No Butterfly Catchers Here! Citizen Science Involvement in Environmental Impact Assessment Compliance Monitoring

摘要

The goals of environmental impact assessment (EIA) include ensuring that environmental harms are minimised, and in maintaining public trust in project proponents and government regulators. However, a lack of capacity and resource to scrutinise the actual environmental impacts of projects subverts the purpose of EIA. This article will argue that an opportunity arises for citizen science to contribute to the regulatory framework of EIA follow-up. A new legislative model is proposed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) (EPBC Act) in relation to compliance monitoring during the implementation phase of a project. Features of the model include a trigger threshold test for compliance monitoring and an expanded s 134 of the EPBC Act to incorporate the application of citizen science in project approval conditions. Challenges such as the credibility of data and the level of influence of citizen scientists within project management are discussed.