Practitioner Perspectives on the Role of Science in Environmental Impact Assessment

A large body of literature addresses the role of science in environmental impact assessment (EIA) but less attention has been given to the views of practitioners themselves. In this research a survey of 31 EIA practitioners in Western Australia was undertaken to determine their perceptions of the quality and importance of science in EIA. The survey results are compared with previous theoretical, empirical, and survey studies of the role of science in EIA. Interview questions addressed the role of science in impact prediction, monitoring activities, mitigation and management, and EIA decision-making. It was clear from the interviews that many practitioners are satisfied with the quality of science currently used in EIA, but do not believe that it is given sufficient importance in the process. The quality and importance of science in the predecision stages of EIA was rated higher than in the postdecision stages. While science was perceived to provide the basis for baseline data collection, impact prediction, and mitigation design, it was seen to be less important during decision-making and ongoing project management. Science was seen to be just one input to decision-makers along with other factors such as sociopolitical and economic considerations. While time and budget constraints were seen to limit the scientific integrity of EIA activities, pressure from the public and regulatory authorities increased it. Improving the scientific component of EIA will require consideration of all these factors, not just the technical issues.

[1]  Robert C. Nichols,et al.  Combining Facts and Values in Environmental Impact Assessment , 1988 .

[2]  D. B. Hunsaker,et al.  Tools for improving predictive capabilities of environmental impact assessments: Structured hypotheses, audits, and monitoring , 1989 .

[3]  Larry W. Canter,et al.  Environmental Impact Assessment , 1995 .

[4]  D. B. Hunsaker,et al.  Actual versus predicted impacts of three ethanol plants on aquatic and terrestrial resources , 1993 .

[5]  P G Fairweather,et al.  Environmental impact assessment: Where is the science in EIA? , 1989 .

[6]  A. Morrison-Saunders,et al.  The effect of public pressure during environmental impact assessment on environmental management outcomes , 1998 .

[7]  J. Bailey,et al.  Interpreting the environmental protection act 1986 (WA): Social impacts and the environment redefined , 1996 .

[8]  Peter Duinker,et al.  Forecasting Environmental Impacts: Better Quantitative and Wrong Than Qualitative and Untestable , 1985 .

[9]  W. Dickerson,et al.  Substantive scientific and technical guidance for NEPA analysis: Pitfalls in the real world , 1993 .

[10]  R. Green,et al.  Sampling Design and Statistical Methods for Environmental Biologists , 1979 .

[11]  Angus Morrison-Saunders,et al.  The influence of EIA on environmental management in Western Australia , 1997 .

[12]  Bonnie L. Antcliffe.  Environmental impact assessment and monitoring: the role of statistical power analysis , 1999 .

[13]  Gordon H. Orians,et al.  The Place of Science in Environmental Problem Solving , 1986 .

[14]  Lynton K. Caldwell,et al.  ANALYSIS-ASSESSMENT-DECISION: THE ANATOMY OF RATIONAL POLICYMAKING , 1991 .

[15]  Angus Morrison-Saunders.  Environmental impact assessment as a tool for on going environmental management , 1996 .

[16]  Christopher Wood,et al.  Predominance and independence in environmental impact assessment: The Western Australia model , 1994 .

[17]  P. Duinker,et al.  A systematic approach to forecasting in environmental impact assessment. , 1986 .

[18]  Donald A. Brown,et al.  The role of science in the decision to site a high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, USA , 1990 .

[19]  W. Freudenburg.  Social Scientists' Contributions to Environmental Management , 1989 .

[20]  P. Wathern,et al.  Environmental Impact Assessment: Theory and Practice , 1998 .

[21]  Angus Morrison-Saunders,et al.  Practitioner perspectives on what influences EIA quality , 2001 .

[22]  J Andrew Lothian,et al.  Attitudes of Australians Towards the Environment: 1975 to 1994 , 1994 .

[23]  A. J. Underwood,et al.  Beyond BACI: Experimental designs for detecting human environmental impacts on temporal variations in natural populations , 1991 .

[24]  John Bailey,et al.  Environmental Impact Assessment and Management: An Underexplored Relationship , 1997 .

[25]  Peter N. Duinker,et al.  Ecological effects monitoring in environmental impact assessment: What can it accomplish? , 1989 .

[26]  Valerie Hobbs,et al.  Environmental auditing: Artificial waterway developments in Western Australia , 1992 .

[27]  Angus Morrison-Saunders,et al.  Environmental impact assessment as a tool for ongoing environmental management , 1996 .

[28]  D. Hinkle,et al.  Applied statistics for the behavioral sciences , 1979 .

[29]  S. G. Hildebrand,et al.  Environmental Analysis: The NEPA Experience , 1993 .

[30]  Angus Morrison-Saunders,et al.  Exploring the EIA/Environmental Management Relationship , 1999 .

[31]  Gregory G. Dess,et al.  Divergence between Archival and Perceptual Measures of the Environment: Causes and Consequences , 1993 .

[32]  Kirsten Benkendorff,et al.  The need for more stringent requirements in Environmental Impact Assessment: Shell Cove Marina case study , 1999 .

[33]  A L Brown,et al.  From Environmental Impact Assessment to Environmental Design and Planning , 1995 .

[34]  John M. Mezias,et al.  Opening Pandora's Box: Studying the Accuracy of Managers' Perceptions , 1996 .

[35]  Angus Morrison-Saunders,et al.  Transparency in environment impact assessment decision-making: recent developments in Western Australia , 2000 .

[36]  Peter N. Duinker,et al.  An Ecological Framework for Environmental Impact Assessment , 1984 .

[37]  Angus Morrison-Saunders,et al.  Exploring the EIA / environmental management relationship: follow-up for performance evaluation , 2000 .

[38]  T. Hellström,et al.  Uncertainty and values: The case of environmental impact assessment , 1996 .

[39]  Raymond M. Robinson,et al.  Environmental impact assessment: the growing importance of science in government decision making , 1989, Hydrobiologia.

[40]  Richard K. Morgan.  Environmental impact assessment : a methodological perspective , 1998 .

[41]  APPLICATION OF SCIENCE TO ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT IN BOREAL FOREST MANAGEMENT: THE SASKATCHEWAN EXAMPLE , 1995 .