EIA,Decision-making Theory and Screening and Scoping in UK Practice

As an aid to decision making Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is seen as a rational and systematic process which is often held to be holistic and proactive in its approach to environmental protection (Glasson et al., 1999). The roots of EIA are firmly located within the 1960s' demand for a more systematic and objective approach to environmental decision making and hence within the rationalist model of decision making theory. This paper examines the key stages of the EIA process to assess how far EIA conforms to the rationalist model today. Most research in EIA decision making has focused on the project authorization process and not the crucial decisions made at the earlier stages of screening and scoping. This study examines those early stages within the context of UK EIA practice. From this examination the paper attempts to locate EIA within decision-making theory.     

From Poole to Fulham: A Changing Culture in UK Environmental Impact Assessment Decision Making?

This paper examines the role of environmental impact assessment (EIA) in project authorization decision making and the way in which the courts have interpreted its role. The purpose of the paper is to establish whether or not that role has changed over the period between the introduction of EIA in 1988 and 2001. From the evidence reported here, it is argued that while the procedural stages of EIA have been very much strengthened over that period, the importance of EIA as a tool to aid planning authorization decision making remains largely peripheral.     

How democratic innovations realise democratic goods. Two case studies of area committees in the Netherlands

Participatory planning is becoming increasingly integral to governance. Numerous planning innovations are developed which aim to increase democratic legitimacy and improve decision making. This paper critically reflects on a typical Dutch innovation: the area committee. Based on two individual case studies, we investigate whether area committees realise democratic legitimacy in existing planning practices. Analytically, we focus on four democratic goods: inclusiveness, popular control, considered judgement and transparency. Based on the interdependencies between area committees and government structures we discuss the potential and dilemmas for the area committee to contribute to the democratic legitimacy of environmental policy and rural development.     

Beyond the Requirements: Improving Public Participation in EIA

Virtually every environmental planner at some time deals with environmental impact assessment (EIA). Public participation is required in most environmental impact assessment programmesaround the world. However, citizen involvement is often reduced to a procedural exercise instead of a substantive process to include the public in environmental decision making. This paper examines public participation in EIA and provides ways to improve its effectiveness. We first examine the rationales for public involvement and its institutionalization through EIA. Next, we analyse the shortcomings and strengths of common approaches to public involvement. Our analysis, supported by two case studies, suggests that going beyond the minimum requirements can benefit the public, the project proponent and the final plan. We conclude with practical steps to improve public participation programmes in environmental planning and decision making.     

Policy and Practice

Saudi Arabia has recently begun to implement its General Environmental Regulations. The main purpose is to ensure that environmental considerations are taken into account at all levels of planning with an emphasis on incorporating EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) into development activities. However, there is a need to develop a broad framework of SEA (Strategic Environmental Assessment) for the proper integration of sustainability into decision‐making processes. This paper reviews and discusses a framework for ensuring sustainability in Saudi Arabia, particularly at the local level. The paper develops guidelines and a framework for implementing the principles of sustainability in Saudi municipalities through SEA.     

EIA in a risk society

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was developed and introduced in the 1960s during a time that was dominated by three key societal influences. These were the growth of modern environmental concern, the drive for more rational, scientific and objective environmental decision making and a desire for more public involvement in environmental decision making. The legitimacy of EIA, as a tool to aid decision making, lies in its ability to meet the requirements of all three demands, the chief among these being its ability to be a systematic scientific and rational approach to decision making. Yet today we live in a society that no longer accepts the rationalist model as either possible or desirable. The deference to ‘the expert’ and our trust in science and technology has steadily declined during the period of EIAs development and widespread use. Today, EIA still depends for its legitimacy on its claim to provide a systematic and scientific approach to assessments, while society has moved on. This paper examines this growing divergence and argues that it is time for a major re‐evaluation of the role of EIA in environmental decision making.     

