• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2000

The purpose of Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is an integral component of decisions on proposed plans, projects, and actions. Adapted from the National Environmental Policy Act(NEPA, 1969) environmental impact statement in Korea has aimed to analyse and prepare the mitigation in the process of big scale development and major industrial planning. During the past 19 years EIS has played the central role for the environmental issues in the process of economic development. Nevertheless EIS act needs some modification in the system as well as in the contents of evaluation process. EIS should be served as decision-making process by assessing environmental issues in the beginning stage of proposed actions. Other consideration was suggested to make EIS system better used for environment conservation.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.129-141
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• 2007

With its more than 35 years of experience with EIA of NEPA in United States, the extensive knowledge base of EIA could be the most suitable place for initial field of HIA to explore lessons available for. However, caution is needed as the technical differences in analysis, different policy context, and distinct professional culture between EIA and HIA might be. The successe of EIA of NEPA is the integration of environmental goals into decision making process, improved planning, and increased transparency and public involvement, whereas shortcomings of it were defined as the excessive volume and complexity of EIA documents, the limited and adversarial public involvement, the procedural process (not substantive), focus on projects (not on policies and programs), and the limited consideration of health impacts. Integrating HIA into existing EIA process is positive in two reasons that the human health is closely related with natural environment and EIA process is a fully established process that effectively cuts across bureaucratic and sectoral boundaries. Also, integrating of HIA into EIA might be a way with least resistance for the widespread use. A freestanding HIA separated from EIA is desirable in terms of excessive volume of EIA documents and the procedural and legal focus of EIA. It is needed to develop the formulated methodologies for advancing HIA whether it is a part of or separated from EIA, and to estimate the potential values of HIA in the substantial society context. When possible, HIA should be established on the ways that EIAs have been used successfully.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.221-233
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• 1981

Section 102(2) (c) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 of the United States requires an environmental assessment of the major federal actions that could significantly a-ffect environmental quality. The review is known as the NEPA assessment process, and the resulting document is called an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIS). Article 5 of the En-vironmental Preservation Law of ROK also introduced this system to a cereain extent. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to review the general impacts of environmental pollution caused by newly proposed actions on air quality, water resources, and land use as well as specific impacts from the disposal of radiation wastes, operation of petroleum and ru-bber industries, construction of highways and dams, location of power plants and industrial co-mplexes, etc., in order to fully understand the importance of this system. Differences between American and Korean system are also briefly studied and reached to a conclusion that this important system should be understood in such a way as to link and uti-lize all conceivable disciplines and human knowledge in order to protect our environment by all means for ourselves and our coming generations as well.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.10-17
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• 2013

History of Instream Flow Incremental Methodology (IFIM) Following the large reservoir and water development era of the mid-twentieth century in North America, resource agencies became concerned over the loss of many miles of riverine fish and wildlife resources in the arid western United States. Consequently, several western states began issuing rules for protecting existing stream resources from future depletions caused by accelerated water development. Many assessment methods appeared during the 1960's and early 1970's. These techniques were based on hydrologic analysis of the water supply and hydraulic considerations of critical stream channel segments, coupled with empirical observations of habitat quality and an understanding of riverine fish ecology. Following enactment of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1970, attention was shifted from minimum flows to the evaluation of alternative designs and operations of federally funded water projects. Methods capable of quantifying the effect of incremental changes in stream flow to evaluate a series of possible alternative development schemes were needed. This need led to the development of habitat versus discharge functions developed from life stage-specific relations for selected species, that is, fish passage, spawning, and rearing habitat versus flow for trout or salmon. During the late 1970's and early 1980's, an era of small hydropower development began. Hundreds of proposed hydropower sites in the Pacific Northwest and New England regions of the United States came under intensive examination by state and federal fishery management interests. During this transition period from evaluating large federal reservoirs to evaluating license applications for small hydropower, the Instream Flow Incremental Methodology (IFIM) was developed under the guidance of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).