The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been maintained as an independent legal system in Korea since 1993, and changes in its surrounding environment such as the disclosure of internal information in EIA reports, the disclosure of review opinio...
The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been maintained as an independent legal system in Korea since 1993, and changes in its surrounding environment such as the disclosure of internal information in EIA reports, the disclosure of review opinions and ROD (Record of Decision), false or insufficient EIA reporting, and the establishment of an information platform for the EIA life cycle have been discussed a lot recently. This study aims to suggest efficient measures to reflect these changes and meet the needs of the times.Spatial data in recent EIA reports is used through simple methods such as expressing the boundary of development project sites, and the surveyed points and values of each environmental medium. Changes in the EIA system, however, require the ‘disclosure of internal information’ in EIA reports, the ‘prevention of direct or indirect false and insufficient EIA reporting’ by searching, sharing and utilizing the values of each environmental medium measured in project sites or their neighboring areas for decision-making in the EIA. The ‘establishment of an information platform for the EIA life cycle’ is also required. Basically, the utilization of spatial data needs to be expanded in order to efficiently achieve these changes.As a measure to meet the changes in the EIA system and the surrounding environment mentioned above, it is necessary to integrate “data-based” techniques that prospectively convert natural and social science methodologies and have been recently used around the world. This study identified that various environmental issues have occurred in a certain spatial range and that most data in actual EIA reports can be established as spatial data. The ultimate goal of this study is to shift the practical goal of the advancement of South Korea’s EIA system into a data-based system, utilizing spatial data as a range and method.Domestic and overseas cases that utilized spatial data in the EIA system were surveyed. In particular, EIA reports issued in other countries including the United States, Germany, Japan and Iceland were thoroughly analyzed, and, by doing so, their current status and three implications for utilization were obtained. First, the spatial data available in each country by environmental medium is actively utilized in EIA reports. Second, the system for connecting spatial data and the definitions of spatial data (coordinates, attributes, the composition of tables, etc.) are clear. Third, spatial data is utilized as a basic item for the disclosure of data in EIA reports to prevent any distorted or insufficient reporting. EIA reports issued in South Korea were also reviewed, and it was found that the utilization of spatial data in various environmental media were directly and indirectly mentioned in documents, including the practical manual for strategic EIA and the manual for reviewing EIA reports. However, spatial data that supported actual EIA-related tasks was limited to legal and institutional regulation data (3 out of 21 media subject to EIA, a total of 12 thematic maps) and spatial data only for reference (5 out of 21 media subject to EIA, a total of 8 thematic maps).Domestic cases were compared to implications obtained from overseas cases. In terms of the first implication that ‘spatial data available in each country by environmental medium is utilized in EIA reports,’ data available in South Korea is scattered around various institutions in different forms, and data in different forms needs to be pre-treated after obtaining it. Therefore, it is necessary to establish measures that can efficiently utilize available spatial data and reduce the time, cost and efforts of non-professionals who pre-treat spatial data. In terms of the second implication that ‘the system for connecting spatial data and the definitions of spatial data (coordinates, attributes, the composition of tables, etc.) are clear,’ there is no definition of spatial data utilized in the EIA system in South Korea, and thus national standard coordinates and international standards of data table need to be applied to address the issue. This study focused on the status and implications of domestic and overseas cases.In analyzing the status of utilized spatial data by case, data that has been utilized in EIA reports in Korea (divided into generation, direct utilization and reference) were listed, and the existence of established spatial data was also identified to suggest measures to promote the utilization of spatial data. A total of 30 EIA reports were analyzed, and 21 environmental media were identified. Out of all of them, 15 environmental media (weather, air quality, water environment, marine environment, topographic and geological features, etc.) utilized spatial data directly or indirectly, and they were divided by environmental media as follows: 5 for weather; 7 for air quality; 13 for water environment; 7 for land use; and 16 for topographic and geological features. In particular, upon consideration of how well the data were utilized in the actual assessment process and how accessible they were in the data collection process, each data was assessed, and operational considerations were discussed based on the characteristics of each assessment area and specific item to increase the policy acceptance of research results. Meanwhile, in the process of EIA, new data would be generated by directly measuring or predicting the environmental impact of individual projects, and the data were listed in detail in this study to ensure the data can be utilized in the process of collecting and processing data, and developing plans to utilize such data in the future.As a measure to promote the utilization of spatial data in the EIA system in South Korea, this study sought to establish an inventory of spatial data scattered around various institutions to ensure the data can be actively utilized in the process of writing, reviewing and consulting EIA reports. To establish an inventory of and analyze spatial data utilized in the EIA, spatial data that can be utilized in the EIA were listed, based on a list of environmental spatial data provided by key government agencies, public organizations and public information systems. A complete enumeration survey was conducted in the early stages of this study, and about 348 items of spatial data related to all environmental media were collected, with 138 out of them identified as ones that could be utilized in EIA. Considering their periodic update cycles, 68 items of spatial data were finally selected. Key