基于双系统理论的消费者价格判断决策模型

参考价格理论是构建价格判断模型的传统理论,其价格判断模型是一种典型的推理性模型.根据双系统理论,人们的决策应是推理性和直觉性两类过程的交互作用,心理账户理论正是描述直觉性决策的基本理论之一.构建了基于参考价格与心理账户的双系统价格判断决策模型,对不同心理账户数据进行分析发现,被试者的目标价格决策过程具有显著差异.     

Towards a more effective EIA in transport planning: a literature review to derive interventions and mechanisms to improve knowledge integration

A set of process-related barriers negatively determines the effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in transport planning. Recent research highlights the unstructured stakeholder involvement and inefficient public participation in earlier phases of EIA as key bottlenecks. While the academic literature has produced promising theories for addressing these barriers, they have rarely been translated into solutions applicable and testable in practice. In order to bridge this theory–practice gap, we present a systematic literature review of interventions and mechanisms aimed at facilitating the integration of different sources and types of knowledge during the scoping phase of EIA. This review explores if and how interventions and mechanisms have been conducted in practice; if and why they worked or did not work and how relevant they are for EIA in transport planning. Based on this review, we distil a set of three specific interventions and trigger mechanisms applicable in the context of EIA in transport planning.     

Screening for EIA in India: Enhancing effectiveness through ecological carrying capacity approach

Developing countries across the world have embraced the policy of high economic growth as a means to reduce poverty. This economic growth largely based on industrial output is fast degrading the ecosystems, jeopardizing their long term sustainability. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has long been recognized as a tool which can help in protecting the ecosystems and aid sustainable development. The Screening guidelines for EIA reflect the level of commitment the nation displays towards tightening its environmental protection system. The paper analyses the screening process for EIA in India and dissects the rationale behind the exclusions and thresholds set in the screening process. The screening process in India is compared with that of the European Union with the aim of understanding the extent of deviations from a screening approach in the context of better economic development. It is found that the Indian system excludes many activities from the purview of screening itself when compared to the EU. The constraints responsible for these exclusions are discussed and the shortcomings of the current command and control system of environmental management in India are also explained. It is suggested that an ecosystem carrying capacity based management system can provide significant inputs to enhance the effectiveness of EIA process from screening to monitoring.     

Who Plans Whose Sustainability? Alternative Roles for Planners

The paper examines alternative roles for planners in planning for sustainable development. First, it outlines the particular context of the task focusing on operational questions, critical issues and sustainable development planning principles. It then explores roles for planners in this context distinguishing broadly among technician, politician and hybrid planners. It evaluates broadly each role's effectiveness and challenges, in particular decision making and political contexts. Finally, it discusses, first, the implications of these roles for planning education and identifies the main groups of skills planning schools should offer. Second, it analyses briefly the implications of these roles for planning practice in terms of the spatial/organizational level of planning, time horizon, functional planning areas, political/decision making system and planning's position in this system.     

战略环境影响评价的发展与应用

本文介绍了SEA的发展背景，现有项目EIA在PPPs决策层次上的缺陷和可持续发展理论如何导致SEA的发展，新发展的SEA比较传统的项目EIA所具有的优点，以及当前对SEA的认识和理解，在实践中所采用的形式，和成功的SEA必具备的特征，同时对在当前形势下SEA的实践方式进行了一定的评价，发现SEA的增值效应是SEA实施的先决条件。     

Surrender or resistance to the implementation of Local Agenda 21 in Portugal: the challenges of local governance for sustainable development

The aim of this paper is to understand how Local Agenda 21 (LA21) is contributing to update local policy and decision making towards sustainable development in Portugal. Departing from a theoretical view of governance for sustainable development – its core values and challenges – and the role of LA21 in its endorsement, the paper presents the main results of a questionnaire survey submitted to Portuguese municipalities, with the purpose of understanding how far LA21 is being incorporated into planning and management. The paper then tries to expose some of the main potential, limitations and challenges in the local Portuguese case for the short-term sustainable future.     

