EIA Legislation Year Around the World (last updated 1997)

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a planning tool. Its main purpose is:
"to give the environment its due place in the decision making process by clearly evaluating the environmental consequences of a proposed activity before action is taken. The concept has ramifications in the long run for almost all development activity because sustainable development depends on protecting the natural resources which is the foundation for further development" (Gilpin, 1995, P. 3).

The history of EIA as a legal tool, starts in the last day of 1969, when NEPA (National Environment Policy Act) came into force in USA. Since then, in a continuous diffusion process, many countries and international bodies accepted EIA as important tool.

To illustrate the diffusion of project level EIA (as oppose to strategic EA or SEA) in the national level, I have compiled two maps, and you can download them from this page.

For more information about EIA, and a list of sites with detailed information, visit the International Association of Impact Assessment site

World Countries by EIA Legislation Year

This thematic map use point symbols. The reason for that is to give equal visual value to every country, regardless of its size. The different colours represent the year in which EIA legislation came into force. The full image is about 430Kb

[Click on the image to view a detailed version]

World Cover of Project Level EIA

This map uses different colours to illustrate the area that is covered by EIA legislation. The full image is about 360Kb

[Click on the image to view a detailed version]

Maps data

Both maps are based on the same information. This information is presented in table 1, which I compiled from three main sources, and various WWW sites. If your country has a legal framework for project level EIA and does not appear in this table, please e-mail me and I will try to keep the maps up to date.

• Canada enacted EIA law in 1995. However, EIA is operational since 1973 according to a government directive.
• New Zealand enacted a new EIA system in 1991.

Sources and Acknowledgement

Maps created with ArcView software, in the GIS laboratory, Department of Geography, The Hebrew University.

I wish to thank the next persons who helped me in the process:

• Information on EIA legislation
  • Albert Sigurdsson <sigurdss@CC.HELSINKI.FI>
  • Richard Morgan <rkm@HYPERPERTH.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
  • Peter Croal <Peter_Croal@ccigate.acdi-cida.gc.ca>
  • Claire Miquet <Claire_Miquet@CCIGATE.ACDI-CIDA.GC.CA>
  • Osman Sankoh <sankoh@amadeus.statistik.uni-dortmund.de>
  • Vitor Manuel <"Vitor Manuel.SILVA"@dg11.cec.be>
  • Rex A Brown <rbrown@iafrica.sz>
  • Bernard Cantin <cantinb@ere.umontreal.ca>
  • Doug Cross <dcross@mail.eclipse.co.uk>
• Sources
  • Alan Gilpin, 1995 ,Environmental Impact Assessment - Cutting Edge for the twenty-first century, Cambridge University Press.
  • Nicholas A. Robinson,1992, International Trends in Environmental Assessment ,Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review, 19(3).
  • Fola S. Ebijesimu, 1993, Environmental Impact Assessment: Making it Work in Developing Countries, Journal of Environmental Management 38.
• Cartography
  • Mrs. Tamar Sofer, Cartography lab, The Department of Geography, Hebrew University.