ABSTRACT
Major projects, such as roads, airports, power stations, petrochemical plants, mineral developments and holiday villages, have a life-cycle, with a number of stages (see Fig. 1.5). It may cover a very long period (e.g. 50-60 years for the planning, construction, operation and decommissioning of a fossil-fuelled power station). EIA, as it is currently practised in the UK and in many other countries, relates primarily to the period before the decision. At its worst, it is a partial linear exercise related to one site, produced in-house by a developer, without any public participation. There is a danger of a short-sighted "build it and forget it" approach (Culhane 1993). However, EIA should not stop at the decision. It should be more than an auxiliary to the procedures to obtain a planning permission; rather it should be a means to obtain good environmental management over the life of the project. This means including monitoring and auditing in the EIA process.