Towards Participatory Geographic Information Systems for community-based environmental decision making

This article discusses the potential of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to become an information technology enabling groups of people to participate in decisions shaping their communities and promoting sustainable use of natural resources. It explains the concept of participation in the context of planning and decision making. In this context Participatory GIS (PGIS) offers tools that can be used to help the public become meaningfully involved in decision making processes affecting their communities. Following an overview of research on PGIS and its current status the article presents two recent studies of PGIS in water resource planning; one involving the use of computer generated maps representing simple information structures and the other involving the use of more sophisticated information tools. The synthesis of both studies provides the bases for discussing the prospects of PGIS to empower citizens in making decisions about their communities and resources.     

旅游专项规划环境影响评价探讨

旅游专项规划环境影响评价是我国新颁布的环境影响评价法所规定的一种新的环境影响评价形式。应以生态旅游理论为指导，突出反映规划环境影响评价的特点，引入区域环境影响评价的方法学开展旅游专项规划环境影响评价工作。文中对旅游专项规划环境影响评价的要点及指标体系进行了系统探讨。     

A risk model for predicting the effects of lake-side development on wildfowl populations

The lack of quantitative analysis and general scientific rigour in environmental impact assessment (EIA) is well documented. While reasons for this may include political and economic factors, the lack of high-level statistical knowledge and skills in environmental consultancies probably contributes to the problem, particularly with regard to ecological studies. This paper develops a simple model for wintering wildfowl populations that predicts different levels of risk from lake-side development. The aim was to create a model that could be used easily and quickly by consultants, is readily understandable for developers and various groups associated with the planning process, with explicit assumptions that can be criticised, and predictions that can be tested with post-development audits. The model is used in a case study. The basic parameters of the model are (i) average wildfowl abundance on lakes before development, (ii) maximum potential density of wildfowl across lakes (Kmax) before development, and (iii) reduction in lake area suitable for wildfowl after development. The model includes abundance-area relationships that are useful for highlighting the importance of particular lakes at a site. In the case study, abundance-area relationships focused attention on two lakes with thick charophyte beds which supported higher than expected numbers of pochard and coot given their size. As well as being robust (confidence limits are calculated), the model's predictions are quantitative and testable, making it possible to compare the predictions with on-going post-development monitoring of wildfowl population levels. The predictions rely on the effectiveness of path screening, and post-development monitoring can suggest where screening should be strengthened if the model's predictions are not met. Similarly, if other assumptions in the model are not met by the development, appropriate action can be implemented.     

The significance of environmental impacts: an exploration of the concept

Since environmental impact assessment (EIA) is concerned primarily withsignificant environmental impacts, the concept of impact significance deserves to be defined and applied rigorously. In this article use of the term over the past 15 years in EIA documentation is reviewed. Some recent attempts at elucidating the concept are summarized. Four perspectives on impact significance that emerged from a series of workshops on the ecological basis for EIA are presented. These perspectives include (a) statistical (related to problems of isolating project-induced changes from natural variation), (b) ecological (related to the importance of project-induced changes from a purely ecological perspective), (c) social (related to the acceptability of project-induced changes in important environmental attributes), and (d) project (related to whether project-induced changes will indeed influence project decision making). The following synthesis is proposed: Any exercise in judging the significance of an environmental impact should thoroughly consider (a) the importance of the environmental attribute in question to project decision makers, (2) the distribution of change in time and space, (c) the magnitude of change, and (d) the reliability with which change has been predicted or measured. The implications of considering these factors are discussed.     

