EFFECTIVENESS OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

EFFECTIVENESS OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

 

1. Introduction

Environmental impact assessment can be defined as the process of assessing the environmental effects that may result from implementation of a project (Lawrence 2003). Environmental impact assessment can also be defined as an instrument of identifying and assessing the potential impacts of the environment as a result of the implementation of a proposed project, evaluation of alternatives and designing of appropriate measures that can help mitigate, manage and monitor the project and its effects (Wood 2003). Environmental impact assessment has been practiced by various nations and has gain popularity among different countries as an effective means of protecting environment. However the effectiveness of environmental impact assessment has been a subject of debate among various professionals and scholars.  This report discusses the effectiveness in environmental impact assessment and how the process might become more effective in the future.

2. Effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment

The effectiveness of environmental impact assessment can be defined as the extent to which an Environmental impact assessment process is able to identify, assess and find various means to mitigate the potential negative impacts of a proposed project or development as well as how it helps facilitates environmental management measures (Lawrence 2000). The effectiveness of the environmental impact analysis therefore determines its success in protecting environment from the negative or harmful effects of a project implementation or development (Glasson et al 1999). This can be achieved through evaluating the alternative course of action that can help mitigate the risks that are associated with a proposed project.  The effectiveness of the environmental impact assessment depends on various elements that include its ability to mitigate risks associated with environment pollution, ability to identify the effects of a proposed project, appropriate evaluation of alternative projects and proper and democratic process.  These conditions can be realized if the environmental impact assessment is based on certain principles that can help it realize its objectives. This makes it important for environmental impact assessment to be based on certain principles so as to ensure its effectiveness. The principles of environmental impact assessment are basically some basic rules that and environmental impact assessment should be based on so as to ensure that it is effective and accomplish its goals and objectives appropriately.

2.1. Purpose of Environmental Impact Assessment

Environmental impact assessment should be able to come up with a specific and definite purpose so as to enable it realizes its objective. The purpose and objective of the environmental impact assessment should be clearly outlined and well understood by all the relevant stakeholders (Cashmore 2004). This can facilitate the effectiveness of the environmental impact assessment since all the stakeholders will be working towards meeting the purpose of the environmental impact assessment. The ability of the environmental analysis to have a purpose is therefore an important measure of the effectiveness of an environmental impact assessment. This is because setting the purpose of environmental impact assessment will make it to be decision centered hence facilitates its effectiveness.

2.2. Participation of the Stakeholders

The effectiveness of environmental impact assessment can also be realized through involving various stakeholders concerned with the project. For an environmental impact assessment to be effective there is a need to ensure that various stakeholders such as professionals, environmental experts, project managers, government and community are informed and engaged in the project (Pimentel et al 2000. Informing and engaging relevant stakeholders in the process can facilitate the success of the environmental assessment as they will work as a group in an effort to achieve a common objective.  Again engaging various participants will ensure that different opinions are given and this can lead to provision of amicable solution and alternatives. This can help reduce the chances of the negative effects that the proposed project can have on the community and the environment. Participation of the government in the project is essential since it will ensure that appropriate laws and regulation are observed by different participants hence facilitates effective and efficient environmental impact assessment.

2.3. Credibility of the Environmental Impact Assessment

The effectiveness of the environmental assessment can also be determined by its credibility. This means that environmental impact assessment should be conducted in a professional and accountable manner. All the activities carried out during the environmental impact assessment exercise should be evidence based. The evaluation of the effects of a project should involve the use of qualified professionals who are able to give sound judgment regarding a project, its effect and appropriate recommendations (Glasson et al 1999). This will enable it to come up with accurate and reliable information that is able to help in mitigating the potential negative effects of the project in the environment. If the individuals involved in the environmental assessment lack appropriate knowledge regarding the proposed project, then it is likely that the environmental impact assessment will be subject to failure since they will not be able to identify accurately the impacts of the project on the environment. Accountability is another important component of environment analysis. The manner in which the environmental analysis is conducted should be open to the entire community so as to help sensitize the surrounding community. This can create awareness to the community and also subject the exercise to scrutiny from various stakeholders leading to minimum errors. This can enhance its accuracy hence lead its effectiveness. Accountability of environment impact assessment is also important as it will ensure that proper channel and procedure is followed hence help it realize its objective.

