ENVIRONMENTAL-IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT - AN UNDEREXPLORED RELATIONSHIP

Some 25 years of environmental impact assessment(EIA) practice has see n the development of a wealth of experience. The bulk of our exposure to EIA exists in the form of actual practice, perhaps recorded as publ ished case studies. There also exists a substantial literature reporti ng the results of empirical and theoretical research. In this paper a perceived deficiency in the theoretical literature is identified. This deficiency lies in the exploration of the relationship between EIA an d subsequent environmental management. In this paper the existing body of theory is reviewed to highlight the need for further attention to be paid to the EIA/management relationship, in particular it is shown that the majority of the literature to date has concentrated on the in fluence of EIA leading up to and including the decision to proceed or not with the proposed action. Less attention has been paid to the exte nsion of the influence of EIA beyond this point to inform the process of ongoing environmental management. This relationship is then explore d by reference to the Western Australian EIA system. One of the streng ths of this system is its focus upon the implementation and management of proposed developments. The outcome of EIA is generally an approval to proceed with the development subject to meeting a suite of environ mental design and management objectives.