Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a new approach to environmental assessment, global in scope, which considers the environmental impacts of policies, plans and programmes. It is already in use in a number of countries and is rapidly being adopted by those involved with environmental management and regulation, including governments, official and voluntary sector agencies, academic courses and consultancies. This text defines and analyzes SEA within the overall context of environmental assessment. It introduces and reviews the current state of SEA, evaluates its application in a number of countries with a range of detailed case studies, provides a critique of its techniques and an analysis of its importance for the future.

Planners and lawyers engaged in the formulation and implementation of plans affecting the environment should have a working knowledge of the legal principles affecting those plans. They should also be familiar with the principles of environmental law. However, environmental law has not been a traditional part of the curriculum of law schools. Many practicing lawyers have never taken a course in environmental law; nor have many of the judges charged with deciding cases whose outcome may have consequences for the environment. In the interest of counteracting this lack of knowledge, Legal Foundations of Environmental Planning integrates excerpts from more than seventy-five court case rulings to illustrate the system of environmental laws and the problems of enforcement. Dedicated specifically to discussions on legal theories and procedures, air pollution, water pollution, and control of population growth and distribution, this sourcebook also includes an extensive glossary of environmental terms. It is a valuable aid for students, legal specialists, public officials, environmental professionals, and urban planners.