Most of the research on environmental impact assessment quality has been focused on the quality of environmental impact statements (EIS), if they supplied important information about the components of the assessment process. This paper highlights some topical methodological issues concerning the two most widely used checklists -the Environmental Statement Review Package and the European Commission's EIS Review Checklist. Both were found to be neglecting several important aspects, such as quality of information, uncertainty and probability of predictions, consideration of alternatives, and public participation. This causes overvaluation of EISs that inadequately address these aspects. An empirical study of inter-individual variations in judgements of 41 evaluators revealed significant divergence at all stages of the review process. The frequency of two-grade differences in the evaluation outcomes was about 25%. Highlighted inadequacies in two popular tools, along with variation in application due to user subjectivity, indicate that these tools should be applied with considerable care and caution, especially for research and monitoring of EIS quality.
Central and Eastern Europe is a region that is expected to need more data on the concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the ambient air in the future. Passive air sampling is a cheap screening method for comparison of contamination on various sites or for verification of information obtained by active samplers. Passive air samplers are sensitive enough to mirror even small-scale differences, which makes them capable of monitoring spatial, seasonal, and temporal variations. Different passive air samplers were employed between 1990 and 2013 from time to time in six Estonian air monitoring stations. The concentrations of PCB and its congeners, HCB, PeCB, HCH, and DDT (the same for PBDE, PCN, PCDD/F) in Estonian ambient air were very low, but they allow tracking transboundary air pollution. The main aim of this article is analysis of changes in the ambient air pollution in Estonia during a long period of time . Also, selection of Lahemaa background station for monitoring POPs in the European area is addressed.
Besides other approaches, interviewing main actors (decision-makers, consultants, developers) can provide valuable information about their subjective attitude as well as indicate probable weak areas and help in formulation of strategy for further research and EIA system development. This paper considers results of the survey conducted in Estonia in early 2008 as a part of national EIA system analysis. The survey covered main actors' contentment with different aspects such as EIA legislation, public participation, EIA outcomes, experts' qualification and impartiality, etc. As evidenced by what they have pointed out, the EIA system leaves much to be desired. All actors seemed to be worried about the low effectiveness of EIA. Deficiencies in public participation were also brought forward. Decision-makers trusted consultants' qualifications, but many of them felt that consultants were biased. However, the obtained results did not indicate any correlation between expert bias and contentment with EIA outcomes, perceived by decision-makers.
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