation, municipal construction,tourism and natural resources development. However, the develop-ments of SEA implementation within these fields are quite differentsince the attitude of decision-makers and competent authority towardSEA has great and direct influence on SEA implementation.

For current status of SEA implementation, the timing of SEA is late incomparing with plan compiling procedures, due to the system and thearrangement for PEIA in the EIA Law. In fact, SEA implementation inChina is ‘impact-based SEA.’ Quantitative methods were frequentlyadopted for impact prediction to indicate that the main methodsadopted for SEA implementation in China are technical and inferentialschemes. Though, fulfilling the minimum legal requirements toimplement public participation, there are lacks of substantial participa-tion with high effectiveness. Disclosed information is not sufficient tomeet the basic needs of public participation. Alternative research wasmostly performed for special plans and less for integrated and directivemacro plans. The argument between competent authority of environ-mental protection and other departments regarding the power toconvene the review team for SEA reports resulted from ambiguousstatement within the laws and regulations to hold back the develop-ment of SEA implementation.

Generally, under current framework of SEA system in China,abundant empirical experience have been accumulated through thepractice of case studies and technological and methodologicalresearches. SEA implementation, especially for PEIA, has only fulfilledthe objective to provide countermeasures and actions to prevent ormitigate adverse environmental impacts which is far from the primaryobjective stated in Article 1 of the EIA Law. The major issue to affect theeffectiveness of SEA implementation in China is systematic infrastruc-ture, such as legislation, administration, management and decision-making procedures.

In order to objectively evaluate the effectiveness of SEA implemen-tationand to guide SEA system for future improvement, appropriate SEAPerformance Criteria should be established, by integrating practicalexperience from domestic and international, to include political,legislative, administrative, and policy characteristics of China.

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding support of FocusedInvestment Scheme of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Project1902041).

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