The various methods, approaches and techniques presented in chapters three to seven for identifying, measuring, and assessing

impacts all have two aspects in common. First, they are designed to deal with the considerable amount of information that must be processed and analyzed as a part of an environmental impact assessment (EIA). Second, they rely on expert judgment. Experts are heavily involved in all aspects of the assessment. Many checklists, matrices, and models used in EIA are accumulations of the experience of many experts gathered over many years. Experts are used to help identify the potential for significant impacts, plan data collection and monitoring programs, provide judgment on the level of significance for specific impacts, and suggest ways of reducing or preventing impacts. Expert systems are promising technologies that manage information demands and provide required expertise. They thus seem well suited to many of the tasks associated with EIA. Additional advantages of using Expert systems for EIA are: 1. Expert systems help users cope with large volumes of EIA work; 2. Expert systems deliver EIA expertise to the non-expert; 3. Expert systems enhance user accountability for decisions reached; and 4. Expert systems provide a structured approach to EIA.

SCREENER
SCREENER is a computer assisted environmental expert system that screens projects for potential environmental impacts. The user selects from a menu of options both the proposed activity and the environmental features where the activity will take place. The program receives this information and refers to its knowledge and rule bases to assign a code that describes the potential impact of the activity in the environment designated by the user (1 - no impact; 2 insignificant impacts; 3 - mitigable impacts; 4 - unknown impacts; 5 - significant impact). Based on the code, SCREENER recommends the level of environmental impact assessment required for the project. SCREENER also provides the user with suggested mitigation measures to help prevent or reduce environmental impacts. In Canada, SCREENER has been implemented at about forty sites by Canadian government departments. SCREENER was based on the DOS operating system and has been replaced by the Calyx technology for Windows.

Calyx
ESSA Software Ltd. (ESSA), through its Calyx group of products (Calyx), provides a suite of decision support software tools. The Calyx group of products is PC-based, with applications that allow decision makers (usually project managers) the ability to assess likely environmental and socio-economic impacts of their activities before they happen. With Calyx, users can devise several different scenarios for projects, compare their environmental impacts and recommended mitigations, and reach a conclusion about the most acceptable solution. From entering the characteristics of the project site and the project activities, to printing the final reports, Calyx takes users step-by-step through the process.

The core technology and knowledge base associated with its expert system is adaptable to many applications. The first applications involve the analysis, classification, and mitigation of various environmental and land management issues and their impacts. Specifically, software applications have been created for the design and operation of military-bases and power projects, while additional applications are available for international financial organizations and government agencies for the review & analysis of a variety of issues associated with infrastructure development projects.

ORBI
This expert system for EIA was developed by the Universidade Nove de Lisboa for the Portuguese Department of Environment (Geraghty, 1993). It is written in Prolog with a naturallanguage interface. This is one of the few expert systems for EIA which currently has such a facility. This facility makes using and communicating with the system more straightforward and easier than with the usual expert system shells or programming languages, as the user can program and update the system in the users own language rather than using computer code. The system consists of four separate programs: the first is in BASIC for digitizing a subject region (a region is broken down into a locational grid); the second is for receiving and storing the digitized information; the third is for knowledge updating; and the fourth comprises two modules in Prolog (the first is a natural language interface, and the second is an evaluation and explanation module; each of which runs independently of the other). ORBI has expertise in several disciplines, including geology, hydrology, ecology, and microclimate. The system makes judgments about the suitability of a particular subject region for uses such as industry, agriculture, and recreation. Quantified values are obtained via inferencing rules that indicate the suitability of the environmental assets available relative to development requirements (for example, intensive agriculture). ORBI can produce graphic output in the form of maps, via a plotter.

IMPACT: An Expert System for Environmental Impact Assessment

IMPACT is an environmental analysis screening tool for the U.S. Department of Energys Savannah River Site in South Carolina (Geraghty, 1993). It uses a simplified GIS approach to assess several types of impacts, including proximity effects, air and water pollution, and groundwater effects (Loehle and Osteen, 1990). Objects such as wetlands or wildlife habitat are represented by circles that cover the area of concern; they are stored as an x-y pair and a radius. This simplified approach is possible because the problem of concern was screening for possible impacts, thus false alarms (warning of an impact when none is likely) are acceptable. Each object has a characteristic influence zone extending out from its boundaries. Any activity within this zone generates a warning of possible impact. The rule base for IMPACT consists of: 1) the radii of zones of influence for each object type;2) the manner in which objects interact (for example, wells do not adversely affect roads, but waste sites affect wells); and 3) specific regulatory provisions such as necessary permits. The program communicates its results by producing a written tabular report. IMPACT has been tested by its developers on a number of situations. It continues to undergo testing to improve its efficacy (Geraghty, 1993).