Tor Hundloe’s new book 'Environmental Impact Assessment: Incorporating Sustainability Principles' is now available in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand as a hardcover or e-book. It was released overseas by the publisher Palgrave Macmillan just prior to Christmas.

Tor takes the reader back to the genesis of EIA in 1970 with the proclamation of NEPA and soon after the development of EIA policies and laws in Australia. The 1974 law “Environmental Protection (Impact of Proposals) Act”, since 1999 incorporated in the EPBC Act, was the Commonwealth government’s near clone of the American law. Worldwide, the theory and practice of EIA has tended to follow the American model.

Tor’s book is a warts and all analysis, taking us to the most recent practice of EIA. He illustrates how the promise of EIA has not been met, but does not leave it at that. He provides a manifesto for change—not so much in the theory but in the practice which over the years has become ever more divorced from the former. Tor argues that the only body with the expertise and status to correct the failures is the EIANZ. He believes that without radical improvement in practice, EIA will wither on the vine.

'Environmental Impact Assessment Incorporating Sustainability Principles' can be purchased online here.