Environmental assessment strategies: an international comparison

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to comparatively analyze the manner in which Environmental Assessment (EA) applications were used within the planning context for construction of a natural gas-fired, combined-cycle power station in New Zealand, and in the United States. The first half of this study involved determining what EA techniques were used for the then-proposed Stratford Taranaki Combined Cycle (TCC) power station, their relation to each other sequentially over time, and the ways in which the project was affected by this assessment process. Aspects of the project that were evaluated included site location, plant engineering changes, water uptake/discharge points, and numerous other items. The second half of the study was performed in Canada, involving Ocean State Power (OSP), a Canadian/U.S.-owned utility located in Burrillville, Rhode Island. An important distinction must be made with regard to this study: the topic under investigation is internal company use of EA techniques as part of project planning, irrespective of legal obligations. This is a very different focus from the more commonly researched theme of EA practice within a regulatory context, for sole purpose of obtaining resource consents or permits Naturally, the distinction between what was legally required and what was freely initiated is often blurred, due to the fact that certain planning decisions are arrived at via compromise – i.e. originating neither wholly from station planners nor from governmental authorities. Essentially, what is being considered for comparison is the initiative that these two utilities have taken, above and beyond the scope of what was legally required of them.