A Study on Reforming the Roles and Scope of Environmental Impact Assessment

환경영향평가의 역할 및 범위 재정립 방안연구

Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) was first formally established in the Korea in 1981. Subsequently there has been a rapid growth in EIA activity, and over one hundred fifty environmental impact statements are now published in Korea each year. Although EIA now has almost 20 years of history in the Korea, elsewhere the development of roles and practice is more recent. Development is moving apace in many countries, including the Japan and the EU Member States. Such progress has not been without its problems, and a number of the current issues in EIA-scope of the assessment, the relative roles, the quality of assessment and monitoring and auditing after decision, and so on- are highlighted. So the purpose of this article is to reform the EIA roles and process, in extending the scope of activity, and assessing effectiveness. This article suggested improving the effectiveness of project assessment, widening the scope: stretegic environmental assessment, and extending EIA to project design process, environmental monitoring and feedback system.