Established in 1993 by an administrative order of Denmark's Prime Minister's Office,[1] this requirement was not initially enshrined in law, but was supported by a government circular which required an SEA to be carried out on “government proposals with major environmental effects”.
SEAs were required to focus on the impacts proposals would have on physical, ecological, cultural, health and risk factors.
[3] In 1995, the SEA requirement was extended to new parliamentary acts in addition to government proposals at the national level.
Screening – using the checklist contained in the guidance (water, air, climate, surface of the earth, soil, flora and fauna, landscape, resources, waste, historical buildings, population health, safety and transport of harmful substances) proposals that were likely to have a significant environmental impact had to be identified.
[5] The SEA Act allows the Minister for the Environment a certain amount of discretion (as the administrative order of 1993 did), with the Minister able to determine whether or not a private or publicly owned company is required to carry out a SEA on their plan or programme, when they are acting in the capacity of a public authority (for example, the provision of utilities).
Instruction number 9664 entitled 'Vejledning om miljøvurdering af planer og programmer' replaced the earlier guidance dating from 1995.
The table sets out the specific SEA process as defined by 2006 and 2007 guidance from the Danish Ministry of the Environment.
The resulting analysis found there was no clear best solution and therefore other factors, such as economic considerations, should be taken into account to aid the decision-making process.
This SEA clearly influenced the decision-making process as the decision on the best alternative was deferred until suitable mitigation measures could be found.
Currently monitoring of environmental impacts is done only through informal communication instead of the Minister for the Environment issuing specific rules.