Environmental Impact Assessment

Presenting the component activities of environmental impact assessment within a methodological framework, this text provides a grounding in EIA theory, including biophysical, strategic and cumulative assessment activities, and examines the crucial role, and limitations, of the science of EIA. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is one of the most important tools employed in contemporary environmental management. Presenting the component activities of EIA within a coherent methodological framework, this text provides students and practitioners alike with a grounding in EIA theory, including biophysical, social, strategic and cumulative assessment activities, and examines the crucial role, and limitations, of the science of EIA. Deliberately designed to be relevant world-wide, the author focuses on the common skills and generic aspects of EIA that underpin all impact assessment work, independent of country or jurisdiction, such as screening and scoping, impact identification, public involvement, prediction and monitoring, evaluation, and quality control. The variety of approaches are identified along with their associated strengths and weaknesses, enabling potential, new and experienced practitioners to make informed choices and to improve their working practices through a better understanding of EIA activity. The ultimate aim of this book is to move from the notion of EIA as a technical procedure towards a concept of EIA as a particular form of problem-solving with varied methodological requirements.