Computer-aided rapid environmental impact assessment

Environmental impact assessment of a project attempts to bring about compatibility between ecology and economics. A computer-aided, quantitative and rapid methodology for environmental impact assessment is presented in this paper. The cost of abatement of deleterious environmental impacts is one of the factors used to identify the best project option from environmental and cost considerations. The methodology is based on the three basic steps of environmental impact assessment vis-à-vis identification, prediction, and evaluation. Several models and predictors for different environmental components are incorporated in the computer program. An evaluation method is presented based on mathematical functions for value function graphs for different aesthetic, environmental, and health risks.     

Planning theories and environmental impact assessment

The limited and sporadic interaction between EIA and planning theory has meant that EIA has largely failed to benefit from planning theory insights and lessons. Obstacles and dilemmas already encountered and addressed in planning theory are still hampering EIA theory building and practice. An overview of the characteristics, strengths, and limitations of five major planning theories—rationalism, pragmatism, socio-ecological idealism (SEI), political-economic mobilization (PEM), and communications and collaboration (CC) is presented in an effort to ameliorate this problem. EIA parallels to each planning theory and lessons for EIA are identified. Also addressed are the application of planning theories to different context types, overlaps, interconnections and middle ground concepts among theories, the integration of values, ethics, and postmodern perspectives and the potential to construct composite theories.     

An LCA-based environmental impact assessment model for regulatory planning

Assessing the environmental impact (EI) of regulatory planning (a lower tier in the Chinese urban planning system) has significant implications for improving the environmental performance of the future built environment. Current environmental impact assessments generally focus on microscale and macroscale, while mesoscale studies at region level are lacking. To fill this gap, this paper proposes an LCA-based environmental impact assessment model for regulatory planning, which focuses on embodied EI of urban construction and operational EI associated with the operation of the built environment. To ensure the regulatory plans both meet the environmental limits and fit well with environmental policy requirements, this paper also presents a new impact analysis method by integrating environmental carrying capacity analysis and distance to target method. The Statutory Plan of Shenzhen Futian Free Trade Zone 03-T2 is used as a case study to test and demonstrate the applying process and functions of the proposed method. Results indicate that the proposed model can effectively quantify the future environmental impact associated with a regional development plan, and can potentially be used as a tool for urban administrators to make decisions on regulatory planning revision and provide references for environmental management.     

环境质量评价中关键因子识别的方法研究

应用投影寻踪聚类方法分析环境影响指标的数据资料 ,不但可以根据数据内在特性确定各评价指标的相对权重 ,避免权重人为给定的任意性 ,而且还可以通过逐次筛选找出影响环境质量的关键因子。本文将该方法成功地应用于南京市秦淮河水环境评价中 ,筛选出了影响秦淮河水质的关键因子 ,可供秦淮河水环境监测和治理作参考。另一方面 ,该方法还可以推广应用于其它类似问题的综合分析研究中。     

Evaluation of a gradient sampling design for environmental impact assessment

Before-After Control Impact (BACI) sampling designsare commonly used in environmental impact assessmentand are considered the most effective for detectingchanges due to anthropogenic disturbances. Thesedesigns handle local spatial variability throughrandomized placement of samples into a treatmentstratum and a control stratum. When a contaminantdisperses with distance from a point source it issuggested that a gradient design will be moresensitive to change than randomized placement ofsamples. This requires allocating samples according todistance, rather than by random placement withinrandomly placed blocks. In this paper gradient versusrandom sampling designs were compared using data froman oil field in the North Sea. The gradient samplingdesign was more powerful than a randomized CI sampling design.     

Setting boundaries of participation in environmental impact assessment

Public participation processes are touted as an effective way to increase the capacity and legitimacy of environmental assessment and the regulatory process that rely on them. Recent changes to the Canadian environmental assessment process narrowed the criteria for who can participate in environmental assessments from any who were interested to those who were most directly affected. This article examines the potential consequences of this change by exploring other areas of Canadian regulatory law where a similar directed affected test has been applied. This new standard risks institutionalizing the long-understood representational bias confronted by more diffuse interest like environmental protection. Restricting participation to the “directly affected” is far too narrow a test for processes like environmental assessment that are designed to determine the public interest.     

