Tool summary

Name of the tool
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental statement (ES)

Description of the tool
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA is the methodical evaluation of the potential adverse and beneficial environmental effects of a proposed development or activity. An EIA, through analysis, prediction and interpretation, seeks to identify any environmental effects, whether positive or negative, of a proposal and therefore enable the authorities (municipality) to make a decision as to whether the proposals should be:
• Permitted to go ahead on the basis of their potential environmental impacts;
• Permitted to go ahead but only after major revision to proposals; or
• Be completely reconsidered as potential impacts are unacceptable.

The key elements of an EIA are: Scoping (identifying key issues and concerns of interested parties); screening (decide whether an EIA is required based on information collected); Identifying and evaluating alternatives (list alternative sites and techniques and the impacts of each); Mitigating measures dealing with uncertainty (review proposed action to prevent or minimise the potential adverse effects of the project) and Issuing environmental statements (report the findings of the EIA).

Within Europe certain sizes and types of developments statutorily require an EIA to be completed as a result of Directive 85/337/EEC, passed in 1985 and since reinforced by amendments in 1997 and 2003.

The Environmental Statement (ES) is the report of the findings of the assessment. A well-prepared ES will show that any potentially significant impacts associated with a proposal have been considered in depth. ES´s are usually made available to the public.

Specific topic
An assessment to identify the potential environmental impact of a project prior to development.

Sector/s of use

Waste	Energy	Water	Transport	Green/Blue	Building & Land use
1	1	1	1	1	M

M - main sector, 1 - sub sector and 0 - n/a

Scale of applications

Component	Building	Neighbourhood	City	Region
1	1	1	1	1