Environmental Impact Assessment

See distinction from Environmental effect assessment and Environmental damage assessment in “Environmental Impact” entry, see distinction from “Environmental Risk Assessment” below.

Definition

Environmental impact assessment is the assessment of environmental impacts as caused by an activity or a decision.

Theory and Application

The assessment of environmental impacts can be performed in different contexts of which three of a fundamentally different nature can be identified:

EIA- Environmental Impact Assessment is “… the evaluation of the effects likely to arise from a major project (or other action) significantly affecting the environment. It is a systematic process for considering possible impacts prior to a decision being taken on whether or not a proposal should be given approval to proceed” (Jay et al. 2007).

EIA is thus a process tool involving environmental analysis but typically also public hearing and entailing a comparison of alternatives. It is often required by...