• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.195-209
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• 2001

The objective of this study is intended to propose plans for reforming environmental impact assessment(EIA) systems by reviewing the current legal systems of EIA related laws and their implementation status in Korea, and by comparing the Korean situation to EIA systems in several foreign countries. This study tried to integrate all EIA related systems scattered over several laws into one comprehensive EIA law, and also to develop legal procedures necessary to accomplish the legislative purpose of the integrated EIA law. Therefore, I propose four reforms (1) All EIA systems should be integrated into one comprehensive EIA act. (2) Administrative plans and policies, though environmentally harmful, which are not currently subject to any prior consultation system, should be covered by the prior consultation system. (3) A screening or scoping should be adopted. (4) Widen civil participation should be encouraged and the administrative control enforcement and introduction of group litigation or citizen suits would be considered.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.73-83
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• 1993

Increasing concern for the environment in Korea has led to the demand that major policies and large-scale development projects be subjected to detailed impact assessment. This paper reports on the state of data related to the prediction of the environmental impact (EIA) to emphasize the importance of data quality. Environmental impact statements (EIS) consulted with the Ministry of Environment of Korea were analyzed from 1981 through 1992. Many of assessors used existing data and collected supplementary data from field survey. Most of the results of EIA are presented directly or summarized on maps and as graphics. For the national purpose, large source of quality-controlled data such as atmospheric data have been developed, However, there are the deficiency in data to analyze the impact of human activity, and data gaps and incompatibilities among systems. Consequently, the development of data bank systems including computer database and remotely-sensed satellite data is required to improve the quality of data which are relevant to EIA. The data bank system should be organized meaningfully in minimum time with a least cost, and measurement standards must be made explicit. Geographical information systems (GIS) are applicable to the graphic presentation or to the impact prediction model.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.211-221
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• 2001

Recognizing interaction between the environment and humans, the EIA(environmental impact assessment) movement has sought to promote more environmentally sound and informed decisions for the sake of human welfare. Therefore, most EIA programs require the consideration of human health impacts. Yet relatively few EIA documents adequately address those impacts. This study was carried out to investigate the role of EIA for reuniting the environment and human health, for preventing and reducing significant health risks, and for improving human health impact assessment by means of risk assessment. Risk assessment consists of 4 components; hazard identification, dose-response assessment, exposure assessment and risk characterization. Since most people spent their times in indoor, indoor air quality modelling can be used in exposure assessment and risk assessment. In this study, indoor $NO_2$ concentration and personal $NO_2$ exposure were estimated by Box Model using mass balance equation and time weighted average, respectively. The estimated indoor $NO_2$ concentration and the personal $NO_2$ exposure were compared by those measured, respectively. Subsequntly, health effect was assessed with these results. Consequently, exposure assessment and risk assessment using indoor air quality model may be considered to be applicable to EIA.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2018

Selecting target items of EIA(Environmental Impacts Assessment) is very important process in conducting the EIA. In Korea, like other countries, the EIA Council selects the target items before starting the EIA process. However, the assessment items stipulated in the Enforcement Decree of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act is almost wholly applied to most businesses. Thus, the EIA is difficult to carry out reflecting the characteristics of the target business. Additionally, the items of EIA have a structure that is difficult to change, so that the items of EIA is easy to fall apart from the current social needs. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to suggest adjustment of the items of EIA by reflecting the changes in the assessment and social conditions based on analysis of the usage and effectiveness of the current EIA items. In addition, this study would like to propose a improvement of the operating system in order to ensure that EIA items can be selected effectively.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.467-483
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• 2007

