Environmental assessment and sustainability: Are we ready for the challenge?

Australian Journal of Environmental Management

Volumn 3, Issue 1, 1996, Pages 42-57

  Court, John ^a   Wright, Colin ^b   Guthrie, Alasdair ^c  

^a J D Court and Associates Pty Ltd ^*  (Australia)

^b Consulting Environmental Engineer ^*  (Australia)

^c Guthrie Consulting   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0011124944     PISSN: 13221698     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/14486563.1996.10648342     Document Type: Article

References (27)

1. The origins of this article arose from consultancy work carried out by the authors for the (Federal) Environment Protection Agency (EPA). The work, on cumulative impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment, was part of the Commonwealth government's broader review of its environmental impact assessment processes. We record here our appreciation of support from the EPA, but stress that the views expressed here are ours and not necessarily those of the EPA.
2. The World Commission on Environment and Development. 1990. Our Common Future Australia:Oxford University Press.
3. Commonwealth of Australia. 1992. National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development Canberra:AGPS.
4. SEA is the application of the techniques of project-specific EIA to policies. plans and programmes which may have sectoral, regional or indirect impacts. CIA is the extension of EIA beyond the project-specific horizon to analyse and assess effects which can become crowded in space and time, conducive to synergism, cause indirect effects or which can lead to loss of a resource by “nibbling”. CIA takes account of environmental impacts that may be acceptable individually but may be unacceptable collectively.
5. Wilks, L. 1993. The Currying Capacity Concept and its Application to the Management of Coastal Zone Resources, Coastal Zone Inquiry. Information Paper No 8 Canberra:Resource Assessment Commission.
6. Wright, C. 1994. Incorporating Ecologically Sustainable Development into Environmental Impact Assessment (Master's Project Report, University of New South Wales.
7. Goodland, R, and Sadler, B. 1993. “The Use of Environmental Assessment in Economic Policy Making”. In Proceedings of Annual Meeting of International Association of Impact Assessment (Shanghai.
8. Department of the Environment (UK). 1992. Policy Appraisal and the Environment—A Guide for Government Departments London:HMSO.
9. Bridgewater, G. 1989. Environmental Impact Assessment of Policies in Canada:A Beginning Quebec:Manuscript Report, Canadian Environmental Assessment Research Council, Hull.
10. Therivel, R. 1993. “Systems of Strategic Environmental Assessment”. In Environmental Impact Assessment Review 145–168. (13.
11. Stewart, D, and McColl, G. 1994. 12–23. “The Resource Assessment Commission:An Inside Assessment” (1 AJEM.
12. CEARC. 1988. The Assessment of Cumulative Effects:A Research Prospectus (Canadian Environmental Assessment Research Council, Hull, Quebec.
13. Odum, W. 1982. “Environmental Degradation and the Tyranny of Small Decisions”. In Bioscience 728–729. (32.
14. Lee, L, and Gosselink, J. 1988. “Cumulative Impacts on Wetlands:Linking Scientific Assessments and Regulatory Alternatives”. In Environmental Management 591–602. (12 (5); and D Whigham, C Chitterling and B Palmer, “Impacts of Freshwater Wetlands on Water Quality:A Landscape Perspective” (1988) 12 (5) Environmental Management 673–671.
15. The term “nibbling” is used, for example. to describe the continued incremental habitat loss that can occur from “creeping” urbanisation or agriculture.
16. Including specifically:. 1992. Journal of Environmental Management 31–49. Lee and Gosselink, op cit n 15; and C Cocklin, S Parker and J Hay, “Notes on Cumulative Environmental Change 1:Concepts and Issues” (35.
17. Court, J, Wright, C, and Guthrie, A. 1994. Assessment of Cumulative Impacts and Strategic Assessment in Environmental Impact Assessment Canberra:Consultancy Report, Commonwealth Environment Protection Agency.
18. Lane, P, Wallace, R, Johnson, R, and Bernard, D. 1988. A Reference Guide to Cumulative Effects Assessment in Canada Volume 1 Edited by:Gosselink, J, Lee, L, Muir, T, Beanlands, G. (prepared for CEARC by P Lane and Associates Ltd. Halifax, Nova Scotia,; J Cairns, “Gauging the Cumulative Effects of Developmental Activities on Complex Ecosystems” in Cumulative Environmental Effects:A Binational Perspective (CEARC, Hull, Quebec and US National Research Council, Washington, 1986 Ecological Processes and Cumulative Impacts:Illustrated by Bottomland Hardwood Wetland Ecosystems (Chelsea, MI, 1990); P Dayton, “Cumulative Impacts in the Marine Realm” and W Clark, “The Cumulative Impacts of Human Activities on the Atmosphere”).
19. Court, Wright and Guthrie. op cit n 18.
20. Lane et al. op cit n 19.
21. Cocklin, C, Parker, S, and Hay, J. 1992. “Notes on Cumulative Environmental Change II:A Contribution to Methodology”. In Journal of Environmental Management 51–67. (35.
22. Stakhiv, E. 1988. “An Evaluation Paradigm for Cumulative Impact Analysis”. In Environmental Management 725–748. (12 (5).
23. Lee and Gosselink. op cit n 15.
24. Commonwealth Government. 1994. Public Review of the Commonwealth Environmental Impact Assessment Process:Main Discussion Paper Canberra:EPA.
25. Commonwealth Government. 1994. Public Review of the Commonwealth Environmental Impact Assessment Process:Initial Discussion Paper. Setting the Direction Canberra:EPA.
26. Hubbard, P. 1990. Cumulative Effects Assessment and Regional Planning in Southern Ontario Quebec:Manuscript Report, CEARC, Hull.
27. Commonwealth Government. 1992. Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment