1. CAN EVALUATION STRENGTHEN
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ASSESSMENT?
Adam J. Wright
EDRD6000 Qualitative Analysis

2. Sustainable Development and
Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA)
 Some suggest that the
push for sustainability
started with EIA in the
early 1970’s
 Evolved to include
 StrategicEA
 Health Impact
Assessment
 Social Impact
Assessment
 The role of the public is

3. What is EIA?
 Environmental impact
assessment (EIA) is a tool
that seeks to ensure
sustainable development
through the evaluation of
those impacts arising from
a major activity that are
likely to have significant
environmental effects. It is
anticipatory, participatory,
and systematic in nature and
relies on multidisciplinary
input.

4. Existing Literature
Evaluating the success of EIA and the
sustainability of development practices
has been a topic of discussion since the
inception of environmental assessment in
the early 1970’s.

5. The Role of the Public in
Evaluation
 Community Based Environmental
Monitoring (CBEM)
 Public participation is an increasingly
important part of environmental
management. The United Nations
Environment Programme stresses
public participation as an essential
component of sustainability.
 CBEM arose as a way to continue
monitoring the environment in light of
the reduced ability of the government
to do so.
 CBEM has been undertaken in
Canada since the 1990s.

6. The Role of the Public in Evaluation:
Community Based Environmental Monitoring
Programs
 BHP Billiton Ekati™ Diamond Mine
 The Independent Environmental
Monitoring Agency (IEMA) was incorporated in1997
 Acts as an intervenor in regulatory and legal processes,
including identifying and evaluating potential environmental
impacts and Ekati's contribution to cumulative effects.
 Communicates regularly with
government Society Members and
regulatory agencies who deal with
the Ekati project.

7. The Role of the Public in Evaluation:
Community Based Environmental Monitoring Program
 Diavik Diamond Mine
 The mission of the Environmental Management Advisory
Board (EMAB) is to provide independent and external
advice, information, and recommendations on corporate
issues relating to accelerated site clean-up and risk
reduction.
 In the years since its creation in 2001, EMAB has made 44
recommendations to Diavik, the regulators and the Parties
to the Agreement.

8. Can Evaluation Strengthen EA?
Yes....
 Evaluation has shown to empower communities through
inclusive follow up and monitoring agreements.
 Resulting from Environmental Monitoring programs
capacity is developed in participating communities.
 Holds the potential to link traditional
ecological knowledge with western
knowledge.

9. Can Evaluation Strengthen EA?
But...
 The level of inclusiveness is questioned as a
communities power is typically limited to providing
recommendations with no authority to make decisions.
 Funding for evaluation of projects is typically provided by
government and the proponent. This has the potential to
distort power dynamics and could skew results.
 Monitoring programs usually only last the life of the mine
and thus long term impacts of development projects
remain largely unknown.

10. Participatory Environmental Monitoring in
Guatemala
 The Community Environmental Monitoring
Committee (AMAC) was created in 2005.
 The AMAC’s goal is to independently
monitor the environmental impact of the mine,
helping to ensure that the company running it,
complies with the environmental goals as stated in its
Environmental
Impact Assessment.
 The AMAC was established in response to the local
community's
concerns with the mine's environmental impact and the desire to
have

11. Outcomes of Evaluation in
Guatemala
 Environmental problems such as deforestation
and the contamination of ground and surface
water were identified through environmental
monitoring programs.
 As well, increased skin and respiratory diseases
were identified.
 “The Guatemala government suspended
operations of the Canadian Goldcorp's Marlin
Mine after the demands of the 18 Maya
Indigenous communities affected by the
environmental degradation of land” (Yagenova

12. Analysis of Outcomes
 There is speculation that as a result of the
community’s involvement in the evaluation, their
ability to oppose the development grew.
 In essence, as the community became more
involved in the project they became more
empowered to oppose the project.
 The political climate in Guatemala added
complexity to the social aspect of the project and
unfortunately ended in violence between security
forces and community members.
 See here for more info: http://www.cao-ombudsman.org/cases/document-
links/documents/CAO-Marlin-assessment-English-7Sep05.pdf

13. Conclusions
 Evaluation of the environmental impacts has led to more
awareness of project-related impacts as well as capacity
development in communities affected by development.
 Evaluation projects which are joint ventures (undertaken by
communities and proponent) have been successful in
meshing traditional ecological knowledge and western
knowledge.
 In certain circumstances monitoring and evaluation programs
have been viewed as tools of placation with no real power
transfer to affected communities.
 Monitoring programs usually only last the life of the mine and
thus long term impacts of development projects remain

14. Conclusions
 Results are variable and dependent on
various factors
 Political climate (regional, provincial, national)
 Existing governance and negotiation capacity of
community
 If the community has had previous experience with
resource development?
 History of the proponent in other communities....does
the proponent have a good track record?
 Willingness of the proponent to work with community.
 Regulatory requirements in regards to specific project
(public engagement requirements).
 Commodity prices (is there incentive to develop

15. REFERENCES
 Baker, D. C., & McLelland, J. N. (2003). Evaluating the effectiveness of
British Columbia’s environmental assessment process for first nations’
participation in mining development. Environmental Impact Assessment
Review , 581-603.
 Barker, A., & Wood, C. (1999). AN EVALUATION OF EIA SYSTEM
PERFORMANCE IN EIGHT EU COUNTRIES. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ASSESS REVIEW , 387–404.
 Community-Based Environmental Monitoring Network (2012). St. Mary’s
University. Retrieved from: http://www.envnetwork.smu.ca/about.html
 CommDev (2012). Participatory Environmental Monitoring, Guatemala.
Retrieved from: http://commdev.org/participatory-environmental-monitoring-
guatemala
 Environmental Monitoring Advisory Board (2012). What is EMAB?.
Retrieved from: http://www.emab.ca/WhatisEMAB.aspx
 Independent Environmental Monitoring Agency (2012). About Us. Retrieved
from: http://www.monitoringagency.net/AboutUs/tabid/53/Default.aspx
 Leopold, L. B., & Clarke, F. E. (n.d.). A Procedure for Evaluating Impact.
 Noble, B. F. (2003). Strategic environmental assessment quality assurance:
evaluating and improving the consistency of judgments in assessment
panels. Environmental Impact Assessment Review , 3–25.