Assignment 3

Major Assignment—Design and Environmental Assessment

In completing the major assignment for this course, you will design an environmental assessment of the undertaking you presented in Assignment 1. You must begin researching the undertaking as early as possible in the course; however, you should plan on completing Unit 8 before you begin to write the major assignment. By that point, you should have a sufficiently sophisticated understanding of the environmental assessment process to allow you to complete the assignment, which is worth thirty-five per cent of your final grade.

In preparing your assignment report, you should adopt the role of a consultant providing advice to the proponent on why and how the proponent should carry out an environmental assessment of the undertaking. Your final report will be about 3000 words in length. In it, you will set the stage by briefly describing the undertaking and the identified need for it, and by providing a rationale for why it should be assessed. The report will then guide the proponent step-by-step through an appropriate assessment process, suggesting in some detail how it should be conducted, and warning the proponent of potential pitfalls and of legislative requirements.

Your objective in this report is to do what you can to ensure that the proponent completes a high quality assessment. You will need to become familiar with the undertaking and its possible effects on the natural and socio-economic environments. You will also find it helpful to review completed environmental assessments and other materials on similar projects.