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EIA process in Ireland

  • 07-01-2011 3:07pm
    #1
    Silent Runner
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 180 ✭✭


    In terms of its ability to protect the environment how could the process be improved?


Comments

  • #2
    El Siglo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,803 ✭✭✭El Siglo


    Silent Runner wrote: »
    In terms of its ability to protect the environment how could the process be improved?

    Many ways I would imagine. There tends to be a lot of charlatans out there that call themselves 'Environmental Consultants', dealing with them would be the first thing.


  • #3
    Silent Runner
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 180 ✭✭Silent Runner


    There are large volumes of information on the web of how to carry out an EIA/EIS that almost anyone could carry it out. However if a company employs an environmental consultant, that is less than qualified, there could be a liabilty if there is an objection against the proposal and that the assesment was made by an unsuitable consultant which would create a big setback for the development and company. Having read many poorly written EIA/EIS's this is probably very true but how could this problm be solved. How can something like this be regulated or could there be any legislation applied?


  • #4
    boru05
    Registered Users Posts: 54 ✭✭boru05


    Silent Runner wrote: »
    In terms of its ability to protect the environment how could the process be improved?

    I think one of the fundamental issues with the EIA process is that despite the nominal notion that it is supposed to be for the benefit and protection of the env., in reality it is a planning device and usually planners review them (from a competent authority point of view). If the reviewers were suitably qualified and experienced then they would be ultimately be able to make an informed judgement on the quality of an EIA.

    Of course when EIA gets upgraded from being a planning device to a political one, then all bets are off (this happens a lot - particularly when local authorities don't like a particular developer/institution). I don't think we'll see the volume of EIA's that were produced in the last 7-8 years again for a while. If you're in the business, you'd see that as the volume increased, the quality significantly decreased. In areas where either LA's or ABP are/were known to have stopped/amended a development because of an EIA - the quality of the EIA's subsequently improved dramatically (once bitten, twice shy and all that).

    I should say that the above doesn't apply really to IPPC applications. EIA's associated with IPPC's are usually much much better, more technically competent and much more robust.
    Silent Runner wrote: »
    How can something like this be regulated or could there be any legislation applied?
    El Siglo wrote: »
    Many ways I would imagine. There tends to be a lot of charlatans out there that call themselves 'Environmental Consultants', dealing with them would be the first thing.

    The easiest, fastest and most efficient way of sorting this out tomorrow would be to insist that all EIA's (from the very small - to the very large) are signed off by a Chartered Environmental Scientist (with CIWEM). Like any chartership, the C. Env. Sc. ensures some degree of competence and continuing professional development. It's also infinitely harder to get chartered than it is to get a qualification in env. sc.


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