2.4. Transparency of the Environmental Impact Assessment

The effectiveness of environmental impact assessment in the United States of America can be realized by ensuring that the assessment is transparent. This means that the individuals responsible for conducting environmental impact assessment should not be biased in favor of one party or groups that are concerned with the proposed project. The individuals responsible for the environmental impact assessment should make all their findings and recommendations available to all the stakeholders as well as the community (Fischer 2003). Transparency of the environmental impact assessment in the United States implies that the government and various environmental agencies concerned with environmental impact analysis should base their recommendations based on the findings of the analysis. This can help avoid chances of corruption which can lead to favoritism or biasness hence compromising the effectiveness of the exercise. This can expose the environment to negative effects from the proposed project hence making the environmental impact analysis to be ineffective. This implies that an effective environmental impact assessment should be able to be transparent so as to be unbiased.

2.5. Practicality of Environmental Impact Assessment

The effectiveness of the environmental impact assessment can also be measured in terms of its practicality to solve the intended problem.  Environmental impact assessment should put emphasis on solution of the identified problems. If the environmental impact assessment is purely based on theories, then its effectiveness can be hindered and this can make it unable to provide the required solution of the identified environmental issue that might a rise from the proposed project.  Practicality of the environmental impact assessment can be ensured through developing appropriate policies that guides the processes and procedure involved in the environmental impact assessment.  All the essential steps and procedures in the environmental analysis should be evaluated to identify the potential consequences of the project to the public as well as the environment (Brown & Thérivel 2000). This can be done by conducting various environmental analysis, research and experiments so as to determine the practical consequences of the project on the environmental. For this to be achieved, the United States should be able to have policies that are capable of monitoring the process of the environmental analysis so as to ensure that the potential danger imposed on the environment as a result of a proposed project is mitigated or avoided.

2.6. Environmental Impact Assessment Should Be Adaptive

The environmental impact assessment should be able to adapt to any given condition or situations. This implies that environmental impact assessment should be flexible and able to conform to the prevailing conditions and situations so as to be able to solve the identified problems (Jay et al 2007). Rigid environmental impact assessment cannot be able to identify the problems under different conditions. The procedure followed when conducting environmental impact assessment should depend on the nature of the projects and its impacts on the environment. For example, when United States are interested in conducting environmental impact assessment associated with establishing a nuclear plant, then the procedure followed should  be adjusted to suit the nuclear assessment needs. This can be significantly different from an environmental analysis that is conducted to establish the effects of constructing geothermal power in the country. In other words the two projects are having different consequences in the environment hence the environmental impact assessment conducted should be able to solve the unique problem associated with each project. This can enable the environmental impact assessment to come up with appropriate strategies that can help mitigate the negative environmental impacts imposed by the proposed project.

2.7. Environmental Impact Assessment Should Be Rigorous

The effective environmental impact assessment should be extremely exhaustive, thorough and accurate. It should be able to apply the best practicable science to enable it cover all the aspects of the project so as to identify all the possible effects of a particular project to the environment (Colvin 2003). This implies that the assessment of the impact of the proposed project to the environment should consider both negative and positive effects of the project.  The causes of the negative effects as well as various available alternatives should also be determined.  The exercise should also cover wide topics and areas by involving professionals with adverse academic backgrounds so as to help identify various effects of the project to the environment. Having a rigorous environmental impact assessment can enhance its effectiveness as it will help identify all the possible effects of the proposed project hence come up with appropriate recommendation that can reduce negative environmental effects.  This can also be enhanced by allocating adequate time for the environmental impact assessment so as to allow for experimentation of the effects of the project on the environment. Allocating adequate time for the environmental impact analysis can make it possible for the individuals involved in the environmental impact assessment to come up with recommendation that are practicable and effective as well as based on experimentation.

2.8. Interdisciplinary Approach of Environmental Impact Assessment

One of the major characteristics of the environmental impact assessment is that it covers a wide area and involves a number of issues that cannot be handled with professionals from a single academic background (Finnveden & Moberg 2005). For example, an environmental impact assessment of a chemical plant in the United States can be achieved by engaging various professionals such as engineers, scientist, accountants and environmentalist among other professionals. This can allow for the identification of all the possible consequences of the chemical plants hence enables the assessment to come up with appropriate recommendations that can help mitigate the negative environmental effects that a rise as a result of establishing the chemical plant in the United States.  Effective environmental assessment should therefore be able to employ both bio physical and social sciences so as to provide appropriate solution hence protects the environment from negative effects as a result of a proposed project (Trtanj 2000).

