Fingal East Meath Flood Risk Assessment and Management Study

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)

The SEA process can be broken down into a number of key stages as illustrated in the flow chart below. The key stages are described in further detail below.

Stage 1 - Screening assessment

Stage 1 (screening) of FEM FRAMS is now complete. Following the screening phase by the Office of Public Works (OPW), whereby the specific context of Flood Risk Management Plans were assessed against environmental significance criteria as contained in Schedule 2A of the Planning and Development (SEA) Regulations 2004, it is considered that the application of the SEA process is appropriate for the Fingal East Meath Flood Risk Management Plan.

Stage 2 - SEA scoping

The scoping stage of the study involves establishing the environmental baseline and identifying key environmental constraints, issues and opportunities to inform the identification of flood risk management options. An Environmental Scoping Report has been published to document the outcome of this scoping process.

Stage 3 - Baseline data collection

Baseline data is currently being collected to provide a baseline against which the significant environmental effects of the plan can be measured and assessed. The baseline data will be used to identify the key environmental issues and trends that characterise the area covered by the study.

Stage 4 - Assessment of options

The SEA forms a key part of the identification and assessment of potential flood risk management options. The environmental objectives identified during the scoping stage have been reviewed and refined following consultation and are being used to test the environmental acceptability of potential options, as part of the overall option assessment process.

This stage concluded with an assessment of the impacts of the identified preferred options which form the flood risk management strategy for the FEM FRAM study area. This identified the positive and negative effects and any associated mitigation and monitoring requirements.

Stage 5 - Reporting

Following the assessment of options and the identification of the preferred flood risk management strategy for the FEM FRAM study area, a report has been prepared to document the SEA process – an Environmental Report. This report builds on the information presented in the Environmental Scoping Report and describes the options assessment process and the predicted environmental effects, and associated mitigation and monitoring requirements, of the identified flood risk management strategy.