Good practices for environmental assessment

Abstract

Environmental assessment (EA) has emerged in the last five decades as one of the primary management tools that governments use to protect the environment. However, despite substantial theoretical development and practical experience, there are concerns that EA is not meeting its objectives. This article develops a set of good practices to improve EA. An integrated list of proposed good practices is developed based on a literature review of impact assessment research and related fields of study. The practices are then evaluated by surveying experts and practitioners involved in EA of tar sands (also known as oil sands) development in Canada. In all, 74 practices grouped under 22 themes are recommended to improve EA. Key unresolved issues in EA requiring future research are identified.

Good Practices in Strategic Environmental Assessment Processes under the Brazilian Practitioners’ Vision

“…For [9], in environmental assessments, a GP is the definition of a Term of Reference (TR) that specifies the scope of the work, its content and the methods to be employed. TR is an instrument developed in the pre-assessment stage and often before hiring the team that will lead to SEA, i.e.…”

“…Some interviewees mentioned as positive the supervision and/or support provided by external, specialized consultants with experience in conducting SEA processes. Such supervision and support, considered as a GP [9], involves two Knowledge Management techniques-"peer review" and "peer assistance" The joint action of the two SEA teams, although one acts as a reviewer, allows an undeniable "sum of looks" and a cognitive and technical synergy, leading to the improvement of the SEA process as a whole.…”

“…One of the factors limiting stakeholder participation in the SEA is the lack of information about the process [27], denoting the importance of communication between the actors for the success of the work. In environmental assessments a GP is to present clear, consistent, timely, precise, regular and ongoing communication [9]. It must support the participation of all parties and make documentation available to the interested public, through easy and free access.…”

“…The importance of using GP in SEA is undeniable. It is possible to verify a clear link between GP and procedural effectiveness in environmental assessments, as GP provide standards for practitioners (members of SEA teams) and ensure information for proper decision making [9]. There is a need to identify weaknesses in SEA approaches and "focus attention on best practices" [10] (p. 310).…”

Integração entre ciência e participação pública na Avaliação de Impacto Ambiental: uma revisão conceitual

“…Resolução CONAMA 01/86; Resolução CONAMA 237/97), por outro, seu papel -em especial sua relação com o conhecimento científico no processo da AIA -tem sido tratado de maneira superficial. Na literatura de boas práticas para a AIA, por exemplo, diversos trabalhos recomendam o uso do conhecimento e métodos científicos e o envolvimento do público (Thompson, 1990;Lee et al, 1999;IAIA, 1999;Snell & Cowell, 2006;Joseph, 2015) sem explicitar a relação funcional entre eles. Paralelamente, outras áreas que envolvem o manejo de recursos ambientais vêm se preocupando com a integração entre ciência e participação pública (Schoeman et al, 2014).…”