Environmental management system provides tools for delivering on environmental impact assessment commitments

In this paper the interrelationship among the development cycle of a typical engineering project, the EIA approvals process and environmental management systems is examined. It is suggested that small changes can be made to the way in which an environmental impact assessment (EIA) is presented to clarify the proponent's intent and to provide structured information that can be used in an environmental management system (EMS) to ensure that the predicted environmental issues associated with the project are effectively controlled. Experience with individual projects around the world has shown that streamlining the links between EIA and EMS can be achieved simply and successfully. The challenge for regulators and practitioners is to use this experience to revisit EIA and improve all EIA outcomes.