NEPA environmental assessment process

2012 ◽  
pp. 1-2
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Assessment Process

Environmental Assessment, Cognition, and Action: Research Applications

1992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ervin H. Zube
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Environmental Factors ◽  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Environmental Planning ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Management Decision ◽  
Assessment Activity ◽  
Management Decision Making ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Physical Environmental Factors

Environmental assessment has been defined as “a general conceptual and methodological framework for describing and predicting how attributes of places relate to a wide range of cognitive, affective, and behavioral responses” (Craik & Feimer, 1987). A primary purpose for assessing environments is to provide valid and reliable information that has utility in environmental planning, design, and management decision making. Implicit in the assessment activity is the assumption of identifiable relationships of physical environmental factors with descriptive and evaluative assessments, and with predictions of responses to places conceptualized in plans and designs, but not yet built. This chapter addresses the utility of research findings. Three primary questions are posed. Why are some environmental assessment and cognition research findings used successfully in decision making while others are not? What factors contribute to these outcomes? And how important are physical environmental factors in planning, design, and management decision making? The preceding chapters by Rachel Kaplan, Reginald Golledge, and Harry Timmermans provide the background for the following discussion. The first section of this chapter presents a brief review of similarities and differences among the three preceding chapters, with specific attention directed to interpretations or definitions of the concepts of assessment and preference, the use of physical environmental variables in the assessment process, and the roles of laypersons and experts in assessment. Potential uses for and applications of environmental assessment research are described in the second section. This is followed by a discussion of the differences between instrumental and conceptual applications and of factors that have been identified as influencing applications, factors such as communications between researchers and users, responsibilities for problem definition, and the context within which the research is conducted. This chapter concludes with a discussion of the opportunities for and probable limitations on applications of the preceding chapters by R. Kaplan, Golledge, and Timmermans. Four concepts and elements that are addressed in the three chapters have been selected for purposes of structuring a comparison among them. These concepts and elements—assessment, preference, roles of laypersons and experts, and physical environmental factors—are particularly salient to the issue of research applications.

scholarly journals Development and assessment of development strategy alternatives in strategic environmental assessment

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-100
Author(s):  
Marina Stenek ◽  
Bojana Nardi ◽  
Nenad Mikulić
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Development Strategy ◽  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Strategic Environmental Assessment ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Informed Decision Making ◽  
Legal Requirements ◽  
The Development Strategy ◽  
The City

Development and evaluation of alternatives is a key process in the strategic environmental assessment (SEA), which enables improvement of the environment, informed decision-making, greater transparency and better opportunities for public participation. It is also the most challenging part of the assessment, because the alternatives are often avoided or considered to the extent to meet the legal requirements. The absence of alternatives in the assessment process significantly diminishes the contribution of SEA to the environmental protection system. The paper will outline the generally applicable methodology for the development and assessment of alternatives in the SEA process, on the example of the Development Strategy of the City of Solin, which is based on the development of the environmental alternative, which significantly contributes to the development of sustainable strategic solutions.

Achieving Efficiency in Environmental Assessment Through Focused Selection of Valued Components

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ward Prystay ◽  
Andrea Pomeroy ◽  
Sandra Webster
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Environmental Assessments ◽  
Baseline Information ◽  
The Government ◽  
Selection Of

Some of the largest oil and gas projects in Canada are currently being proposed in British Columbia. Establishing a fulsome and scientifically and socially defensible scope for environmental assessments in the oil and gas sector is a serious challenge for government and proponents. The approach taken by the federal National Energy Board to scope effects assessments on pipelines is quite different than the approach taken by the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office on other types of oil and gas projects. The NEB has published guidelines for scoping and conducting environmental and socio-economic assessments within its Filing Manual (National Energy Board [NEB] 2014). This manual sets out the expectations for scoping, baseline information, and effects assessments to be submitted as part of approval applications. Proponents are expected to provide all information necessary to meet the guidelines. In British Columbia, the environmental assessment process is dictated by the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Act and includes a negotiated terms of reference for the assessment, called the Application Information Requirements (AIR). The approach to selection of valued components is guided by provincial guidelines (EAO, 2013). The first draft of the AIR is prepared by the proponent and is then amended to address matters raised by federal and provincial agencies, local governments, and representatives of potentially affected First Nations. Through two to three revisions, the scope of assessment is jointly established and then formally issued by the government. While there are valid reasons for the differing federal and provincial approaches to scoping environmental assessments, each of these processes create risks for proponents in terms of project timelines and costs for preparing the environmental assessment. More specifically, the use of generic and negotiated guidelines can result in a number of issues including: • A scope of assessment that is broader than necessary to understand the potential for significant adverse effects • Inclusion of issues that are “near and dear” to a specific regulator or community but has no direct relationship to the effects of the project itself • Selection of valued components that do not allow for defensible quantification of effects or use of directly relevant significance thresholds • Selection of valued components that are only of indirect concern as opposed to focusing the assessment on the true concern. • Double counting of environmental effects • Risks in assessing cumulative effects This paper discusses where and how these risks occur, and provides examples from recent and current environmental assessments for pipelines and facilities in British Columbia. Opportunities to manage the scope of assessment while providing a fulsome, efficient, effective and scientifically/socially defensible assessment are discussed.

