Looking up, down, and sideways: Reconceiving cumulative effects assessment as a mindset

Journal Article · Sun Jan 15 04:00:00 EST 2017 · Environmental Impact Assessment Review

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/J.EIAR.2016.04.007· OSTI ID:22687976

Doelle, Meinhard ^[1]

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1. Marine & Environmental Law Institute, Dalhousie University, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University, 6061 University Ave., Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2 (Canada)

Despite all the effort that has gone into defining, researching and establishing best practices for cumulative effects assessment (CEA), understanding remains weak and practice wanting. At one extreme of implementation, CEA can be described as merely an irritant to the completion of a project-specific environmental assessment (EA). At the other extreme, the conceptual view is that all effects in EA should be deemed cumulative unless demonstrated otherwise. Our purpose here is to consider how we might reconceive CEA as a mindset that is at the heart of absolutely every assessment of valued ecosystem component (VEC) to ensure that we understand the relative contributions of various stressors and can decide when cumulative effects may foreclose future activities due to impacts on VECs. Conceptually, we ground the CEA mindset in the context of three lenses that must all be functioning and working together for the mindset to be operative: a technical lens; a law and policy lens; and a participatory lens. Our arguments are based on a review of the CEA, strategic effects assessment (SEA) and regional effects assessment literatures, an examination and consideration of Canadian EA and SEA case practice, and our combined professional experiences. Through using the Bay of Fundy in Canada as a case example, we establish the concept of the CEA mindset and an approach for moving forward with implementation. - Highlights: • Conceptualization of cumulative effects assessment as a mindset. • Elaboration of technical, law and policy and participation lenses critical to CEA • Coordination and integration of cumulative effects for valued ecosystem components • Application in Bay of Fundy ecosystem and terrestrial watershed.

• OSTI ID: 22687976
• Journal Information: Environmental Impact Assessment Review, Journal Name: Environmental Impact Assessment Review Vol. 62; ISSN 0195-9255; ISSN EIARDK
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
BAY OF FUNDY
CANADA
CEA
CHARGES
COST
DATA
ECONOMICS
ECOSYSTEMS
ENERGY POLICY
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
FOREIGN POLICY
FUNCTIONS
HEART
IMPLEMENTATION
LENSES
LIMITING FRAGMENTATION
PARTICLE PRODUCTION
REVIEWS
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
WATERSHEDS