Improving the effectiveness of project assessment - Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment - page 353

11.4.3 Links between EMS and EIA
The growth in EMS is important to EIA for several reasons. First, EMS of both private
and public sector organizations will increasingly generate environmental information that
will also be useful when carrying out EIAs. Local authorities' state of the environment
reports provide data on environmental conditions in the area that can be used in EIA
baseline studies. Generally, a state of the environment report will contain information on
such topics as local air and water quality, noise, land use, landscape, wildlife habitats and
transport. Unfortunately, unless this information is regularly (and expensively) updated, it
quickly becomes outdated. It is also often collected only on a large-scale (e.g.
countywide) basis, and so may not be suitable for any specific site. However, state of the
environment reports do generally identify sources for environmental data that can be
contacted for the most up-to-date information. Similarly, the reports may be useful when
determining suitable locations for new developments, by identifying sites that are
particularly environmentally sensitive and should clearly be avoided, or those that are
environmentally robust and more suitable for development, for input to SEA (see Chapter
12).
Private companies' environmental audit findings have traditionally been kept
confidential: it is noticeable that many more companies have ISO accreditation—which
requires only limited disclosure of information—than EMAS accreditation. Thus a
private company's EMS is likely to be useful for EIA only if that company intends to
open a similar facility elsewhere. However, environmental auditing information about
levels of wastes and emissions produced by different types of industrial processes, the
types of pollution abatement equipment and operating procedures used to minimize these
by-products, and the effectiveness of the equipment and operating procedures will be
useful for determining the impact of similar future developments and mitigation
measures. Some of these audits are also likely to provide models of “best practice”,
which other firms can aspire to in their existing and future facilities. Most interestingly,
however, project EIAs are increasingly used as a starting point for their projects' EMSs.
For instance, emission limits stated in an EIA can be used as objectives in the company's
EMS, once it is operational The EMS can also test whether the mitigation measures
discussed in the EIA have been installed and whether they work effectively in practice.
Overall, EMS is likely to increase the level of environmental monitoring,
environmental awareness and the availability of environmental data. All of this can only
be of help in EIA.
11.5 Summary
As in a number of other countries discussed in Chapter 10, the practice of EIA for
projects in the UK, set in the wider context of the EU, has progressed rapidly up the
learning curve. Understandably however, practice has highlighted problems as well as
successes. The resolution of problems and future prospects are determined by the
interaction between the various parties involved. In the EU the introduction of the
amended EIA Directive in 1999 has helped to improve some steps in the EIA process,
including screening, scoping, the consideration of alternatives and consultation.
However, some key issues remain unresolved, including the lack of support for