INTRODUCTION
The SEA Directive and Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 require that a strategic environmental assessment ( SEA) is undertaken of most public plans, programmes and strategies in Scotland. This supplementary paper has been prepared as part of the SEA of Scotland's Second National Planning Framework ( NPF). Reporting on the first stage of the assessment, it sets out the range of strategic alternatives that have been considered as part of the development of the NPF, and identifies their respective environmental effects. These findings will be used to inform the development of a 'preferred option' for the National Planning Framework.