The roles of EIA in the decision-making process

Public approval of a project usually is combined with different conditions that the project is required to meet. Environmental impact assessment (EIA) constitutes one important basis for decisions regarding possible conditions to impose. The focus of this paper is to clarify the roles that EIA can have in such decision-making processes. Three common decision-theoretical perspectives are used to illustrate the decision-making process. A total of 45 EIAs of petroleum field development have been studied. Five issues, each representing a potential conflict area between the oil company and public interests, have been classified according to type of content [professional (technical) or political] and form of government (detailed regulation or conflicting/diffuse goals). The empirical research shows that the framework — based on the outlined three types of decision processes and a classification of issues according to the type of content and form of governance — provides a useful tool for understanding the role EIAs can have in decision-making processes.