Quality control mechanisms and environmental impact assessment effectiveness with special reference to the UK

Abstract

The fundamental components of an effective environmental impact assessment (EIA) system are formulated. It is proposed that EIA effectiveness can only be ensured if there are good quality control mechanisms in place. Nine categories of quality control are proposed: legislative, procedural, evaluative, professional, public/relevant agency, administrative, judicial, follow-up and international. These newly proposed mechanisms can be applied to gauge the completeness, comprehensiveness and effectiveness of existing EIA systems in a variety of social and political contexts. The UK environmental assessment system was used as an example to demonstrate how quality control mechanisms can be applied to evaluate EIA effectivness. It is concluded that considerable improvements could be made, particularly in legislative control, while public/relevant agency, professional and international controls have done much to raise EA quality in the UK.