Source of tools

Name of the tool
Social Impact Assessment

Where is tool available from
Possibly from the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) or further information can be obtained from the Barrows book. Also the USA government has produced a paper: Prepared by The Interorganisational Committee on Guidelines and Principles for Social Impact Assessment for the US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service (1994) Guidelines and Principles for Social Impact Assessment
http://www.iaia.org/Members/Publications/Guidelines_Principles/SP2.pdf

When was the tool produced
Not specified

Is support provided
No

Organisation/s that developed the tool and country of origin
Country where the tool was produced: USA

Organisation and author/s that produced the tool:
There had been social impact assessment studies prior to the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was passed by the US Congress in January 1970, were mostly retrospective and ad hoc. ‘Social impact assessment’ as an expression seems to have originated during 1973 in discussions on the Trans-Alaska (oil) Pipeline, and since the 1970s, the public and non governmental organisations (NGOs) in developed countries have kept up pressure on authorities for EIA and SIA. However, in practice, SIA has not received as much support and official acceptance as EIA. Since the 1990s the Canadian and Australian governments have tried to integrated the SIA into EIA, while in Europe the position is still unclear (Barrow 2000).

In 1981, the International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) was founded, providing a forum of exchange for EIA, SIA, technology impact assessment, hazard and risk assessment news, views and research and findings. THE IAIA now plays a central role in promotion, improvement and regulation of impact assessment including SIA, worldwide; it can be described as the area’s main professional body.

Organisations/ departments also involved in the design/development of the tool:
See above.
Very few case studies of SIA as a stand alone assessment or within the context of a combined SIA –EIA, turn up through literature searches. Gray literature reveals a few separate SIA case studies. A repeatedly quoted case, that is now three decades old, is that of the Berger Enquiry of the proposed Mackenzie Valley Pipeline from the Beaufort Sea in Northern Yukon Territory of Canada along the Alaska Highway to Edmonton, Alberta, as an example where SIA made the different in the final decision.

Organisation/s funded development of the tool:
Legislation in the form of the 1969 US National Environmental Policy Act helped establish SIA. SIA does not consist of a strict format and therefore different aspects are looked at for each individual project.

Is the tool newly developed or based on an exisiting tool
EIA is in a way the front runner of SIA, although both originated at similar times, it has taken longer for SIA to be taken seriously and for guidelines to be created for it – it wasn’t until the 1970’s that methods and techniques began to be developed for SIA. SIA like EIA, use a wide range of techniques – some are developed others are borrowed from other fields for example, sociology, psychology.

Cost of the full tool
Not specified