Integrating environmental impact assessment with master planning: lessons from the US Army

The US National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires agencies to consider environmental impacts in the early stages of planning and decision-making. Despite this mandate, agencies typically conduct EIA for projects, rather than for earlier and more strategic decisions, such as plans. This research investigated the extent to which a large federal agency, the US Army, has integrated NEPA analyses with master planning for their installations. Using in-depth case studies of 16 installations, we investigated how and why EIA was (or was not) integrated with planning, and identified the factors that promote or impede integration. Typically, integration has been regarded as concurrence, meaning that the EIA and planning processes are conducted together. Results of this research show, however, that integration can occur, even if the NEPA documents and master plans are not concurrently prepared. In this sense, integration can be viewed as the influence of the EIA process on agency planning and decision-making. Results also indicate that regulations are only one factor, and that several other factors influence the extent of integration, such as agency leadership and organizational incentives. Lessons from this study can help improve both the integration and the substantive implementation of EIA.     

The environmental impact statement comes to Israel: An initial assessment

Despite obstacles inherent in the structure of government and the lack of a strong national constituency, environmental impact assessment became a policy-making element in the government of Israel in 1982. The Environmental Protection Service formed in 1973 now needs to develop strategies to promote environmental awareness and environmentally informed decision making among the public, private and public developers, and within the Ministry of the Interior.     

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?”     

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.     

Canadian insights: The challenges of an integrated environmental assessment framework

The paper draws results from a review of literature to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the integrated environmental assessment framework in Canada with respect to the inclusion of health impact assessment. Insights include the legislative nature, rigid structure and priority for the natural environment that may restrict progress and the pool of government agencies that need to be convinced of the benefits of health impact assessment that may provide a strong structure for compliance in the long term.     

Underwater noise modelling for environmental impact assessment

Assessment of underwater noise is increasingly required by regulators of development projects in marine and freshwater habitats, and noise pollution can be a constraining factor in the consenting process. Noise levels arising from the proposed activity are modelled and the potential impact on species of interest within the affected area is then evaluated. Although there is considerable uncertainty in the relationship between noise levels and impacts on aquatic species, the science underlying noise modelling is well understood. Nevertheless, many environmental impact assessments (EIAs) do not reflect best practice, and stakeholders and decision makers in the EIA process are often unfamiliar with the concepts and terminology that are integral to interpreting noise exposure predictions. In this paper, we review the process of underwater noise modelling and explore the factors affecting predictions of noise exposure. Finally, we illustrate the consequences of errors and uncertainties in noise modelling, and discuss future research needs to reduce uncertainty in noise assessments.     

Fuzzy clustering analysis in environmental impact assessment — A complement tool to environmental quality index

In spite of rapid progress achieved in the methodological research underlying environmental impact assessment (EIA), the problem of weighting various parameters has not yet been solved. This paper presents a new approach, fuzzy clustering analysis, which is illustrated with an EIA case study on Baoshan-Wusong District in Shanghai, China. Fuzzy clustering analysis may be used whenever a composite classification of environmental quality/impact incorporates multiple parameters. In such cases the technique may be used as a complement or an alternative to comprehensive assessment. In fuzzy clustering analysis, the classification is determined by a fuzzy relation. After a fuzzy similarity matrix has been established and the fuzzy relation stabilized, a dynamic clustering chart can be developed. Given a suitable threshold, the appropriate classification can be accomplished. The methodology is relatively simple and the results can be interpreted to provide valuable information to support decision making and improve management of the environment.     

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.     

Cumulative impact assessment in environmental planning: A coastal wetland watershed example

Several theoretical, analytical, and institutional difficulties have impeded the development and application of the assessment of cumulative environmental impacts. Watershed development on coastal wetlands offers an ideal context for evaluating the land disturbance target approach to cumulative impact assessment. A model land use planning system involving a time series approach was developed for Elkhorn Slough in California. The approach included four major components: evaluation of erosion susceptibility, measurement of land disturbance, establishment of a land disturbance target, and a comparison of existing and target land disturbance values. Further research is needed to test the transferability of the approach in a wide range of coastal watersheds and to verify the applicability of the methods to other cumulative impact problems.     

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.     

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.