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Environmental Impact Assessment Comparison

Overview

Each student will prepare a comparative analysis of the environmental approvals process (including

requirements for Environmental Impact Assessments) for a similar development in two different places:

• An Australian state (preferably Western Australia) and
• ONE international

Examples of developments that occur across the world and which could be used as the basis for this comparative assessment include:

• A hydropower dam for electricity generation
• An open cut mine for mineral ore extraction
• A housing estate as part of a master-planned urban community
• A road or rail development

You can use real examples, hypothetical examples, or a combination of the two 1 – the main requirement is that it should be a similar development in both countries2.

You don’t need to be an expert on any of these topics, and you don’t need to assess a full proposal for a development. Instead, we are just interested in the approvals process for developments of this kind, with a particular focus on the environmental impact assessment process in both jurisdictions. For the purposes of this assessment, you should assume that the nature of the development is basically identical in both geographic locations.

You must select a country other than Australia where the similar development may occur. Select from the list below (note that students who submit reports that focus on the same country will be closely inspected to verify that you have each completed this work on your own):

• Brazil
• Canada
• Chile
• Netherlands
• South Africa
• United States of America

You may select another country if you are confident that you can find sufficient information on their environmental approvals process – but please discuss with the unit co-ordinator first.

The word limit for this assessment is 2,000 words. This includes ALL text in tables, figures, captions, headers, and footnotes, but excludes the reference list. You may include appendices to your report (not counted in the word count) but note that the assessable points should be in the main text. se are not assessed. If you struggle with the word count, you may wish to consider using bullet points, diagrams, tables and figures to summarise information, as this assessment is designed to encourage concise writing.

All good pieces of writing should stand on their own. To that end, ensure that you have an introduction and conclusion that neatly describe the purpose and main messages of your work.

Content

Your report should cover the following items:

• Context:

A brief (1-2 paragraphs in total) introduction to the type of development, the proponent, and the  potential environmental impacts3 associated with this type of development.

• Environmental Approvals Processes, one for each country.

For each country/location, outline the regulatory process that the proponent would have to follow to secure approval for the development. You should pay attention to the biophysical environment and the social/cultural environment (i.e. the human dimension).

Note: the regulatory process might be very complex involving multiple agencies OR it may be explained in detail on a government website. To represent complexity and avoid simply copying text, it will be helpful to produce your own diagram/flowchart4 that outlines the process, or use a summary table or bullet points. If the approvals process is extremely complex, you may focus only on certain components of the approvals process to remain within the word limit (additional information can always be given as an Appendix).

• Comparison of both countries:

Critically analyse and compare the key similarities and differences between the approvals process in both jurisdictions. Include commentary on the strengths and weaknesses of each process, and the reasons why there may be similarities and/or differences in the process. You may like to reflect on where your two countries sit globally with regard to environmental legislation (see for example WRI’s Environmental Democracy Index, or the UNEP’s ‘Environmental Rule of Law’ report5).

This first assignment for ENVT4421 is due at the end of Week 6. Feedback and marks will be provided to students before your next assignment is due.

You should refer to peer-reviewed literature in your report (i.e. journal articles, edited books and book chapters). You will also need to refer to information in the ‘grey literature’ (i.e. published by non-scholarly sources such as government agencies, consultancies, non-government organisations, individual experts – note that the quality of grey literature varies).

You may also use material from reputable websites, if correctly referenced. In general, websites associated with Australian federal, state and local governments, with universities, reputable corporations/industries, or with bodies associated with the United Nations will contain reliable information. Some websites associated with non-government organisations (NGOs) will provide reliable information, while others will not – the integrity and reputation of the NGO is important.