* Corresponding author. Tel: # 44-1707-285259; fax: # 44-1707- 285258. E-mail address: J.Tzilivakis@herts.ac.uk (J. Tzilivakis) Land Use Policy 16 (1999) 223}234 A strategic environmental assessment method for agricultural policy in the UK J. Tzilivakis*, C. Broom, K.A. Lewis, P. Tucker, C. Drummond, R. Cook Agriculture and the Environment Research Unit (AERU), Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatxeld Campus, College Lane, Hatxeld, Hertfordshire AL10 9AB, UK Seale Hayne Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Land Use, University of Plymouth, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ12 6NQ, UK Department of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, University of Paisley, Paisley PA1 2BE, UK Linking Environment And Farming (LEAF), National Agricultural Centre, Stoneleigh, Kenilworth, Warwickshire CV8 2LZ, UK SAPPIO Link Programme Co-ordinator, MAFF, Room 651, St Christopher House, Southwark Street, London SE1 0UD, UK Received 3 September 1998; received in revised form 27 May 1999; accepted 1 June 1999 Abstract There are a number of signi"cant environmental impacts that arise from agricultural practices that may be in#uenced by policy. A Strategic Environmental Assessment Method (SEAM) is described which aims to assess the environmental impacts of agricultural policy and aid the development of more sustainable policy formulation. The method addresses the issues of selecting appropriate performance criteria and measurements, and makes use of e!ect-damage functions and targets to determine the signi"cance of potential impacts in relation to sustainability. A set of pro"les is produced, describing the environmental performance of a speci"c policy. A con"dence assessment system (CAS) is also described which provides details about the quality of the assessment and areas of uncertainty. SEAM provides information about impacts in simple format that can be easily used in decision making. It can identify environmental trade-o!s and provides a holistic view that is essential when making decisions that a!ect the environment.  1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Agriculture; Environment; Impact; Policy; Sustainable; Uncertainty Introduction Agriculture can have a signi"cant impact on the envi- ronment (Skinner et al., 1997) and can be highly in- #uenced by policy. Therefore, it is important that the environmental impact of any proposed policy is fully assessed. In the European Union, since the late 1980's there has been debate about introducing a new directive that would address the environmental impacts of pol- icies, known as Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). In October 1998 the European Parliament "nal- ised the First Reading of the SEA Proposal, the Commis- sion amended it in February 1999 and negotiations at the Council level were expected to start in the spring of 1999 (Europa, 1999). In Canada a method to assess the im- pacts of agricultural policies has already been developed (Campbell, 1996). Any programme enacted under the Farm Income Protection Act (1991) requires an environ- mental assessment of the programme to be conducted within two years after coming into force and every "ve years thereafter. An example where this has been applied is the Environmental Assessment of Crop Insurance (Fox and von Massow, 1994). In the UK the approach to SEA has evolved from more traditional economic techniques, particularly for government policies. This has resulted in application di$culties of cost}bene"t analysis such as monetary valuation of the environment (Partida H rio, 1996). Environmental assessments of development plans have adopted a more physical ap- proach, integrating biophysical, social and economic as- pects in plan formulation and decision making (Department of the Environment, 1994a). However, as yet there is no established SEA methodology for agricul- tural policies in the UK. This paper describes a SEA method (SEAM) developed by the authors for the Minis- try of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) (Tzilivakis et al., 1996). 0264-8377/99/$ - see front matter  1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 2 6 4 - 8 3 7 7 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 2 1 - 6