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The significance of environmental impacts: an exploration of the concept

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Abstract

Since environmental impact assessment (EIA) is concerned primarily withsignificant environmental impacts, the concept of impact significance deserves to be defined and applied rigorously. In this article use of the term over the past 15 years in EIA documentation is reviewed. Some recent attempts at elucidating the concept are summarized. Four perspectives on impact significance that emerged from a series of workshops on the ecological basis for EIA are presented. These perspectives include (a) statistical (related to problems of isolating project-induced changes from natural variation), (b) ecological (related to the importance of project-induced changes from a purely ecological perspective), (c) social (related to the acceptability of project-induced changes in important environmental attributes), and (d) project (related to whether project-induced changes will indeed influence project decision making). The following synthesis is proposed: Any exercise in judging the significance of an environmental impact should thoroughly consider (a) the importance of the environmental attribute in question to project decision makers, (2) the distribution of change in time and space, (c) the magnitude of change, and (d) the reliability with which change has been predicted or measured. The implications of considering these factors are discussed.

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Author notes

  1. Peter N. Duinker

    Present address: Faculty of Forestry, University of New Brunswick, Bag Service No. 44555, E3B 6C2, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

  2. Gordon E. Beanlands (Director of Research)

    Present address: Federal Environmental Assessment Review Office, 1312 Robie Street, B3H 3E2, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, B3H 3E2, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Peter N. Duinker & Gordon E. Beanlands (Director of Research)

Authors
  1. Peter N. Duinker
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  2. Gordon E. Beanlands
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Duinker, P.N., Beanlands, G.E. The significance of environmental impacts: an exploration of the concept. Environmental Management 10, 1–10 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01866412

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