Land take and the effectiveness of project screening in Environmental Impact Assessment
Findings from an empirical study
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11370840 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Davide Geneletti (0000-0002-5528-3365, Murdoch University, corresponding author), Alessandro Biasiolli (University of Trento), Angus Morrison-Saunders (0000-0003-3560-0164, Murdoch University) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 67 |
| Pages | 117-123 |
| Publication date | 2017-11-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Impact Assessment Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0195-9255 • E-ISSN: 1873-6432 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.eiar.2017.08.008 |
| OpenAlex | W2758693010 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 35 |
Land take is emerging as a global environmental concern, and is particularly critical in intensively developed and land-scarce regions. This paper seeks to understand the effectiveness of the screening stage of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in addressing land take. Screening is the stage where a decision is made as to whether an EIA is required for a project. In many jurisdictions, screening results in three pathways: full EIA directly, preliminary EIA only, or preliminary EIA followed by full EIA. We compared the land take of 217 projects triggering the different pathways in a study region in Italy over a 15-year time interval. Land take was quantified by overlaying the footprint of the projects with a land cover map. The results show that while more attention was given to projects with larger land take impacts overall, the cumulative land take from smaller projects not triggering full EIA was considerable (40% of overall land take). The case-by-case examination conducted through the preliminary EIA was found to work better for some project types (ski areas and small urban development), than for others (quarries). Our findings lead us to advocate improvements in current screening procedures to ensure that the land take impacts are quantified and made explicit in preliminary EIA reports. Our evidence-based approach to determining land take in EIA provides a compelling basis for understanding ways to improve EIA policies, guidance and practice
Civil engineering · Contaminated land · Cumulative effects · Environmental impact assessment · Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · Geography · Impact assessment · Land cover · Land use · Political science · Work (physics · Engineering · Environmental and Social Impact Assessments · Environmental Science · Mining and Resource Management · Sustainable Building Design and Assessment
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Simulations of EIA screening across jurisdictions
A critical appraisal of EIA screening practice in EU Member States
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| Citations per year | 0.88 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2018 - 2025 (8) |
| Highly cited | No |