considerations in establishing an inventory in this study included time to establish, update data, and integrated applicability. A list of spatial data was suggested based on this, focusing on data that can be provided through an Open Application Programmer Interface (Open API). In addition, the data was compared with other data that was utilized in EIA cases, and duplicate and new items were identified. A total of 54 items of spatial data including 19 new ones were listed and included in the inventory that can be utilized in EIA in the future. Detailed information including the final list of the inventory, the composition of data, update cycles, URL addresses for the Open API was provided in the appendix.As a measure to promote the utilization of spatial data in the EIA, the definitions of the coordinate system and data tables, which was identified as an urgent issue to be addressed in the current EIA system, were presented. An application method of the national standard coordinate system established in 2002 was suggested in this study. In addition, this study suggested a way that the coordinate system can be applied to the EIA through open source-based spatial data programs in order to ensure the data is not limited to a certain commercial program for spatial data, but to ensure areas defined in this study can be actively utilized by those involved in the field of EIA. This study also established its own standards of spatial data tables that can be utilized in EIA based on domestic and overseas spatial data standards (KSDI and OGC). The established coordinate system and data table standards were applied to the original EIA reports of projects conducted in 2016, and spatial data on topographic and geological features were established. Based on the established data, trends in the entire EIA projects in 2016 (27 projects: 5 for roads, 12 for industrial complexes, 3 harbors, 7 for urban development) and the characteristics of a priority project (the 2nd Aero Polis District Project in Cheongju) were efficiently analyzed. In terms of regional distribution (at the level of local governments), there was no project subject to issuing of an original EIA report in Jeollabuk-do, Daegu and Daejeon in 2016, while there was one road construction project in Gangwon that was connected to Chungcheongbuk-do. Their basic conditions were analyzed, and the average ground cutting volume of projects conducted in 2016 was 823.168㎥. The maximum Geomorphological Change Index (GCI) was 874, and the maximum height of retaining walls was 13.5m. In the case of the 2nd Aero Polis District Project in Cheongju, the maximum difference between the ground cutting volume and the filling volume was 2,660,000㎥, and the GCI was 8. The maximum height of retaining walls was 7m. As such, the characteristics of the priority project were extracted, along with the trends of all projects in 2016. Through this pilot study, all EIA projects and those that showed unique characteristics in a specific year were analyzed in connection with each other based on their overall trends and characteristics, and the characteristics of each project were identified and analyzed, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the established coordinate system and data table standards.Policy recommendations were suggested from four perspectives. First, utilization of spatial data was recommended as a practical tool to respond to changes in EIA-related policies. The changes in the EIA system mentioned above can be responded to not by establishing declarative policies, but by expanding the utilization of spatial data as a practical tool to disclose actual data (focused on spatial data), to expand the participation of the public (map-based infographics) and to prevent insufficient reporting (sharing information through information disclosure). As preparation is planned for the revision of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act from 2019, “the efficiency of (spatial data-based) survey methods” needs to be reflected as a measure to share internal data in EIA reports and realize spatial data-based field surveys (marking surveyed areas, data writing, etc.) based on the results of this study.Second, it is recommended to improve the process of collecting, establishing and sharing EIA data. The current EIA-related laws and regulations do not mention the collection, processing, establishment and utilization of data for writing, reviewing and consulting EIA reports. It is necessary to improve this situation, and to reflect the standardized and systematized processes of collecting and establishing internal data in EIA reports with laws and regulations. As the results of this study mentioned above show, the spatial data-based system for managing internal data in EIA reports needs to be reflected in the laws and regulations, and standardized data needs to be defined prior to doing so. EIA data is highly likely to be utilized in responding to various environmental issues in the future, and a system to share data should be established in this respect.Third, the results of this study can be reflected in the EIA system. A system that can currently represent and provide spatial data related to the EIA system is the Environment Impact Assessment Support System (EIASS). The inventory established in this study can be linked to the EIASS to the extent that it can be technically connected to ensure the inventory can be utilized in actual sites where an EIA is performed. By doing so, the results of this study do not simply remain in literature, but can be reflected in policies and in information systems that implement the policies. These policies are expected to increase convenience for the public as well as those working in this field, thus strengthening the original role of EIA.Fourth, manuals related to EIA need to be implemented. There are various manuals and guidelines available for writing, reviewing and consulting EIA reports by stage, project and environmental medium in the current EIA system, such as the practical manual for strategic EIA and the manual for reviewing and writing EIA reports. These manuals indirectly mention spatial data as “data related to forest floor,” rather than provide clear definitions of various spatial data by environmental medium. They even mention the utilization of ‘degree of green naturality (DGN)’ that is no longer updated. For this reason, it will be possible to actualize the utilization of spatial data in various EIA-related manuals and to promote it by reflecting the inventory of EIA spatial data established in this study.Ultimately, nationally certified spatial data continues to be developed and improved, and it is highly likely to be utilized in overall areas of environment. This can also be considered and reflected in the EIA system going forward.