Environmental Impact Assessment and Management: An UnderexploredRelationship

/ Some 25 years of environmental impact assessment (EIA) practicehas seen the development of a wealth of experience. The bulk of our exposureto EIA exists in the form of actual practice, perhaps recorded as publishedcase studies. There also exists a substantial literature reporting theresults of empirical and theoretical research. In this paper a perceiveddeficiency in the theoretical literature is identified. This deficiency liesin the exploration of the relationship between EIA and subsequentenvironmental management.In this paper the existing body of theory is reviewed to highlight the needfor further attention to be paid to the EIA/management relationship. Inparticular it is shown that the majority of the literature to date hasconcentrated on the influence of EIA leading up to and including the decisionto proceed or not with the proposed action. Less attention has been paid tothe extension of the influence of EIA beyond this point to inform the processof ongoing environmental management.This relationship is then explored by reference to the Western Australian EIAsystem. One of the strengths of this system is its focus upon theimplementation and management of proposed developments. The outcome of EIA isgenerally an approval to proceed with the development subject to meeting asuite of environmental design and management objectives.KEY WORDS: Environmental impact assessment; Ongoing management