Quality of environmental impact assessment: Finnish EISs and the opinions of EIA professionals

Abstract

This article presents and compares findings of two EIA quality studies conducted in Finland. First a survey was targeted at competent authorities and environmental consultants to investigate their perceptions of the quality of Finnish EIAs. Second, 15 EISs were considered using the European Commission's guidance on review criteria. The results show that the EIA professionals generally consider the quality as good, though they also recognized that the quality varies and suggested certain areas for improvement. In the professionals' opinion the performance of Finnish EIAs could be enhanced, especially with more profound alternative considerations. Based on the results it is also suggested that more efforts should be aimed at increasing the communicativeness of EISs. © IAIA 2010.