• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.250-264
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• 2022

The development projects subject to health impact assessment (HIA) in the current environmental impact assessment (EIA) system are limited to some projects under Article 12 of the Enforcement Decree of the Environmental Health Act (Additional Assessment Objects Subject to Health Impact Assessment Items), but health impact-related matters are being evaluated and reviewed during consultation. In particular, when a development site is planned around some pollutant sources in a residential development plan, it is evaluated and reviewed whether the site meets the risk criteria through a current concentration survey of major hazardous air pollutants. This study prepared a quantitative method to confirm the validity of the location of the residential area to be developed in the residential development plan and proposed a plan to expand the project subject to HIA within the EIA procedure. A detailed methodology was proposed by reviewing the screening and scoping procedures of the EIA system, and a case analysis of the urban development plan discussed in the past was conducted to verify the methodology.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.397-409
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• 2011

This study was carried out for improving the effectiveness of water resources development project through local resident opinions in the environmental impact assessment(EIA). The EIA reports of seven dams were examined. Four dams -Youngju Dam, Seongduck Dam, Buhang Dam and Hantangang Dam- which included many local opinions including 470 opinions of 341 local residents were selected to be analyzed. Local residents submitted their opinions in the six fields which are meteorological phenomena, water quality, land use, fauna and flora, noise and vibration, and residence, and the major opinions of those opinions came from the atmosphere environment field which is 32% of total opinions and social and economic field which is 38% of total opinions, respectively. In submerged area, opinions of the measure for migration and compensation were 91% and in non-submerged area, opinions of the measure for meteorological phenomena was 86%. Those percentages were maximum in each area. Opinions concerned meteorological phenomena were 86% and 53% in Youngju Dam and Seongduck Dam where area is surrounded by existing dam, but there was only 9% and 0% of opinions in Buhang Dam and Hantangang Dam where area is without existing dam nearby. The reformation methods which reflected the resident's opinions were suggested on EIA in dam development projects. First of all, reliability and objectivity of the field of meteorological phenoma should be enhanced by scientific prediction of the phenomenon days. Secondly, techniques reducing uncertainty of various water quality prediction models ought to be developed and effectiveness of the reduction strategies in environmental impact should be quantified. Finally, the draft of EIA report should involve the detailed plans of migration and compensation's procedures, criteria and measures to support.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.287-296
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• 2001

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.55-71
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• 2018

To improve the ecological function of urban areas, the guideline for applying the Biotope Area Ratio to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was developed in 2005 and modified in the July, 2017. This study investigates whether the guideline has been actually practiced in the real world by searching reports including 648 cases of the Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment (SEIA) and 471 cases of the EIA. The results show that the 38% of SEIA and the 43% of EIA include sections about Biotope Area Ratio, and the 15% of SEIA and the 25 % of EIA are satisfied the threshold of the Biotope Area Ratio suggested by the guideline. The statistical analysis results show that this low level of practice was not improved through the modification of the guideline in 2017. This is because the guideline is forcibleness, its explanation is unclear, and stockholders' understanding of it lacks. In addition, lack of tracking management on SEIA and EIA also contributes to the low level of practice of the guideline. To promote the practice, the efforts to legislate and publicize the guideline are required.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.25-45
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• 2008

This review was made to discuss the issues of ecological restoration and environmental impact assessment (EIA) related to the preservation of natural environment, the central theme expressed in the National Anthem of Korea. The authors notice that the key word or the central philosophy contained in the verses of the National Anthem of Korea is the preservation of national land and eternal identity for future generations, which is thought to be pursued through the attainment of ecological sustainability. A conceptual model for the sustainable management of natural ecosystems was suggested for the efficient utilization and the preservation of them, whose activities should be promoted by those of conservation and restoration instead of destructive development and negligence, respectively. Here, the preservation of natural environment can be directly pursued through the restoration of degraded ecosystems and landscapes and the utilization of natural environment can be directly pursued through the conservation of natural resources and wise management of natural ecosystems and landscapes. After reviewing the major characteristics and activities of the restoration of degraded ecosystems and landscapes, discussion was further extended to points for the promotion of the EIA activities. To point out some of them, it is needed for the public to better understand the nature of sustainable management of natural environment, for the society to put extensive energy and resources in the restoration of degraded ecosystems and landscapes, and for the government to install higher levels of ministries than that of the Ministry of Environment in dealing with the issues related to the 'preservation' of national land, people, culture and the security of the sustainability for future generations, where EIA and strategic environment assessment (SEA) can directly contribute to the sustainability of the country and future generations.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.19 no.4 s.54
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• pp.34-47
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• 2004

Although Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) in Korea has been improved markedly over the past two decades, by enlarging the range of projects for assessment, instituting pub lic participation and environmental monitoring, and similar measures, it remains deficient in its coverage of human health in Environmental Impact Statements(EISs). Health Impact Assessment(HIA) can supply the necessary correctives. HIA is a combination of procedures, methods and tools by which a policy, programme, projects or legislative procedure may be judged for its potential effects on the health of a population, and the distribution of these effects within it. The principle of health protection is, however, established as a primary concern in EIA processes, in practice health is scarcely mentioned or the discussion is limited to a description of effects through the biophysical environment. The whole range of possible effects on health, including those mediated by socio-economic factors is often ignored, and no effective mechanism are in place to successfully incorporating health criteria and expertise into environmental, assessment(EA) that include ElA, SEA. These are foremost among the current issues facing EIA in Korea.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.107-120
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• 2007

