A SNAPSHOT OF GERMANY'S EIA APPROACH IN LIGHT OF THE UNITED STATES ARCHETYPE

2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (04) ◽  
pp. 1250022 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOHANN KÖPPEL ◽  
GESA GEIßLER ◽  
JENNIFER HELFRICH ◽  
JESSICA REISERT

November 2010 marked the 25th anniversary of the EU Environmental Impact Assessment Directive and the 20th anniversary of its implementation in Germany via the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (EIAA) in 1990. Reflecting back to the original role model for these pieces of legisiation, the 1969 US National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) can bring some interesting differences to light. Four decades of experience from the more mature US EIA system may hold some important lessons for Germany's younger EIAA. While an outright comparison is impossible at this present time, this article aims to contribute a comparative perspective to show the current status of the original US model, NEPA, and the differences in development and practice to Germany's younger EIAA.

1969 ◽  
pp. 377
Author(s):  
Sandra K. McCallum

This article examines the planning tool known as environmental impact assess ment. This tool is decision-making model which attempts to integrate en vironmental considerations into each stage of the planning process together with the traditional concerns of economics and technology in order to identify secon dary and cumulative impacts and to weigh environmental effects. The success of an assessment process depends on the capability of the chosen institutional arrangements to achieve the desired goal. The proposed federal procedure is ex amined and several weaknesses identified. One is the absence of legislative measures to support the process. The United States National Environmental Policy Act provides model. This statute is discussed with view to ascertaining whether like legislation in Canada would produce like result. The conclusion reached is that differences between Parliamentary and Congressional systems suggest that in Canada more appropriate course would be to adopt legislative measures which strengthen and improve the existing functions of government. Such course would better serve the goal of environmental impact assessment than attempts to transplant concepts which are ill fitted and insensitive to the parliamentary system.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasha El Gohary

The environmental impact assessment (EIA) was first required by the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act, which require environmental impact assessment of all major development projects to determine their potential for adverse effects on the environment. The environmental outlook for the Nile basin remains quite hazy. In the future there will be new environmental challenge stemming from population growth, increasing demands on agriculture, and climate change. This will put a huge burden on the environment. This research initiated to compare the international EIA guidelines in order to enhance the Nile Basin Countries experience to improve its practice in managing the environmental resources. This is due to the fact that Nile Basin Countries experiences face many challenges such as lack of capacity, data, proper guidelines, enforcement, and most importantly awareness of the environment protection sector or its effectiveness. Moreover; it requires reviewing and tools improvements to produce effective environmental management of development and engineering projects. Therefore, provision of detailed guidelines for EIA can help to improve the practice in the management of environmental resources. This paper reviews the EIA legislation in the Nile Basin Countries in comparison with international legislation and guidelines with emphasis on the EIA practice. The paper also intends to present selected international EIA guidelines in a comparative form and this is expected to raise awareness, professional experience of EIA issues, enhance EIA carrying capacity, and lead, ultimately, to improvements in available EIA legislations and guidelines and increase compatibility among them.


2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 1159-1175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajiv Bhatia ◽  
Aaron Wernham

The National Environmental Policy Act and related state laws require many public agencies to analyze and disclose potentially significant environmental effects of agency actions, including effects on human health. In this paper we review the purpose and procedures of environmental impact assessment (EIA), existing regulatory requirements for health effects analysis, and potential barriers to and opportunities for improving integration of human health concerns within the EIA process. We use statutes, regulations, guidelines, court opinions, and empirical research on EIA along with recent case examples of integrated health impact assessment (HIA)/EIA at both the state and federal level. We extract lessons and recommendations for integrated HIA/EIA practice from both existing practices as well as case studies. The case studies demonstrate the adequacy, scope, and power of existing statutory requirements for health analysis within EIA. The following support the success of integrated HIA/EIA: a proponent recognizing EIA as an available regulatory strategy for public health; the openness of the agency conducting the EIA; involvement of public health institutions; and complementary objectives among community stakeholders and health practitioners. We recommend greater collaboration among institutions responsible for EIA, public health institutions, and affected stakeholders along with guidance, resources, and training for integrated HIA/EIA practice.


Purpose. Describe the categories of environmental risk, the degree of their impact on the environment. Results. The place of ecological risk in the system of environmental impact assessment is substantiated. Modern methodology for environmental risk assessment involves a parallel consideration of risks to human health and environmental risks caused by disturbance of ecosystems and adverse effects on environmental components, risks of deteriorating quality and deteriorating living conditions. The reasons for the risk are unplanned events in the environment that may adversely affect the company, the progress of its plans. These include both predictable and unpredictable events. Risk factors are the conditions under which risk causes may arise. Among them are: political, scientific and technical, socio-economic, environmental and more. Conclusions. In the strategic perspective, it is necessary to improve the national environmental policy and create a national system of environmental safety and an effective system of environmental monitoring as a universal tool for its implementation. One of the tasks of this system is effective environmental risk management.


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