EIA-Learning from Experience: Changes in the Quality of Environmental Impact Statements for UK Planning Projects

This paper draws on a research report recently produced (1996) by the authors for the UK Department of the Environment. The principal aim of the research was to establish clearly what changes, if any, there have been in the quality of Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) since the inception of mandatory EIA in 1988, and to explain reasons for the changes. The paper provides a critique of the meaning of 'quality' in an area such as this. Quality relates both to the EIS and to the EIA process. EIS quality can be assessed against various review frameworks in a structured and systematic way; quality can also be assessed according to the perspective of the individual participant in the EIA process. The findings of both macro and micro studies of quality are discussed. The macro study uses a range of review frameworks (minimum regulatory requirements, an EU framework, and comprehensive frameworks developed by EIA academics at UK universities, including Oxford Brookes University) for a large sample of EISs. The micro study uses a structured questionnaire of the participants (local planning officers, developers, consultants and others) involved in a smaller set of detailed case studies. The findings reveal that there has been a learning from experience and an improvementin quality, but they also highlight a number of problems in the EIA process. The paper outlines some of the determinants of the changes in quality, and concludes with recommendations for developments in EIA in response to particular issues raised. These recommendations are set in the context of European Commission amendments to the EC EIA Directive.     

Biogeography and decline of rare plants in New England: historical evidence and contemporary monitoring.

Detecting range shifts and contractions is critical for determining the conservation priority of rare and declining taxa. However, data on rare species occurrences frequently lack precise information on locations and habitats and may present a biased picture of biogeographic distributions and presumed habitat preferences. Herbarium or museum specimen data, which otherwise could be useful proxies for detecting temporal trends and spatial patterns in species distributions, pose particular challenges. Using data from herbaria and Natural Heritage Programs on numbers of occurrences within individual municipalities (towns, cities, or townships), we quantified temporal changes in the estimated distributions of 110 rare plant species in the six New England (USA) states. We used the partial Solow equation and a nonparametric test to estimate the probability of observing multiple absences (gaps in the collection record) if a given population was actually still extant. Bayes' Theorem was used to estimate the probability that occurrences were misclassified as extinct. Using the probabilities obtained from these three methods, we eliminated taxa with high probabilities of pseudo-absence (that would yield an inaccurate profile of species distributions), narrowing the set for final analysis to 71 taxa. We then expressed occurrences as centroids of town polygons and estimated current and historical range areas (extents of occurrence as defined by alpha-hulls inscribing occurrences), mean distances between occurrences, and latitudinal and longitudinal range boundaries. Using a geographic information system, we modeled first, second, and third circular standard deviational polygons around the mean center of the historical range. Examining the distribution of current occurrences within each standard deviational polygon, we asked whether ranges were collapsing to a center, expanding, fragmenting, or contracting to a margin of the former range. Extant ranges of the species were, on average, almost 67% smaller than their historical ranges, and distances among occurrences decreased. Five New England hotspots were observed to contain >35% of rare plant populations. Extant occurrences were more frequently marginalized at the periphery of the historical range than would be expected by chance. Coarse-grained data on current and historical occurrences can be used to examine large suites of species to prioritize taxa and sites for conservation.     

Thyroid status in juvenile alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) from contaminated and reference sites on Lake Okeechobee, Florida, USA

Exposure to environmental contaminants has been shown to alter normal thyroid function in various wildlife species, including the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). Abnormalities in circulating levels of the thyroid hormone thyroxine (T₄) have been reported in juvenile alligators from several contaminated lakes in Florida. To further elucidate these functional thyroid abnormalities, this study examines the structure of thyroids and circulating T₄ concentrations from juvenile alligators collected from three sites of varying contamination on Lake Okeechobee, Florida. The following variables were used to characterize thyroid morphology: epithelial cell height, width and area, percent colloid, and follicle area. These variables were compared among study sites and between genders. No difference was detected in epithelial cell height, epithelial cell area, or follicle area among the sites, whereas significant differences in epithelial cell width (p=0.02) and percent colloid (p=0.008) were found. Animals from the most contaminated site (Belle Glade) had significantly greater epithelial cell widths and significantly less colloid present in their follicles compared to animals from the reference site (West). Gender did not have a significant interaction with site for any variable measured. Thyroxine (T₄) concentrations were elevated in the intermediately contaminated site (Conservation Area 3A) compared to the other sites (p<0.0001). It is proposed that the disruptions seen in Lake Okeechobee alligators are due to disruptions at both the thyroid and extra-thyroidal tissues.     

Identification of polychlorinated planar chemicals in fishes from major watersheds near the Great Lakes

Fish from 18 major watersheds near the Great Lakes were collected in 1979, 1980, or 1981, and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for polychlorinated planar organic chemical residues. Isomers of 36 different chemicals were identified by mass spectral data but not quantitated. The list includes isomers of chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans.     

Confronting the challenge of greenline parks: Limits of the traditional administrative approach

The National Park Service, like other natural resource management agencies, has adopted the traditional model of public administration, which emphasizes efficiency, effectiveness, economy, and dichotomy between politics and administration. This approach is particularly ineffective in greenline parks and increasingly inappropriate in traditional areas. In an era of ecological interdependence, relationships with other agencies and jurisdictions and with adjacent as well as noncontiguous landowners are as important as controlling visitors. Recreation managers need to develop more skill in negotiation, cooperation, coordination, and interpersonal communication if they are to preserve and protect park resources.     

Stream-bed phosphorus in paired catchments with different agricultural land use intensity

Stream-bed sediments from three paired catchments, each draining a lower agricultural intensity system and a higher agricultural intensity system, were analysed for (a) total P (TP), (b) bioavailable-P (Resin-P), (c) equilibrium phosphorus concentration (EPC₀), and (d) degree of phosphorus saturation (DPS). The influence of agriculture on sediment P was explored within the context of other key variables that may control the sediment P concentrations such as particle size, Fe, Ca and organic matter content, and in terms of potential implications of sediment P to in-stream biota. TP concentrations, EPC₀, and the proportion of fine sediment were highest at the sites with the greater agricultural impact. Higher concentrations of bioavailable-P were also found in higher intensity agricultural systems. However, the highest concentrations of bioavailable-P were found at sites with point source inputs. Sites with high Fe concentrations had higher TP concentrations relative to agricultural intensity, but also had lower DPS values, illustrating that the sediment still had the capacity to take up P in a strongly bound form. The results from this study show that higher risk agricultural practices (intensive arable production and dairy and beef production) can lead either directly, or indirectly through increased inputs of fine sediment, to increased sediment TP concentrations. The importance of geochemical and physical controls on the bed sediments’ capacity to mitigate high P inputs in headwater lowland streams, especially under low flows and times of eutrophication risk in spring and summer is illustrated.