Keywords
environmental impact statement
environmental public policy
good governance
How to Cite
Abstract
Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) were implemented in the United States through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 1970 as a method to integrate an "environmental rationality" into public policy and bureaucratic processes by conducting a holistic and multidisciplinary assessment that examines the consequences of development actions prior to it. In other words, the EIA is a component of good governance aimed at ensuring environmental protection, which in turn afects the welfare and development of our society. By means of a descriptive analysis, the present work analyzed twentythree (23) Environmental Impact Assessments carried out in Puerto Rico between the years 2005-2013. The documents were reviewed based on existing laws and regulations at a local level, as well as in the international literature about environmental assessments. The analysis showed some inconsistencies between the literature and the public policy for good environmental governance: inadequate preparation of the EIA; a predominance of technical language; an exclusion of biodiversity factors; very poor description of the environment; reductionist language in the analysis of the impacts; incomplete analysis of environmental impacts; ambiguous clear methodology and economic justifcation that does not take into account the environmental costs and benefts of projects and their alternatives.Copyright Notice:
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