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Taking on the responsibility for a new development can be a complex procedure as you strive to bring together a team of consultants and contractors who you trust to carry out the job in the professional manner which you would expect. Co-ordinating the activities of the surveyors, architects and numerous contractors is a difficult task alone, but if your development also requires an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) you need to ensure that you identify a consultancy that can not only lead and co-ordinate that work, but one that can also carry it out properly.
What is EIA?
EIA is a process that ensures that the environment is considered during the early stages of any development project. In short, it provides a mechanism to predict the environmental effects which could be generated by a new development allowing them to be reduced or avoided, and because of this it forms a critical part of the decision making process for proposed developments.
But this isn’t just a case of ticking all the right boxes – it is a regulatory requirement which must be met and if the process is not carried out properly there is a very real risk that a third party may seek a Judicial Review and as a result the development could be delayed or ultimately prevented from happening at all.
When you take this into consideration it becomes very apparent that you need a company which is suitably qualified to carry out the assessment and in April of this year, the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA), the UK’s largest environmental professional association representing over 15,000 practitioners, launched a unique stamp of approval for organisations that demonstrate a dedication to excellence in Environmental Impact Assessment.
Generate improvement
The EIA Quality Mark is a huge step forward in Environmental Impact Assessment. In the past you could not necessarily guarantee the quality of the work which you engaged a consultancy to carry out, however the introduction of this scheme means that consultancies and developers that regularly carry out EIAs can now demonstrate their dedication to quality by applying to use the EIA Quality Mark and join a register of 40 pre-approved organisations.
The EIA Quality Mark is designed to provide a regular and rigorous analysis of compliance on an annual basis and it will assess quality across the EIA activities of registered organisations including their management processes and approaches. It is based around a set of EIA Commitments, which organisations registered to the scheme agree to comply with and therefore provides registrants with a benchmark for their EIA activities and allows them to demonstrate their commitment to effective practice.
The Commitments include such things as EIA management, team capabilities, regulatory compliance, context & influence, content and presentation – all of which are designed to significantly raise the bar in Environmental Impact Assessment and ensure a guaranteed level of competency.
Low carbon economy
The Environmental Impact Assessment Directive has been in place for over 25 years but the move towards a low carbon economy has meant there is with a renewed vigour to replace major infrastructure. As a result of this IEMA identified a need for a new measure in performance which would benefit planners, consultancies, developers, infrastructure bodies and construction companies looking to locate externally verified EIA organisations from a central register.
There are currently 40 EIA Quality Mark registrants, made up of the UK’s leading consultancies and the scheme’s first developer – The Environment Agency’s National Environmental Assessment Service (NEAS). URS Scott Wilson has also joined the EIA Quality Mark scheme having transitioned from IEMA’s previous EIA Register and Martin Birt, Technical Director for Environmental Impact Assessments, believes that it is a good thing for the industry. He says: “The EIA Quality Mark is an excellent way to increase the standard of Environmental Statements and has significantly raised the bar for the industry.
“There is a need for a professional standard which will bring about a clearer understanding of the importance and benefits of carrying out an EIA in the correct manner. There is also a real need to ensure that the consultants who carry out the assessments are competent to do the job and the Quality Mark Scheme will go a long way to address these issues.”
In order to register, consultancies have to demonstrate that they are not only complying with the EIA Commitments but that they also have the right people with the right qualifications to carry out the work and the correct quality assurance systems in place. But it isn’t just about paying lip service, because IEMA will independently check compliance with these EIA Commitments on an annual basis.
Martin says: “Continuous professional development is vitally important and what this scheme does is ensure that the people employed by consultancies to carry out Environmental Impact Assessments are properly trained and qualified for the job.
“One of the main benefits of the scheme is that consultancies that are listed on the register have to submit every Environmental Statement that they produce which means that every single EIA has to meet the required standard.
“In the past a company was only required to submit an Environmental Statement every two years so in theory they could just choose to submit their best work. The introduction of the Quality Mark commitments should now ensure an even greater degree of competence and, importantly, continual improvement, from those registered on the scheme.”
Setting a standard
The need to increase the level of professionalism is not something new – in fact it has been a point of discussion with industry associations for many years. But as legislation continues to tighten up it is becoming an increasing cause for concern in some areas of the industry.
The sad fact is that we will never get rid of the ‘cowboys’ because as one goes out of business there will always be another one around the corner to take their place. The good news however is that the industry is fighting back with schemes like this which ensures that the companies which do take the time to train their staff properly receive the benefits which they deserve.
The EIA Quality Mark scheme has been developed by IEMA to ensure that future EIA practice in the UK continues to uphold high standards of quality and the 40 organisations that have so far gained the EIA Quality Mark have proven that they are capable of delivering sustainable development in practice.
What this means for the industry is that developers are now better able to benchmark performance and decision-makers and communities can have a far greater confidence in the findings of assessments undertaken by EIA Quality Mark registrants.
This is a major step forward and one that has been welcomed with open arms because it shows that IEMA is taking action to enhance good practice and promote a higher level of professionalism, and as a result the environmental impact of future developments can be reduced.
