Requirements and Issues with Implementing SEA as a Sustainable Development Instrument in Ukraine - Implementing Environmental and Resource Management - page 145

sion-making levels, both project and strategic. In this context, there are a number
of doubts about suitability and applicability of the SEE procedure for preparing
development strategies:
• Firstly, SEE evaluates, in general, the likely impacts of development projects
and activities in terms of compliance with environmental legislation and nor-
mative requirements; SEE procedure should also examine if a project involves
the rational use of natural resources. Thus, SEE is not a proactive instrument
for preparing development proposals; rather it is used as a tool in the state per-
mit system (i.e. as a part of the state licensing process).
• Secondly, according to Ukrainian legislation, the SEE process does not include
requirements to assess impacts on human health, nor obligations to conduct
consultations with health authorities. Impacts on the natural environment are
not studied on a par with other elements of the environment - social factors and
population health; issues of the protection of human health are addressed in the
framework of the sanitary and hygiene control. Therefore, there is a need in ap-
propriate assessment procedure that would address the environmental risks of
development proposals, as well as the associated threats to public health and
safety.
• Thirdly, none of the legal documents (Law of Ukraine “On environmental pro-
tection” (1991), Law of Ukraine “On environmental expertise” (1995), State
construction norms (DBN), official guidelines, etc.) clearly define the roles and
responsibilities of various actors involved in the assessment process, or any
procedural requirements for using SEE at the stage of preparing strategic ac-
tions.
Therefore, following the analysis above it is possible to draw the following con-
clusions. The Ukrainian environmental assessment system, in the form of envi-
ronmental expertise, is a systematic process for evaluating the environmental im-
plications of development projects in order to ensure that these projects comply
with environmental legislation, meet relevant environmental requirements and in-
volve rational use of natural resources. Moreover, Ukrainian legislation provides
for various types of environmental expertise, including state environmental exper-
tise, public environmental expertise and other types of environmental expertise
(i.e. specialised environmental expertises). Currently, only actions on the deci-
sions of the state environmental expertise are compulsory and this procedure re-
mains the basis of the environmental assessment system in Ukraine.
It is possible to argue that Ukrainian environmental assessment system is not
fully developed, as it lacks clearly defined rules and procedure for integrating en-
vironmental concerns into development policies, plans and programs. A number of
procedural elements for assessing the environmental impact of strategic actions
are missing and those available are not up to the standard of 'western-type' SEA
procedures. Furthermore, in the framework of the SEE process it is not necessary
to assess impacts on human health or conduct consultations with health authori-
ties; none of the legal documents regulating SEE clearly define the roles of actors
involved in the assessment process at the stage of preparing development strate-
gies.