Let us make impact assessment more accessible

Alton, Charles; Underwood, Pam

doi:10.1016/s0195-9255(02)00093-8

Cited by 20 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…However, this was not the case for most of our sample documents. Professional impact assessors must effectively account for the subjectivity present in any decision, but must also objectively present all the facts to the decision-maker to achieve an effective, socially acceptable, well-informed decision-making process [28]. It is important to highlight the heterogeneity of professional qualifications (e.g., academic degrees) we observed in the relatively homogeneous projects (public roads) in our sample.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Quality of the Environmental Impact Assessment Process for Public Road Projects: A Case Study in Spain

Mora¹

2016

J Civil Environ Eng

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Environmental impact assessments (EIAs) apply criteria to minimize the negative effects of projects on the environment. However, the EIA process has been criticized by European environmental organizations and governments. One common criticism deals with the fact that the responsibility for creating the environmental impact statement (EIS) normally belongs to the project's promoter; another is the lack of rigor in the criteria for accepting or rejecting these studies. In 1994, the European Commission developed a procedure to evaluate the quality of such studies. In the present research, our objectives were to assess the quality of a sample of EIS documents created from 1990 to 2002 by the Spanish Autonomous Administration of Valencia and to assess the efficiency of the European Review Checklist method. We statistically evaluated 40 EISs, then undertook a qualitative appraisal of the documents. Next, we applied the European Review Checklist to the sample documents to appraise their quality. Based on the results of this analysis, we proposed and applied a new evaluation methodology. We assessed the overall quality by consecutive application of the three methodologies. We report important advantages of using the improved appraisal methodology and discuss the results. We found that combining qualitative analysis with a checklist that supports a more rigorous appraisal methodology improved the reliability of assessments of EIS quality, and that the technical level of the EISs should be improved, along with the accuracy and objectivity of the review tools. Based on these results, we recommend that formal measures be implemented to control and monitor the quality of EISs. Aim of the ResearchWe analyzed a large, representative sample of environmental impact assessment (EIA) dossiers for existing public road projects in the context of ongoing research by the Valencia Polytechnic University. Our main objective was to evaluate the degree of quality control during the different stages of the EIA process. The research described in this paper dealt with the task of accurately determining EIS quality based on a case study of specific public roads projects in the Valencia region of Spain that evaluated the methodology. We studied EIS quality both qualitatively and using standard quality-assessment tools so as to compare the results and evaluate the effectiveness of the quality control tools recommended by the European Union (EU). The first step in our research was to choose a representative sample of EIA dossiers, which included each road project, EIS, public participation document, and public environmental committee assessment. The Valencian Government provided us with 40 EIA dossiers out of the 100 dossiers that had been created since the relevant Spanish environmental legislation was enacted (in 1990) and ending in 2002. This sample was chosen based on specific parameters such as the year of creation, type of road construction projects, ecological importance of the affected area, and project importance, with the goa...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Quality of the Environmental Impact Assessment Process for Public Road Projects: A Case Study in Spain

Mora¹

2016

J Civil Environ Eng

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“…That is one of the themes discussed recently concerning EIA research (see e.g. Alton and Underwood, 2003;Lawrence, 1997b), and on many occasions it is stated that such objectives could be based on sustainability, or that the focus in EIAs should be on sustainable development. In practice, this has proved to be a complicated issue and this was also apparent in this trial -for example, the panellists often held different opinions on what was seen sustainable and appropriate.…”

Section: Condition A2mentioning

confidence: 99%

The effectiveness of the Finnish EIA system — What works, what doesn't, and what could be improved?

Pölönen

Hokkanen

Jalava

2011

Environmental Impact Assessment Review

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“…Payback period is calculated as a ratio between overall emissions of single-use products versus a reusable alternative for the same number of uses. Some advantages of using payback period is that it is both easily understandable to the average consumer (Alton & Underwood, 2003;Saoutert & Andreasen, 2006) and provides a specific action that can be taken (Jensen & Schnack, 1997;Breiting & Mogensen, 1999;Robelia et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental payback periods of reusable alternatives to single-use plastic kitchenware products

Fetner

Miller

2021

Int J Life Cycle Assess

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Let us make impact assessment more accessible

Cited by 20 publications

References 0 publications

The Quality of the Environmental Impact Assessment Process for Public Road Projects: A Case Study in Spain

The Quality of the Environmental Impact Assessment Process for Public Road Projects: A Case Study in Spain

The effectiveness of the Finnish EIA system — What works, what doesn't, and what could be improved?

Environmental payback periods of reusable alternatives to single-use plastic kitchenware products

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