Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Audit in Large-Scale Public Infrastructure Construction: The Case of the Qinghai–Tibet Railway |
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Authors: | Guizhen He Lei Zhang Yonglong Lu |
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Institution: | (1) State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 18 Shuangqing Road, Beijing, 100085, China;(2) Environmental Policy Group, Wageningen University, Hollandseweg 1, 6706 Wageningen, The Netherlands |
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Abstract: | Large-scale public infrastructure projects have featured in China’s modernization course since the early 1980s. During the
early stages of China’s rapid economic development, public attention focused on the economic and social impact of high-profile
construction projects. In recent years, however, we have seen a shift in public concern toward the environmental and ecological
effects of such projects, and today governments are required to provide valid environmental impact assessments prior to allowing
large-scale construction. The official requirement for the monitoring of environmental conditions has led to an increased
number of debates in recent years regarding the effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and Governmental
Environmental Audits (GEAs) as environmental safeguards in instances of large-scale construction. Although EIA and GEA are
conducted by different institutions and have different goals and enforcement potential, these two practices can be closely
related in terms of methodology. This article cites the construction of the Qinghai–Tibet Railway as an instance in which
EIA and GEA offer complementary approaches to environmental impact management. This study concludes that the GEA approach
can serve as an effective follow-up to the EIA and establishes that the EIA lays a base for conducting future GEAs. The relationship
that emerges through a study of the Railway’s construction calls for more deliberate institutional arrangements and cooperation
if the two practices are to be used in concert to optimal effect. |
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Keywords: | Environmental performance Construction project Large-scale construction program Environmental audit Environmental Impact Assessment Qinghai– Tibet Railway |
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