The Australian government's experience with environmental impact assessment

This article reviews the implementation of the Commonwealth government's environmental impact assessment (EIA) legislation over its 12-year history. The Whitlam Labor government initially sought to implement the EIA requirement widely. However, resistance by the states and by sections of the bureaucracy combined with the policies of the ensuing Fraser Liberal-National Country Party government to limit implementation. The number of EISs produced has been low, and EIA has not yet been fully accepted as a routine part of government decision making. The article examines the factors that have contributed to this outcome, and proposes some changes to strengthen the EIA process.     

Choosing how to choose: Comparing amalgamation methods for environmental impact assessment

Amalgamation, in which disparate impacts are combined so that alternatives can be ranked, has become an important part of many impact assessments. Such methods can help make decisions more rational by systematically combining great amounts of information into more digestible forms. They can also facilitate public participation and ease documentation of decisions. The intent of this article is to give an overview of amalgamation methods and to propose four criteria for choosing among them: the purpose to be served, ease of use, validity, and results compared to other methods. Because experiments have repeatedly shown that the method chosen can significantly affect what decision is made, EIA practitioners should place more emphasis on the last two criteria than they have in the past. Finally, recent results in psychology and management science are discussed for practitioners facing the question “how do we choose how to choose?”     

Evaluation of the environmental impact assessment system in Iran

EIA in Iran was formally introduced in 1994, but to date little EIA-related research has been undertaken in the country. In this paper, the authors provide an evaluation of the Iranian EIA system, focusing on EIA legislation, administration and process. Data was collected on the basis of a literature review, document analysis and semi-structured interviews. This involved some translation from Persian into English. Evaluation of the findings indicate that Iran has adopted the democratic tools of EIA and SEA, which considering its political context is encouraging. However, currently the Iranian EIA system does suffer from weaknesses such as inadequate screening and scoping, lack of alternative consideration, public participation, EIA implementation and follow-up. The paper proposes some initial recommendations based on international experiences and sets out the direction for future research.     

A qualitative method proposal to improve environmental impact assessment

In environmental impact assessment, qualitative methods are used because they are versatile and easy to apply. This methodology is based on the evaluation of the strength of the impact by grading a series of qualitative attributes that can be manipulated by the evaluator. The results thus obtained are not objective, and all too often impacts are eliminated that should be mitigated with corrective measures. However, qualitative methodology can be improved if the calculation of Impact Importance is based on the characteristics of environmental factors and project activities instead on indicators assessed by evaluators. In this sense, this paper proposes the inclusion of the vulnerability of environmental factors and the potential environmental impact of project activities. For this purpose, the study described in this paper defined Total Impact Importance and specified a quantification procedure. The results obtained in the case study of oil drilling in Colombia reflect greater objectivity in the evaluation of impacts as well as a positive correlation between impact values, the environmental characteristics at and near the project location, and the technical characteristics of project activities.     

Incorporating cleaner production analysis into environmental impact assessment in china

An environmental impact assessment (EIA) system was established in 1979 in China. Although EIA was designed as a tool for pollution prevention, in practice it has been based on end-of-pipe (EOP) treatment control since it was first introduced. This approach has ensured an overwhelming focus by enterprises on the use of EOP treatment, rather than pollution prevention, to meet environmental standards, and it has produced a low rate of operation for EOP facilities. The low operation rate for EOP facilities can be traced to the traditional EIA system: it leads project proponents to develop large EOP treatment facilities, but once the main production lines are put into operation, proponents rarely have sufficient funds to operate the treatment facilities. This paper analyzes problems that exist in the EIA system in China, and it describes the Cleaner Production Index and Evaluation System, which is being proposed by environmental authorities in China to evaluate EIA projects based on cleaner production criteria. The paper also suggests how cleaner production analysis can be integrated into the EIA system to improve it.