The role of environmental monitoring in responsible project management

Abstract

A comprehensive (or targeted) environmental monitoring program should be required of major projects as a part of their life cycle, and the resultant information should be used in environmentally responsible management and decision making. Such management can be aided by specific data on various environmental media and other natural and cultural resource features. Current monitoring considerations are focused on the implementation of mitigation measures. Additional valid purposes of environmental monitoring are illustrated via eight case studies. A comprehensive or targeted environmental monitoring program should use extant monitoring data and coordinate with pertinent governmental monitoring systems. Program planning and implementation should delineate objectives related to expected key impacts, select pertinent indicators, determine sampling location and frequency and analytical requirements, predevelop response strategies and schedule periodic reporting. Incorporation of environmental monitoring requirements in the environmental impact assessment process in the US would optimally require a combined effort of the US Congress, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), and each federal agency. Such requirements should be included in an amended National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), addressed in modified CEQ regulations that delineate project types/sizes and/or criteria that can be applied to trigger such considerations, and incorporated as appropriate in specific agency guidelines/regulations.