Public Participation Process in Integrated SEA Applied to Growth Management Policy Making: A case study on Puget Sound Regional Council's VISION 2040

Abstract

In Japan, though an SEA (Strategic Environmental Assessment) Guideline was published in April 2007 from the Ministry of the Environment, some difficulties in introducing SEA are still recognized. Due to reluctancy in information disclosure, some agencies hesitate to involve the public in the early stages of their plan-making process. The agencies therefore, often prepare the EIA document after developing their plan, so that it justifies the decisions predetermined internally. With this Japanese background, we conducted a survey to analyze an advanced SEA system in Washington State, which has improved public involvement at an early stage. In Washington State, a Nonproject Review system, which is considered equivalent with SEA, has been established under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). Puget Sound Regional Council has developed their Growth Management Policy (VISION 2040) by concurrently integrating the Nonproject Review process into the plan-making process. Therefore, both environmental reviewing and public involvement have been initiated at an early stage of the process. We examine the whole VISION 2040 process, which interlinks the plan-making process and the environmental reviewing process, in order to clarify the method for an integrated approach of SEA.