Environmental Reviews and Case Studies: Decision Making in the Environmental Impact Assessment Process

Abstract

This article analyzes the decision-making processes used by government agencies when trying to decide whether to approve or reject projects that impact the environment. This article examines some of the real-life inputs into the decision, as well as the influences on the decision maker. For example, some academics suggest that decision makers are more influenced by the environmental impact assessment process itself than by the conclusions of the assessment. Three case studies are presented. I provide an overview of each project and the various influences on the respective decision maker.I demonstrate that decision makers tend to elevate social, cultural, and political concerns over the natural environment.I also demonstrate that each decision maker was influenced by a particular social, cultural, or political aspect unique to each situation. I recommend further research in the expanding use of analytical tools and models in environmental decision making. These tools may encourage the decision maker to give more consideration to the results of the environmental impact assessment versus other external influences.Environmental Practice 16: 290-301 (2014)

Perspectives from the Field: Integrating Cultural Impact Assessments into Environmental Analysis

“…Sometimes, the cultural value of an area is well known and apparent from the beginning of the proposal process. In his analysis of the decision-making processes used by government agencies to approve or reject projects that impact the environment, Robert Evans looks at three case studies: a live fire training by the Army in the Makua Valley, Oahu; a radio communications tower on Mount Taylor, located in US Forest Service lands in New Mexico; and a coal mine expansion on the Crow reservation and ceded land in Montana, which was reviewed and approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (Evans, 2014). All three cases could have benefited from including a CIA in the environmental analysis; however, the first two cases involve sacred ecosystems that are well-known beyond the traditional cultural groups that use them.…”

“…In an unusual outcome, the Forest Service ultimately decided not to approve the placement of the radio communications tower and supported the no-action alternative in the Record of Decision. In the 2011 EIS, a traditional Navajo individual is quoted on the life-giving forces of the mountain and how the traditional ceremonies and practices that involve the mountain are necessary for the tribe to "… thrive as a Nation" (Evans, 2014). In this case, it would have been more expedient to develop a CIA and include it in the draft environmental document.…”