Environmental Assessments (Environmental Impact Assessments) play a major role in promoting environmentconscious urban development.
An Environmental Assessment is a scheme applied to large-scale development projects to survey, estimate, and evaluate the environmental impact of a project in advance. It aims to minimize environmental impacts through hearing opinions from residents and local governments about the results of surveys, estimations, and evaluations.
Since 1981, Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) has carried out Environmental Assessments at the project implementation stage based on the Tokyo Metropolitan Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance. The Ordinance was revised in July 2002 to introduce Environmental Assessments at the project planning stage for plans drawn up by TMG.
After overcoming pollution problems that arose during the period from the mid ’60s to the mid ’70s, environmental administration faced challenges to take environment-conscious actions even before project implementation.
In particular, large-scale projects, such as the construction of factories and waste landfill sites may have a variety of serious impacts on the environment, such as air pollution and soil contamination, if they are implemented without considering the environment.
For this reason, a system became necessary to examine measures to conserve the environment by getting inputs from the various viewpoints of residents and local governments on the possible environmental impacts of the project before implementation.
Businesses and organizations that are to conduct largescale development projects are required to survey, estimate, and assess the environmental impact of implementing their project in advance, and to report the results and environmental preservation measures adopted. They should follow a procedure to hear the opinions of residents, local governments, and the council. Businesses and organizations are also required to undertake research during and after the constructions to monitor whether environmental preservation measures have been appropriately adopted.
Regarding Environmental Assessments, the following problems have been pointed out: (1) it is difficult to revise the plan flexibly as the Environmental Assessment is carried out at the project implementation stage; (2) complex and cumulative environmental impacts cannot be properly addressed for large-scale development plans involving multiple small projects.
After repetitive reviews, the Ordinance was revised in July 2002, to incorporate Environmental Assessment procedures at project planning (Plan Assessment), integrating them with existing Environmental Assessment procedures (Project Assessment), thereby fully revising the Environmental Assessment system.
The procedures based on the Tokyo Metropolitan Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance were applied to 267 projects (including two Plan Assessments) in Tokyo during the period from 1981, when the Ordinance was enforced, until the end of March in 2008.
The Environmental Assessment system of Tokyo is characterized by the following points:
- ◆ Introduction of Plan Assessment
This system is for comparative evaluation of several
plans from an environmental point of view at the early
stage of planning- Plan Assessment is conducted only for projects implemented
by Tokyo Metropolitan Government
- Assessment procedure may be partly omitted when a
Plan Assessment has been implemented, provided that
certain requirements are satisfied
- ◆ Clarifying the responsibilities of businesses and organizations
and assessment standards;
establishment of Advisory Council
- Businesses and organizations are responsible and pay
for the survey, estimation, and evaluation
- The Governor must establish technical guides and follow-
up survey standards
- The Environmental Assessment Advisory Council is established
to examine assessments and follow-up surveys
from a technical point of view by the request of
the Governor
- ◆ Offering Tokyo residents the opportunities to participate
- The procedure includes collecting written opinions and
organizing meetings to hear the opinions directly from
residents of Tokyo
- ◆ Procedure for follow-up survey
- Conduct follow-up surveys to verify the implementation
of efforts for environmental conservation during a
project and after its completion
- ◆ Assurance of effectiveness
- Requests to authorities issuing permits or approvals,
for environmental consideration. Requests to businesses
and organizations regarding necessary measures.
The Plan Assessments of TMG represents Japan’s first such procedure officially included in an Ordinance. TMG will develop scientific knowledge, revise the technical guides, and propose methods to create a variety of plans that are comprehensible to residents in promoting procedures based on the Ordinance. For Project Assessments, TMG will offer clearer environmental information, while asking businesses and organizations to take action geared towards environmental conservation at an early stage of planning from the broad perspective of building a sustainable city and preventing global warming.
Provision of Assessment Information
The Environmental Assessment Web site of Bureau of Environment provides a variety of information, including the progress of assessment procedures of each project. Please visit our Web site at:
Plan Assessment: multiple development plan for large area;
more than 30 hectares where several small projects are planned
in the text and access
