Starting up; early stages - Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment - page 92

The EIA process invariably involves an interdisciplinary team approach. Early US
legislation strongly advocated such an approach:
Environmental impact statements shall be prepared using an
interdisciplinary approach which will ensure the integrated use of the
natural and social sciences and the environmental design arts. The
disciplines of the preparers shall be appropriate to the scope and issues
identified in the scoping approach. (CEQ 1978, par. 1502.6)
Such an interdisciplinary approach not only reflects the normal scope of EIA studies,
from the biophysical to the socioeconomic, but also brings to the process the advan tages
of multiple viewpoints and perspectives on the complex issues involved (Canter 1991).
The team producing the EIS may be one, or a combination, of proponent in-house,
lead external consultant, external sub-consultants and individual specialists. The size of
the team may vary from two (one person, although sometimes used, does not constitute a
team) to more than a dozen for some projects; the average is three or four. Fortlage
(1990) identified 17 relevant specialist types, including town planner, ecologist, chemist,
archaeologist and lawyer. A team should cover the main issues involved. A small team of
three could, as exemplified by Canter, cover the areas of physical/chemical,
biological/ecological and cultural/socio-economic, with a membership that might include,
for example, an environmental engineer, an ecologist and a planner, at least one member
having training or experience in EIA and management. However, the finalization of a
team's membership may be possible only after an initial scoping exercise has been
undertaken.
Many EIA teams make a clear distinction between a “core/focal” management team
and associated specialists, often reflecting the fact that no one organization can cover all
the inputs needed in the production of an EIS for a major project. Some commentators
(see Weaver et al. 1996) promote the virtues of this approach. On a study for a major
open-cast mining project in South Africa, Weaver et al. had a core project team of five
people: a project manager, two senior authors, an editorial consultant and a word
processor. This team managed the inputs into the EIA process, coordinated over 60
scientific and non-scientific contributors, and organized various public participation and
liaison programmes.
The team project manager obviously has a pivotal role. In addition to personnel and
team management skills, the manager should have a broad appreciation of the project
type under consideration, a knowledge of the relevant processes and impacts subject to
EIA, the ability to identify important issues and preferably a substantial area of expertise.
Petts & Eduljee (1994) identify the following core roles for a project manager:
• selecting an appropriate project team;
• managing specialist inputs;
• liaising with the people involved in the process;
• managing change in the internal and external environment of the project;
• coordinating the contributions of the team in the various documentary outputs.
The management team has to co-ordinate resources —information, people and
equipment—to achieve an EIA study of quality, on time and within its budget. Budgets