Lessons from a decade of offshore environmental impact assessment

The approaches of three nations (U.S.A., U.K., and Canada) to environmental impact assessment for offshore developments are compared. The comparison examines the types of regulatory approaches, the general allocation of responsibilities, and the expectations that accompanied each approach. The realities of offshore impact assessment are discussed in terms of influence on decisions, the scientific integrity of assessment studies, and the difficulties of impact prediction and monitoring. The lessons learned after more than ten years of experience are summarized, and the expected influence of a recent Canadian study on the practice of environmental assessment, in Canada at least, is discussed.