Environmental Impact Assessment

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a process that identifies and evaluates environmental consequences of development projects and suggests measures for preventing and mitigating the potential adverse effects before projects commence. EIA is perceived as a means to promote sustainable development by facilitating environmentally sound decision making, securing better environmental planning, improving the design of project proposals, ensuring compliance with environmental standards, helping avoid excessive costs of unexpected impacts, and increasing decision-making transparency and project acceptance by the public. Given these benefits, awareness about the nature, key actors, and stages of EIA, as well as barriers to it, is essential for creating a green society.

[Page 174]EIA originated from the U.S. National Environmental Protection Act (1969) in response to the concerns about environmental degradation resulting from major ...