An Investigation of the Factors Affecting Performance of Environmental Impact Assessment Practices (EIA) in Pakistan

Environmental Impact Assessment is used to detect changes that a proposed project may have on environment. The intent of present study is to investigate impact of institutional capacity and legal framework on performance of Environmental Impact Assessment practices in Pakistan such as screening, scoping and mitigation, environmental management plan and reporting. Sample of 200 EIA professionals have been selected by using random sampling approach from all provinces of Pakistan. Data has been collected through structured questionnaire and analysed by using AMOS 19 (Analysis of Moment Structures) software. Results of path analysis indicated that institutional capacity and legal framework have significant direct impact on performance of all EIA practices in Pakistan. Model fit statistics such as GFI, RMR, NFI, IFI, TLI, RFI, CFI indicate the fitness of research model in this context. It has been suggested that there must be relevant and sufficient human resources that can uplift institutional capacity and legal framework must be well implemented because it will lead to enhanced performance of EIA practices in Pakistan.