3. The Future of the Environmental Impact Assessment

Many countries have not been able to realize the full effectiveness of the environmental impact assessment. This implies that there is potential danger imposed on the environment as a result of various implementation and development of projects (Patz et al 2000). Since the current global world is characterized with various projects due to rapid industrialization, there is significant potential danger to the world’s environments. This make it necessary for countries around the world as well as various environmental agencies to come up with appropriate ways of ensuring that the future environmental impact assessment is effective.

The future environment impact assessment should be designed in a way that ensures that they are able to prevent the environment from any negative effects as a result of a proposed project. This can be achieved by identifying the root causes of the negative environmental effects and providing solution that helps reduce or mitigate them.  The environmental impact assessment should therefore prevent the any environmental nuisance from the source instead of trying to deal with their effects.  It should also be able to recognize the need of taking effects on the environment at the earliest time possible (Morris & Therivel 2001). This can be achieved by identifying all the possible effects at all the stages of the project such as from technical planning stage and the decision making processes.

The future environmental impact assessment should be able to address some of the current weaknesses that are associated with the process of environmental impact assessment. Some of the common weaknesses on environmental impact assessment include technical weaknesses, procedural weaknesses, structural weaknesses and weaknesses associated with frameworks and follow up processes (UNECE 1998).  The effectiveness of the future environmental impact assessment should therefore be aimed at addressing these weaknesses that are associated with its implementation. This can ensure that future environmental impact assessment meets its aims and objectives through identification of the potential negative impacts to the environment and also developing appropriate strategies to mitigate the negative effects on the environment.

3.1. Enacting Appropriate Legislation and Laws

The legislation regarding the framework of environmental impact assessment in the United States is still not adequate enough to address all the issues of environment. The United States should be able to establish strict rules and regulation that will ensure that individuals conducting environmental impact assessment are competent and adheres to specified procedures and rules. The established legislation should also ensure that all appropriate steps are followed in the process of conducting environmental impact assessment so as to avoid any error that might make the exercise to be ineffective. Future legislation of the environmental impact analysis should come up with a unique framework that outlines all the procedure that should be followed as well as elements to be covered during the process of the environmental impact analysis (Ortolano 1997). The legislation should include the role played by the civil society, non-governmental organizations and various environmental agencies.  This will allow public scrutiny of the process hence enable the process to be transparent and accountable to the general public.

3.2. Public Participation and Consultation

The future environmental impact assessment in the United States should be able to engage the general public and various experts. Public participation will enable the public interest to be considered in the proposed project. This will facilitate understanding between the public, governments and various environmental agencies involved in the environmental impact assessment (Tukker 2000). The corporation of the various stakeholders of the project can facilitate the success of the environmental impact assessment in the United States hence reduce the negative effects imposed to the environment by a given project.

3.3. Monitoring and Post Project Analysis

To ensure that future environmental impact assessment in the United States is effective, there should be constant monitoring of the process by the relevant government authority. Lack of monitoring of the activities of environmental impact assessment has contributed significantly to failure of various environmental impact assessments in the United States leading to the pollution and degradation of the environment. An independent body should be created in the United States to help monitor the activities of all the environmental impact assessment and ensure that they conform to the stipulated requirement and rules. This can be achieved through monitoring of the processes at all its stages. There should also be adequate post project analysis to ensure that the project complies with recommendation of the environmental impact analysis. Post project analysis can also be used to monitor any deviation of the projects from its core objectives hence helps to rectify the mistakes before the occurrence of negative environmental impacts (Arts et al 2001). Post project analysis is also important since it can be used to help in identifying mistakes of a given environmental impact analysis hence devise appropriate procedure for the future environmental impact assessment.

4. Conclusion

The effectiveness of the environmental impact assessment is significant in the determination of the success of the environmental impact assessment. An effective environmental impact assessment should be able to identify all the possible effects of a proposed project and come up with appropriate recommendation that can help mitigate the negative environmental effects. The effective environmental impact analysis should therefore be able to identify the causes of environmental pollution that can be caused by the proposed project. It should also be able to identify all the alternative projects that could be able to reduce the negative environmental effects. It is therefore the responsibility of the governments of various countries to come up with appropriate legislation that can help protect the environment from harmful effects of proposed projects. This can be achieved by developing and implementing policies that can encourage effective environmental impact assessment.

 

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