Introduction to EIA follow-up

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a process for taking account of the potential environmental consequences of a proposed action during the planning, design, decision-making and implementation stages of that action. Follow-up should be an integral part of this process. From its origins under the National Environmental Policy Act 1969 in the US, EIA procedures have been widely adopted throughout the world. EIA can be undertaken at many different jurisdictional levels including: •local level (e.g. local government procedures) •state or provincial level (e.g. state governments in the US, Canada and Australia have implemented their own EIA procedures) •national or federal level (e.g. countrywide procedures) •supranational or international level involving more than one country (e.g. European Community Directives for impact assessment that apply throughout the European Union).