ABSTRACT
Following the summary of the history of environmental policy in the UK, we can now outline the background to the development of environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedures and the requirement under specified circumstances for the production of environmental impact statements (EISs). The story is not a simple one, as a wide range of agencies and regulations have been put in place, revised and replaced since the 1960s. However, a clear legislative basis for environmental impact assessment is a development of the 1980s. Whilst it was formally introduced in the United States in 1969 through the National Environmental Policy Act, it was not until 1988 that specific legislation was introduced in the UK, implementing European Community Directive 85/337. The number of ELAs or quasiEIAs grew rapidly from about 20 a year between the mid-1970s and the mid-1980s to a total of over 300 a year in the 1990s.
