System-Based Assessments—Improving the Confidence in the EIA Process

Wilson, Julie; Hinz, Shawn; Coston‐Guarini, Jennifer; Mazé, Camille; Guarini, Jean‐Marc; Chauvaud, Laurent

doi:10.3390/environments4040095

Cited by 12 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…The evaluation of a potential impact therefore rests on having capacity to forecast the response(s) of an ecological system to a perturbation. Both the strength and difficulty of the EIA depends on the development of a comprehensive baseline understanding of the designated impact receptors [41].…”

Section: The Main Elements Of Environmental Impact Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating eDNA for Use within Marine Environmental Impact Assessments

Hinz¹,

Coston‐Guarini²,

Marnane

et al. 2022

JMSE

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In this review, the use of environmental DNA (eDNA) within Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is evaluated. EIA documents provide information required by regulators to evaluate the potential impact of a development project. Currently eDNA is being incorporated into biodiversity assessments as a complementary method for detecting rare, endangered or invasive species. However, questions have been raised regarding the maturity of the field and the suitability of eDNA information as evidence for EIA. Several key issues are identified for eDNA information within a generic EIA framework for marine environments. First, it is challenging to define the sampling unit and optimal sampling strategy for eDNA with respect to the project area and potential impact receptor. Second, eDNA assay validation protocols are preliminary at this time. Third, there are statistical issues around the probability of obtaining both false positives (identification of taxa that are not present) and false negatives (non-detection of taxa that are present) in results. At a minimum, an EIA must quantify the uncertainty in presence/absence estimates by combining series of Bernoulli trials with ad hoc occupancy models. Finally, the fate and transport of DNA fragments is largely unknown in environmental systems. Shedding dynamics, biogeochemical and physical processes that influence DNA fragments must be better understood to be able to link an eDNA signal with the receptor’s state. The biggest challenge is that eDNA is a proxy for the receptor and not a direct measure of presence. Nonetheless, as more actors enter the field, technological solutions are likely to emerge for these issues. Environmental DNA already shows great promise for baseline descriptions of the presence of species surrounding a project and can aid in the identification of potential receptors for EIA monitoring using other methods.

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Section: The Main Elements Of Environmental Impact Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating eDNA for Use within Marine Environmental Impact Assessments

Hinz¹,

Coston‐Guarini²,

Marnane

et al. 2022

JMSE

Self Cite

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“…EIA was first introduced in the USA under the Environmental Policy Act of 1969 [4]. Since then it has evolved and a variety of off-shoot assessment techniques have emerged (focusing, for instance on social, biodiversity, environmental health and cumulative effects and risk) acting as a broader impact assessment tool [10]. EIA is a planning tool to identify, predict and evaluate potential environmental impacts and mitigation measures in the early stages of proposed projects EIA involves key stages which include screening, alternatives, preliminary assessment, scoping, mitigation, main EIA study and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), review and monitoring [11].…”

Section: Environmental Impact Assessment (Eia) Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In general, the screening process aims at evaluating the project's proposal to know whether it has major environmental concerns which require EIA or not [10].…”

Section: Registration and Screening Of The Projects For Eiamentioning

confidence: 99%

The significance of Environmental Agencies in the Environmental Impact Assessment process

2020

EESRR

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Currently, every country is striving to realize development for its people. Thus, to achieve this the construction of various projects are necessary for the realization of socioeconomic and political development of any country. However, the development of the projects is associated with various environmental challenges that may affect the entire society and the environment. Thus, to cater that there is the need for conducting Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that is a tool used to identify the environmental, social and economic impacts of a project before decision-making. To achieve the EIA process, there are Environmental Agencies (EAs) that are designed for dealing with all environment-related issues in the relevant country. Thus, this paper aims at providing the key significances provided by the EAs in the EIA process. The following significances are discussed in this paper: formulation of policies, laws and regulations related to EIA; authorization and certification of the experts or firms of expert for EIA process; registration and screening of the projects for EIA; reviewing Environmental Impacts Statements or reports; preparation of the EIA certificates for approval or disapproval of the projects; conducting environmental monitoring and auditing; and monitoring of the implementation of the decommissioning.

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“…To do so, the project focuses on the specific case of Environmental Impact Assessment and policy (National Environmental Policy Act, 1969 2 ; Leopold et al, 1971), its weak theoretical development (e.g. Lawrence, 1997) and calls to improve its practice (Jacob, 2010;Adelle and Weiland, 2012;Coston-Guarini et al, 2017;Wilson et al, 2017).…”

Section: Philosophy Of the Spa Project And Focus On Eiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Dealing with impact. An interdisciplinary, multi-site ethnography of environmental impact assessment in the coastal zone

et al. 2018

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The SPA (“Savoir, Pouvoir, Avoir”) project (CNRS, 2017-2019) presented in this article focuses on the ways French society deals with the issue of environmental impact – from the vast question of impact in the context of global change and the issue of the measurement of impact in science, to the specific case of the public policy instrument known as “environmental impact assessment”. Impact is considered as a boundary object at the intersection of several fields of inquiry which captures both the architecture and the dynamics of relationships between “savoir” (scientific and lay knowledge), “pouvoir” (power and decision) and “avoir” (economy/appropriation), that aggregate different interests around the sustainable management of coastal socio-ecological systems. Three sites were selected along a north-south gradient of Long-Term Ecological Research sites: the Bay of Brest and the Iroise Sea, the National Nature Reserve of the French islands in the Southern Ocean and the overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. The approach of the SPA project is to link concretely social sciences, natural sciences and engineering sciences on these study sites, in an interdisciplinary, multi-site and multi-scale methodology that makes it possible to reveal the conditions for the possible – or impossible – implementation of sustainable management of coastal socio-ecological systems.

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System-Based Assessments—Improving the Confidence in the EIA Process

Cited by 12 publications

References 41 publications

Evaluating eDNA for Use within Marine Environmental Impact Assessments

Evaluating eDNA for Use within Marine Environmental Impact Assessments

The significance of Environmental Agencies in the Environmental Impact Assessment process

Dealing with impact. An interdisciplinary, multi-site ethnography of environmental impact assessment in the coastal zone

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