Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
countries of the developed world, there are
nevertheless examples of best procedures and
practices. Indeed, many of the states of the
Commonwealth of Australia show an impressive
record of the successful development of EIA since
its adoption. In summarising the present position
in Western Australia, where much has been done
as a result of its new Environmental Protection
Act of 1986, it has been suggested that in its
'numerous public participation and appeal
provisions, the referral system, the various types of
EIA report and recommendations and the strong
links to action monitoring, together with the
annual report on the EIA system, it provides a
model worthy of wide-spread imitation' (Wood
and Bailey 1994).
In Victoria, the first of the individual states to
enact the relevant legislation, in 1978, the
effectiveness of the system has, indeed, evolved
over the years so that it has now become highly
pro-active at all stages in the EIA process,
culminating in the general use of inquiry panels
and consultative committees. Moreover, it has
succeeded in getting proponents and decision
makers to consider environmental effects earlier
in their planning stage. Its one remaining weakness
is the lack of
mandatory
monitoring in the project
cycle (Wood 1993).
CASE STUDIES
The three case studies that follow are designed to
illuminate what has so far been outlined in the
preceding narrative section, which has largely
concentrated on the nature of the structures in
place for EIA. Here the concern is much more
with illustrating the practical difficulties that can
arise in the execution of EIAs, which in turn can
deeply affect the outcomes of the process.
As suggested on page 250 and as Box 17.1
affirms, what Brazil eventually put in place bears
all the hallmarks of a system that, for the
developing world, is well above the norm in terms
of its apparent capacity to mediate the conflicting
interests that are apparent in any project that has
environmental implications. Apart from the
fundamental exogenous problem that the
pervading ethos in Brazil is for economic
development to take priority over environmental