我国城市总体规划环境影响评价探讨

城市总体规划是城市发展之纲，在我国城市规划体系中占有重要地位。随着环评法的实施，我国已陆续开展了多项城市总体规划环境影响评价工作，取得了理论、方法等方面的进展和实践经验。本文根据城市总体规划的特点和任务探讨了城市总体规划环评的重点，并对城市总体规划环境影响的评价实施主体、层次深度、替代方案、承载力评价、景观影响评价、风险评价和跟踪评价等方面做了进一步的讨论。     

Progress with Implementing the Environmental Assessment Requirements of the Resource Management Act in New Zealand

The Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) has introduced environmental impact assessment (EIA) into the operations of territorial authorities at the regional and district level in New Zealand. The system established by the RMA is not only devolved in administrative terms, it is also comprehensive in its application. This paper reports the findings of an interview-based survey of key personnel in selected regional and district councils, along with others from government departments, planning consultancies and law firms. The purpose is to assess the success of the councils in developing appropriate and workable procedures, and to identify the main problems likely to inhibit the development of an effective EIA system in New Zealand. Overall, the task of implementing the EIA requirements has been tackled positively by councils, but there are signs of major differences emerging in the EIA procedures they are developing. Key issues that need to be considered by councils include: the need for explanatory documentation for, and verbal advice to, resource consents applicants at the earliest stage possible; the lack of public involvement in the EIA activities and the need for council staff to encourage and facilitate such participation; and problems with ensuring the adequacy of EIA information in such a devolved and comprehensive EIA system.     

Environmental Impact Assessment Under the National Environmental Policy Act and the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty

US government actions undertaken in Antarctica are subject to the requirements of both the Protocol and the US National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). There are differences in the scope and intent of the Protocol and NEPA; however, both require environmental impact assessment (EIA) as part of the planning process for proposed actions that have the potential for environmental impacts. In this paper we describe the two instruments and highlight key similarities and differences with particular attention to EIA. Through this comparison of the EIA requirements of NEPA and the Protocol, we show how the requirements of each can be used in concert to provide enhanced environmental protection for the antarctic environment. NEPA applies only to actions of the US government; therefore, because NEPA includes certain desirable attributes that have been refined and clarified through numerous court cases, and because the Protocol is just entering implementation internationally, some recommendations are made for strengthening the procedural requirements of the Protocol for activities undertaken by all Parties in Antarctica. The Protocol gives clear and strong guidance for protection of specific, valued antarctic environmental resources including intrinsic wilderness and aesthetic values, and the value of Antarctica as an area for scientific research. That guidance requires a higher standard of environmental protection for Antarctica than is required in other parts of the world. This paper shows that taken together NEPA and the Protocol call for closer examination of proposed actions and a more rigorous consideration of environmental impacts than either would alone. Three areas are identified where the EIA provisions of the Protocol could be strengthened to improve its effectiveness. First, the thresholds defined by the Protocol need to be clarified. Specifically, the meanings of the terms “minor” and “transitory” are not clear in the context of the Protocol. The use of “or” in the phrase “minor or transitory” further confuses the meaning. Second, cumulative impact assessment is called for by the Protocol but is not defined. A clear definition could reduce the chance that cumulative impacts would be given inadequate consideration. Finally, the public has limited opportunities to comment on or influence the preparation of initial or comprehensive environmental evaluations. Experience has shown that public input to environmental documents has a considerable influence on agency decision making and the quality of EIA that agencies perform.     

EIA application in China's expressway infrastructure: clarifying the decision-making hierarchy

China's EIA Law came into effect in 2003 and formally requires road transport infrastructure development actions to be subject to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). EIAs (including project EIA and plan EIA, or strategic environmental impact assessment, SEA) have been being widely applied in the expressway infrastructure planning field. Among those applications, SEA is applied to provincial level expressway network (PLEI) plans, and project EIA is applied to expressway infrastructure development 'projects' under PLEI plans. Three case studies (one expressway project EIA and two PLEI plan SEAs) were examined to understand currently how EIAs are applied to expressway infrastructure development planning. Through the studies, a number of problems that significantly influence the quality of EIA application in the field were identified. The reasons causing those problems are analyzed and possible solutions are suggested aimed at enhancing EIA practice, helping deliver better decision-making and ultimately improving the environmental performance of expressway infrastructure.