CHANGES IN LIVESTOCK PROJECTS ON THE BASIS OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT SCREENING

Growing pressures to increase animal production challenge the agricultural sector to identify technologies and solutions that will make livestock production environmentally sound. One mechanism which may assist the sector in meeting this challenge is Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).On the basis of an evaluation of EIA screenings of Danish livestock, this article presents and discusses how EIA responds to the environmental challenge of intensive livestock projects. The analysis and discussion focus on the changes introduced in livestock projects as a result of the EIA screening process. Screening is normally used for deciding whether or not a project proposal requires an EIA. The article shows how screening also functions as a tool for changing livestock projects, thus being a regulatory instrument in its own right.The analysis of livestock EIA screenings shows that changes are initiated through a wide range of measures mitigating the environmental impacts of particular livestock projects. Fodder optimisation, cover crops, reduced animal pressure, change of crop rotation, repositioning of risk areas and changed design of animal houses are frequently applied measures. As a conclusion, EIA is identified as an important supplement to other regulatory instruments aiming at balancing the benefits and environmental costs of livestock production. However, the article also concludes that the systematic inspection of livestock projects needs to be improved in order to secure that the changes introduced through screening are also robust in character.