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a kind of planning technique to seek ways to minimize environmental impact, a scheme to encourage sustainable development. With the launch of the Ministry of Environment in 1980, the EIA was introduced in Korea. Its full operation was initially driven by regulations on documenting EIA reports in 1981, which was piloted as a decision-making scheme where final decision were made at the development department after considering opinions suggested by the Ministry of Environment. At that time, dominance of the economic logic overwhelmed environ-friendly opinions, but thanks to the fourth revision of the Environmental Conservation Law in 1986, private projects came to be included on the EIA list. This was a turning point for the EIA to become a regulatory system. Local governments are also conducting the EIA regardless of the national-level EIA. In order to prevent and resolve increasingly severe environmental problems in Seoul in advance due to various construction projects, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, for the first time as a local government in Korea, legislated city decrees to introduce the EIA which has been underway from September 1, 2002. In particular, the Seoul government, unlike the Ministry of Environment, has included construction works on the list of evaluation projects, adopting the scoping and screen procedure scheme. In addition, complementing operational setbacks, the city government has revised and implemented decrees and enforcement laws on the Impact Assessment on Environment, Transportation and Disasters by shortening the consultation period, eliminating the submission of reports on construction, and expanding the waiver requirements in consultation over the reports. Therefore, development measures for the EIA scheme of the Seoul Metropolitan Government will be the target of the research. To that end, the up-to-date data of the Ministry of Environment, the Seoul government and local governments was collected, and latest materials from the EU, previous research and the Internet were gathered for analyses. By doing so, the flow of the EIA was reviewed, and the EIA schemes of local governments under the national EIA were analyzed. Furthermore, based on the Seoul government's recent data on the EIA based on the decrees, the background and legislation of the Seoul government's EIA were analyzed along with the developments for the environmental organizations. Setbacks were derived from the implementation period, evaluation procedures, consultation period and details of the EIA, and corresponding development measures were proposed.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.21-30
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• 1992

Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) is developing as a tool for environmentally sound and sustainable development in Korea. For more effective implementation of it, we try to apply Environmental Information System (EIS) to EIA process. EIS is composed of geographic and attribute data related to environment and Geographic Information System(GIS), and it will be applied to scoping, prediction, and alternative assessment, etc. in EIA. This study focuses on application of geographic data using GIS in suitability analysis of alternative assessment. We use TIN, buffering, and overlaying in GIS functions.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.31-39
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• 1995

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is composed of various procedures, such as screening, scoping, inventory survey, prediction, assessment, alternative assessment, mitigation measures, and post management. Environmental monitoring data for air quality or water quality, etc. is applied in the EIA process, especially in prediction and post management. As an effective tool of environmental monitoring, the remote sensing method, introduced recently, was used in collecting nationwide data concerning ecosystem and land use. This article explains the current monitoring status in Korea. Monitoring factors include air quality, water quality, soil, ocean, odor, noise, and ecosystems. This report explains the organization of the environmental monitoring system managed by the Ministry of Environment in Korea. Furthermore, it shows the environmental criteria and environmental policies applied to EIA in Korea.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.209-212
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• 2004

Soil environment has not received much attention from the environmental impact assessor community although soil contamination may affect human health and the eco-system. This study was the first trial to discuss the role and importance of soil environment in the environmental impact assessment(EIA) and suggest possible environmental impact assessment schemes for soil. The objectives of the study were to show the effects of soil contamination on human health, the environment and the social community, suggest efficient EIA schemes in Korea and establish the basic concepts of soil environment assessment involving fate and transport of contaminants and its risk.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.119-126
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• 2000

Environmental monitoring system has been adopted and supplemented as inspection measures for the quantitative and qualitative changes of environmental impact assessment (EIA). Meanwhile it has been continuously pointed out that there is insufficient connection between environmental monitoring system and EIA. Often the agreed environmental impact assessment has not been fulfilled due to the argument of the cost, timing and situations of construction sites. Thus the purpose of this study is in search of the rationalized environmental monitoring system in order to harmonize the development and environmental conservation through the improvement of unreasonable aspects of the current EIA execution process. As to comply with the purpose, this research was carried out with three different but complimentary sources: environmental laws and regulations, foreign case studies of Japan, U.S.A. and Canada, and interviews with 73 experts. Finally, improved environmental monitoring system has been introduced reflecting the present process of EIA.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.73-86
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• 1995

This paper demonstrates Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has to be applied for development projects with regard to the ecological, economical and social aspects before any decisions made in the project. Korea has confronted various environmental problems during the last fifteen years, even though EIA has been enacted since 1981. The role of impact assessment in planning and policy processes should be emphasized to investigate the magnitude and intensity of the adverse influences of economic development. In the Seoul Metropolitan Region, it is necessary to apply EIA all urban projects to reduce the adverse effects of urbanization. Special attention should be given to the climatological effects throughout the urbanization process in Korea to keep the urban area energy-efficient. This study intends not only to establish basic data for national-and regional-based land-use policy in the environmental aspects, but also to provide the basic data for the possible climate model (scenarios) that may provide spatial and temporal variability by analyzing the actual climatic record. There is a noticeable impact of urbanization on the atmospheric environment in the Seoul Metropolitan Region. In this sense, the climatic aspect must be taken into consideration in the process of EIA to mitigate the well-known climatic alterations of urbanization. Moreover, the techniques of assessment should be improved by developing geo-reference data sets to build models of the global climate in response to the man-made environmental change.