The introduction of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) has strengthened and extended the value of environmental impact assessment (EIA) as a foundational tool for sustainable development. In particular, SEA helps to overcome the limitation of project EIA as a 'stand alone' approach, applied relatively late in the decision making cycle. SEA is applied to policy, plan and programme (3P) proposals, when major alternatives are open and systematic consideration can be given to their environmental effects. This process also corresponds to options appraisal of development proposal to find the best practical outcome having regard to all potential impacts. There are imperatives for sustainable development (SD) that are shaping future directions for EIA and SEA internationally, regionally and locally. There is a shift toward more integrative approaches of using EIA and SEA as sustainability tools in cooperated environmental management system (EMS). Korea has established and applied EIA for over twenty years for various projects. Given its coverage, the current EIA system is SEA exclusive. The Prior Environmental Review System (PERS), which is a SEA-type of system, was applied in the late 1990s, mainly for various developing planning programs. The current PERS has been modified as a SEA type system, but in general, policy is not going to be covered.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.49-53
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• 1993

Before the EIA was established in the Federal Republic of Germany, the impact mitigation principle - a planning instrument, which has its legal foundation in the German nature conservation legislation already had {and still has} the function to valuate environmental impacts. The valuation principles and methods which have been developed in correlation to this instrument are now also used in the EIA. Particularly for the valuation of alternating effects on the different ecological landscape functions and for the valuation of ecological mitigation and compensation measures this valuation methods are used. These methods base on a special kind of modelling nature and environment Following the aim of the nature conservation act, which is to save the capacity of the landscape to perform its essential functions, not the ecological factors (soil, water, air etc.) itselfs are evaluated but the ecological functions of the landscape, which are based on the ecological factors.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.45-60
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• 2020

In the past, air pollution, water pollution and solid waste were very important items, but at present environmentally sound land use, ecosystem conservation and sustainable socio-economy have become very important in EIA. According to the consultation result of SEA and Small scale EIA during 2012~2019, most results are 'Conditional Agreement'. Especially EIA consultation results before 2016 were mostly (94.1 %) 'Agreement', but since 2017 most (87.4 %) are 'Conditional Agreement'. And the percentage of 'Non Agreement' have sharply increased from 0.3~0.6 % (during 2013~2016) to 1.3~3.1 % (during 2017~2019). In case there have been no change in EIA system and consultation techniques, the problems of inconsistency and unfairness could be raised. Therefore are urgently required researches on environmentally sound land use, ecosystem conservation and sustainable socio-economy which decide location feasibility assessment. The purpose of this study is to analyse the consultation cases of SEA, EIA, and Small scale EIA since 2012, and to identify key factors which result in the decision of nonagreement of development plans and development projects, and to suggest the improvements on EIA consultation based on land use regulation and environmental grade.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.511-524
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• 2007

Korea has 30 years of experiences in environmental impact assessment (EIA). Although EIA includes sanitation-public health factor, considering health impacts, among 74 unit projects of 17 sections, health impacts haven't been properly considered or have been ignored in many cases. The increasing awareness on the importance of health impacts has triggered this study to seek an optimal introduction scheme of health impact assessment (HIA). The processes of EIA already include screening, scoping, analysis, impact assessment, consultation, document review, decision making and monitoring, in which they would be the essential parts of HIA. In this context, integrating HIA into the existing EIA process could be the most effective way to use the benefits in both legal and procedural processes existed and to avoid the confusion and overlapping since the close relationships between environment and health impacts might be. Furthermore, it is desirable that the existing sanitation-public health factor should be substituted by and extended to environment-health factor with sufficient determinants to properly consider health impacts. When considering the first step of HIA, the prospective and qualitative approach is suitable more than the retrospective and quantitative one due to the lack of database accumulated. Similarly, an approach based on epidemiology and toxicology could analyze the limited evidences and impacts related to human disease, whereas one based on socio-science and psychology could provide the effective means available for predicting how the people and community will act by the change of surroundings. Checklist approach with various and comprehensive health determinants focused on prospective and qualitative methods will be very useful for more convenient and progressive dissemination of HIA. Various checklist approaches of toolkits could be found from HIA documents elsewhere, for example Westminster Toolkit, and they would be helpful to figure out how to develop common procedures and health determinants for checklist, in which the unique characteristics on korean cultural and political context compared to abroad should be carefully considered since checklist would be the most basic and essential part of HIA. After the establishment of checklist and procedural processes, the pilot projects should be conducted. Main purpose of pilot projects is to apparently prove the effectiveness and profitability of HIA. Pilot projects should be implemented to decide the effectiveness and suitability of HIA for future projects, programs and policies, and should be provided as the positive cases that can be achieved through the proper implementation and progress.