ABSTRACT
Japan has no national legal requirement for the preparation ofEIAs, in contrast to the other systems discussed here, but instead it has EIA guidelines for the national ministries to follow. At the local level, some EIA regulations and (mostly) guidelines have also been established. Generally this system seems to ensure that the most environmentally harmful proposals are avoided. The case study of the Trans-Tokyo Bay Highway shows how the different national and local EIA procedures interact.
