Societies are attempting to develop means of coping with the environmental stressors caused by human activities. These include the activities of individual people as they go about their daily lives, as well as the larger enterprises of corporations, governments, and society at large. One of the procedures that is increasingly becoming a routine component of planning for potential damages is known as environmental impact assessment.

The environmental impact assessment (EIA), and the subsequently prepared statement (EIS), is a process that can be used to identify and estimate the potential environmental consequences of proposed developments and policies. Environmental impact assessment is a highly interdisciplinary process, involving inputs from many fields in the sciences and social sciences. Environmental impact assessments commonly examine ecological, physical/chemical, sociological, economic, and other environmental effects.

Environmental assessments may be conducted to review the potential effects of: (1) individual projects...