Environmental Assessment

Environmental Assessment (EA), which is a term frequently used interchangeably with the terms Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), refers to the process of assessing the environmental effects of proposed initiatives prior to implementation. The purpose of an EA is to prevent or minimize harm to the environment by evaluating the impact of new initiatives on the environment and ensuring that environmental implications are explicitly expressed and incorporated into decision making prior to the approval process. In principle, environmental assessment can be undertaken (1) for individual projects such as power plants, highways, or dams (EIA), which may require national, state, and sometimes even local assessment reports and often has consequences on regulations and requirements for the businesses involved in building the project; or (2) environmental assessment can take place for more comprehensive plans, programs, or policies (Strategic Environmental Assessment), such as fuel-efficiency standards for motor vehicles or environmental building codes.

The origins of formal EIA legislation in the United States are quite recent and can be traced to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which was enacted by President Richard Nixon on December 31, 1969. This legislation (42 U.S.C. 4321–4347) established the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and set forth the requirements that advocates of proposed initiatives would need to adhere to when implementing programs, projects, or policies that involved federal tax dollars, federal land, and federal jurisdictions. The enactment of the NEPA legislation considerably influenced the global community's views on developmental initiatives and environmental issues. The 1970s witnessed [Page 195]several countries’ (Japan, Singapore, Canada, Australia, France, the Philippines, and Taiwan) following the U.S. lead and enacting official environmental assessment legislation. During that same period, Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, and most of the Nordic countries also embraced environmental assessment by adapting their well-developed land use policy systems; however, with the passage of time, these countries eventually enacted specific environmental legislation. Several other countries followed in the 1980s—South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and the rest of Europe. Today, EIA is applied in almost 100 countries, many of which have formal environmental assessment legislation and/or guidelines.

In addition to country-specific environmental assessment legislation and guidelines, several international institutions have also enacted their own specific environmental assessment guidelines. The European Community (EC) adopted its first environmental guidelines in 1973. Over the next 12 years, numerous environmental directives followed. However, these were superseded by 1985 European Council EIA Directive (85/337/EEC), which sought greater uniformity and standardization among EC member countries. This directive has since been superseded by the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive (2001/42/EC). Equally important events that triggered further global interest in EA included the World Bank's public announcement in 1986 that EIAs were to become a formal requirement for the bank's project appraisal process, and the United Nations’ “Brundtland Commission Report” in 1987, which further stimulated and accelerated interest in EIA outside the United States. Other prominent international bodies that have also embraced environmental assessment include the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Asian Development Bank, and the World Health Organization.

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