The BRIDGE Impact Assessment Framework

The assessment of potential impacts of development proposals on the environment is a requirement under European law. The requirements for environmental impact assessment are embedded in planning legislation through Directive 2001/42/EC (CEC, 2001), also known as the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive which requires an assessment of potential significant impacts resulting from plan (e.g. landuse, transport) or programme (e.g. waste management) implementation to be conducted. In addition, Directive 2011/92/EU (CEC, 2011), amending 85/337/EEC (EC, 1985) and 97/11/EC (CEC, 1997) – also known as the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive establishes the requirements for assessing potential environmental effects associated with certain specific projects (e.g. roads, housing states). In the context of urban planning, impact assessment can be defined as a systematic process of predicting and evaluating the likely effects of implementing a development proposal and thus ensure that any significant effects are appropriately addressed at the earliest appropriate decision-making stage. Such processes not only enable the early identification and mitigation of any negative effects (e.g. increased water consumption), but provide the opportunity to promote positive changes in the environment by incorporating additional environment-focused measures into the proposal (e.g. grey water capture and reuse). Although SEA and EIA focus on environmental aspects, they also address certain social aspects (e.g. human health and material assets). In practice, the assessment outcomes are considered on a par with other socio-economic aspects in the context of sustainable development.