scholarly journals Improving post-detonation energetics residues estimations for the Life Cycle Environmental Assessment process for munitions

Chemosphere ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 194 ◽  
pp. 622-627
Author(s):  
Michael Walsh ◽  
Brian Gullett ◽  
Marianne Walsh ◽  
Matthew Bigl ◽  
Johanna Aurell
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Assessment Process

scholarly journals Assessing the potential use of Envision in the sustainability certification of road projects with conservation authorities in Ontario

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Robert Smith
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Rating System ◽  
Standard Practice ◽  
Planning And Design ◽  
Road Projects ◽  
Road Planning ◽  
Conservation Authorities ◽  
Document Review ◽  
Potential Use

Conservation Authorities (CAs) in Ontario are challenged with improving the sustainability of road planning and design through their programs and policies under the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act (OEAA) and the CA Act. This study examines whether CAs should endorse the voluntary Envision Infrastructure Sustainability Rating System to supplement their roles under the OEAA and the CA Act and regulations. This study applied Envision to a sample of 13 municipal road projects through a standardized document review. It found that Envision was able to differentiate between more and less sustainable road projects, that award achievement required sustainable actions beyond those which are standard practice, and that Envision is appropriate to apply to road projects that are planned through the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment process of the OEAA. This study concludes that the Envision framework has the potential to significantly improve the sustainability of road projects and should be endorsed by CAs.

scholarly journals The Effectiveness of Environmental Assessment as a Sustainable Development Tool in Developing Countries: Case of Cameroon

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 45
Author(s):  
Nchia Peter Ghong
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Assessment System ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Tool ◽  
Development Goals

In the last few decades, there has been increased worldwide awareness of the necessity to consider development from a holistic perspective, for human development without adequate environmental protection is undermined. Cameroon, like many other developing countries has made great strides in establishing and putting in place an environmental assessment system to mainstream environmental concerns into development initiatives. The full realization of this goal, however, depends on the effectiveness of the exercise which hinges principally on the provisions of relevant legislation, the institutional framework, the procedure and practice of the assessment process. Environmental assessment in many developing countries is fraught with a plethora of setbacks which can jeopardize the full contribution of the exercise to the attainment of the sustainable development goals, if not taken care of. Based on experience and field research, this study examines the current practice of environmental assessment in Cameroon, the difficulties encountered in developing countries, the chances of environmental assessment contributing to sustainability and makes recommendations on how to improve the practice in developing countries.

scholarly journals LEGAL REGULATION OF IMPACT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT IN RUSSIA AND ABROAD

2016 ◽  
pp. 0-0
Author(s):  
Николай Кичигин ◽  
Nikolay Kichigin
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Environmental Assessment ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Educational Activity ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Historical Comparative ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Legislative Activities

The article compares the legal regulation and the law enforcement practice relating to the conduct of environmental assessment in the Russian Federation, procedures for environmental assessment, which is applicable abroad (USA, EU, China). Through the use of historical, comparative legal methods of research concludes that the national system of environmental assessment in the Russian Federation, including the assessment of impact of perspective economic and other activities on environment and ecological examination, is not an effective one and does not meet international standards of environmental assessment. The article analyzes the reasons for the ineffectiveness of environmental assessment in the Russian Federation, identifies the main differences of the Russian model of environmental assessment from their foreign counterparts. The main differences between Russian and foreign models are as follows: stages of the environmental assessment process (no stages of screening and scoping), conduct environmental assessment at the earliest stage of economic activity and at the stage of preparation of project documentation, the lack of methodology for the environmental assessment process, the lack of differentiation of environmental assessment on the individual direction of research, etc. These differences lead to the imperfection and ineffectiveness of environmental assessment in the Russian Federation and need to be addressed. The results can be used in legislative activities in the preparation of draft normative legal acts in the educational activity.

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