Westerlunds Criteria

Question 1

True or false: the National environmental policy act (NEPA) was the first holistic and environmental decision maker oriented process.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

True or false: the EIA concept found its true expression in the NEPA

Answer 2

True

Question 3

How should an EIA regulation be structured?

Answer 3

should Include:
Regulation number
Decision make
Date of decisions and or date it was enforced
It should be a legally binding document hence should be structured in articles .
Annexes provide more information, supplementary materials and specific guidelines on the main body of the regulation .

Question 4

What is the criteria for a genuine EIA according to wester lands criteria ?

Answer 4

The decision criterion
The compatibility and balancing criterion
The environmental impact criterion
The result criterion
The alternative criterion
The review and checking criterion

Question 5

What criteria is missing from Westerlunds criteria?

Answer 5

The criteria that mandates that it should be important to learn about similar projects.

Question 6

What can you say about the decision criterion.

Answer 6

This criterion dictates that before a decision is made about a project or an activity, an EIA must be done , reviewed and considered by the decision maker. This ensures that decision makers know about the potential environmental consequences and alternatives about a project or activity before a decision is made , not after it’s too late . This saves resources and avoids unintended harm to the environment.

Question 7

What can you say about the result criterion ?

Answer 7

Every project/activity ,must be done to achieve a goal/result . If a project does. It have a clear goal /objective it difficult to outline alternatives, and weigh pros and cons. A clear goal is essential for decision making and planning.

Question 8

What can be said about the alternative criterion?

Answer 8

According to NEPA it essential that alternatives to a proposed action be explored and include in the assessment. This ensures that the best course of action is understood and taken to minimize environmental harm .

Question 9

What can be said about the environmental impact criterion?

Answer 9

It is necessary to include a comprehensive analysis of the environmental impacts of a proposed action. This criterion is not met if only certain environmental impacts are covered in the assessment.

Question 10

What can be said about the balancing and compatibility criterion?

Answer 10

Although environmental impact assessment is done to analyse the environmental impacts of a proposed action it is a tool that should be used to provide decisions makers with all other information (social, and economic)to ensure that the decision made is well informed.
This can be done in two ways :
There can be one report detailing environmental impacts. Social impacts and economic impacts.

Or.
There can be two separate reports one detailing environmental impacts and the other social and economic impacts.
If the latter is chosen the two reports must be compatible and be easily compared .

Question 11

What can be said about the checking criterion ?

Answer 11

Te EIA must reviewed and verified by people other than those who conducted the assessment. This ensures that it is done right and follows set rules and regulations.

It can be done in two ways :

Public participation: the public has a right to participate in assessment proces by asking q questions, providing information and raising concerns .

Compliance check : usually done by a panel. Board, or a government authority to ensure that the assessment was done in accordance with set standards rules and regulations.