NICEIA 86

In June 1985 the Council of the European Communities adopted a directive requiring that the effects of certain types of development projects on the environment should be assessed in accordance with specified rules. In the light of this directive and of the growing concern for, and awareness of the natural environment as a limited resource, it seemed an appropriate time to hold a wide ranging forum, bringing together senior managers in government, industry, agriculture and many other activities, along with academics from the Province's two universities and elsewhere, to discuss the role of environmental impact assessment in Northern Ireland. The six main contributions were on environmental impacts or environmental impact assessment. These are followed by nine short contributions on lignite and the environment, waste and effluent disposal, including one on radioactivity in the North Sea which is indexed separately, and rural land use. Four other contributions are summarized. (author)