Institute for Environmental Studies, The University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Environ Monit Assess. 1983 Jun;3(2):133-50. doi: 10.1007/BF00398843.
This paper examines the spread and development of 'environmental impact assessment' (EIA) since the enactment of the U.S. Environmental Policy Act on January 1, 1970, which established for the first time under any jurisdiction the formal requirement that an EIA be made and that an 'environmental impact statement' (EIS) be filed prior to implementation of certain major development projects.The paper is divided into three parts. In the first part, we briefly review the forms of EIA introduced in the western industrial countries and contrast these with developments in the socialist countries of Eastern Europe, and in the Third World. The approaches to EIA adopted by five countries - the United States, Australia, Canada, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Soviet Union - are used to illustrate the types of national approaches that have been followed. In the second part of the paper, we use some questions raised by impact assessments as codified in legislation or regulations at the national level to highlight some of the limitations of impact assessment. Finally, we turn to international impact assessments and describe the modest progress made to date. Key impediments to the development of appropriate conceptual and institutional frameworks and methodologies for international EIAs are noted.In conclusion, we offer some suggestions about needed actions at both the national and international levels.
本文考察了自 1970 年 1 月 1 日美国《环境政策法》颁布以来“环境影响评估”（EIA）的传播和发展，该法首次在任何管辖范围内正式规定，必须进行环境影响评估，并在实施某些重大发展项目之前提交“环境影响报告书”（EIS）。本文分为三个部分。第一部分简要回顾了西方工业国家采用的 EIA 形式，并将其与东欧社会主义国家和第三世界的发展进行了对比。本文使用美国、澳大利亚、加拿大、联邦德国和苏联这五个国家的 EIA 方法来说明所采用的国家方法的类型。在本文的第二部分，我们利用立法或法规在国家层面上编纂的一些影响评估问题，突出了影响评估的一些局限性。最后，我们转向国际影响评估，并描述了迄今为止取得的适度进展。文中指出了国际 EIA 发展适当的概念和体制框架和方法方面的主要障碍。最后，我们就国家和国际两个层面上的必要行动提出了一些建议。
