BASIC ASSESSMENT

Basic Assessment is the level of environmental assessment applied to activities listed in Listing 1. These are smaller scale activities, the impacts of these activities are generally known and can be easily managed.

Typically, Basic Assessment is applied to activities that are considered less likely to have significant environmental impacts and, therefore, unlikely to require a full-blown and detailed Environmental Impact Assessment. A Basic Assessment Report is a more concise analysis of the environmental impacts of the proposed activity than a Scoping and EIA Report. However, Basic Assessment still requires public notice and participation, consideration of the potential environmental impacts of the activity, assessment of possible mitigation measures, and an assessment of whether there are any significant issues or impacts that might require further investigation.

The Basic Assessment Report must provide the Competent Authority with sufficient information to consider the Application and to reach a decision. If the Competent Authority is however unable to decide the Application based on the Basic Assessment report alone, the Competent Authority may request an Applicant/Developer to subject the Application to the more thorough Scoping and EIA process.

How to understand and use the flowchart below: The Basic Assessment process outlined below is devided into 5 phases. Each of the phases contains a number of steps. When additional information is available for a step, a hand cursor will appear over the block, click to access.

Acronyms used in the flowchart below: CA = Competent Authority; I&AP = Interested and Affected Party; EAP = Environmental Assessment Practitioner.