Integration of monitoring, auditing and environmental assessment: waste facility issues

This paper examines the need, and potential, for integrating the predictive process of pre-implementation EA with post-implementation monitoring and auditing. Waste treatment and disposal facilities are used as the basis of the discussion. Four types of monitoring and auditing are identified, each fulfilling a specific function at different stages of project implementation, but also overlapping in terms of objectives and methodology: baseline monitoring, compliance monitoring, environmental management auditing, cause-effect surveillance. The development of this process should enhance the role of monitoring in mitigating potential impacts and improve confidence in waste management through more effective prediction and evaluation of impacts.