Environmental impact state-ments (EISs) examine the effect of the proposed action—typically a construction project, but sometimes a government policy or other activity—on the environment. However, increasing attention is now devoted to looking in the other direction—at how changes in the environment might affect a project.
Reverse environmental impact analysis, as I will call it, has been with us for some time. For example, if a building is planned downwind of a smokestack or downstream of a contaminated groundwater plume, this effect of the outside world has long been considered. However, the emergence of scientific understanding of climate change is shining a light on the issue. For example, if during the expected lifetime of a proposed building, its site may be endangered by sea level rise, should this be disclosed in the EIS, so that governmental decision-makers can consider this prospect before granting approvals?
