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Effective delivery of mitigation remains a challenge in environmental impact assessment (EIA) practice. Actual environmental protection outcomes depend as much on an appropriate ex-ante assessment as on the capacity of project proponents of implementing preventative, corrective and compensatory programs, using environmental management tools to ensure demonstrable performance. The context question explored here is: How can the EIA follow-up phase take advantage of the features and resources of environmental management systems (EMS)? Evidence was obtained by studying two cases of highway construction affecting valued environments. The projects, intentionally selected, were built in the same area with an eight-year interval between them. Follow-up resulted in the identification of significant unforeseen geo-environmental impacts leading to the adoption of corrective action not required in the terms and conditions of approval. It was found that lessons learned by different actors involved in the first project led to stronger environmental management procedures incorporated in the latter.

Although hydropower companies and governments have promoted monetary-based Benefit-Sharing Mechanisms alone as a vector of local development for flooded municipalities, it is not possible to identify this evidence in the scientific literature. The present work investigates the quantitative influence of Financial Compensation on Human Development Indexes (HDI) in flooded municipalities over 2000–2010. The econometric analysis shows that there are no statistically significant results related to the quantities of Financial Compensation and the development variables. The findings reinforce that Financial Compensation itself could not be considered the only input to improve development processes. Management frameworks should be considered since they can provide a broader view of the affected areas, including elements such as participatory processes, adaptation management, formal and legal guidelines and stakeholder engagement. Specially in the Brazilian case, the Impact Assessment procedures and their products could provide detailed data and criteria to municipalities to manage the inflow resources.

The effectiveness of environmental impact assessment depends largely on fully implementing cost-effective mitigation and other management measures to prevent significant environmental degradation. Follow-up, management systems and monitoring are tools to achieve this. Their role is discussed in relation to a highway in São Paulo State, Brazil. A robust follow-up scheme was the main driver for the successful implementation of mitigation measures. Follow-up costs represented 1.4% of total project costs. Some lessons learned could form recommendations for similar projects: a management system is a powerful tool to implement mitigation and other management measures; checklists and audit protocols can be a practical solution to 'translate' the terms and conditions of the environmental license into enforceable, manageable and verifiable rules; external control is essential to guarantee successful implementation of mitigation measures.

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