Research 392: Guidance on Strategic Environmental Assessment–Environmental Impact Assessment Tiering

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) aim to identify and mitigate environmental impacts resulting from plan, programme (the realm of SEAs) and project (EIA) implementation. The organised transfer of information and issues from one planning level and assessment level to the other (e.g. SEA to EIA) is known as tiering. This good practice guidance aims to support more effective tiering of environmental assessments, strengthening the links between SEA and EIA, with regards to both processes and outcomes.