Environmental Impact Assessment in the marine environment: A comparison of legal frameworks Flávia Guerra a,b, ⁎, Catarina Grilo b , Nuno M. Pedroso c,d , Henrique Cabral e a Institute for Environmental Studies, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1087, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands b Liga para a Protecção da Natureza, 1500-124 Lisboa, Portugal c Laboratório de Ecologia Isotópica — CENA, Universidade de São Paulo, Caixa Postal 96, 13416-000 Piracicaba, SP, Brazil d Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes — cE3c, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal e MARE — Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal abstract article info Article history: Received 8 April 2015 Received in revised form 28 July 2015 Accepted 2 August 2015 Available online xxxx Keywords: Offshore hydrocarbon prospecting Sunken ships Wave-energy Portugal Cluster analysis Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a well-established practice in most developed countries, even though its application to projects in the marine environment is at a much earlier stage of development. We use the Por- tuguese example to address marine EIA legislation since its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is currently the third largest in the European Union and its EIA legislation does not require various offshore activities with potentially negative environmental impacts to undergo EIA before being licensed. This paper aims to determine whether three types of projects implemented within Portuguese maritime zones – artificial reefs using sunken ships, hy- drocarbon prospecting and wave-energy generation – would benefit from application of an appropriately de- signed EIA. We have conducted a structured review of EIA legal provisions from seven other countries, and considered whether a full EIA was required for each project type. Consequently, 12 Environmental Impact State- ments (EIS) have been compared to identify patterns of (dis)similarity across countries and project types. Addi- tionally, we identified key descriptors and predicted impacts for each project type referred to in their EIS. The main conclusion is that ultimately all three projects would benefit from mandatory EIA in Portugal. This paper is relevant for countries with large maritime areas and underdeveloped marine EIA legislation, helping improve international policy-making relating to these three types of marine projects. © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a well-established envi- ronmental management tool, as evidenced by its widespread use in the legal frameworks of most countries and both in international law and in standards of major lending institutions (Morgan, 2012). One major objective of EIA is to support project licensing with sound and social responsive technical and scientific knowledge on the likely environmental effects (Pinho et al., 2007). However, even though EIA regulations apply to public and private projects which are likely to have significant effects on the environment (Directive 2011/92/EU), they are principally aimed at land-based development proposals. Thus, projects in the marine environment in areas of national sovereignty or jurisdiction are often not covered by EIA (Budd, 1999; Katsanevakis et al., 2011). The marine environment is host to a diverse set of highly productive and complex ecosystems, contributing significantly towards biodiversity maintenance, food and energy provision, and the creation of economic and cultural benefits (Barker and Jones, 2013). EIA should have a critical role when assessing and planning economic-driven activities affecting the marine environment, such as aquaculture, nautical tourism, wave- energy, and exploration for hydrocarbons, sands and gravel (Warner, 2012). Considering that Portugal's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is cur- rently the third largest of the European Union (EU) (4 million km 2 ) and that the existing Portuguese EIA legislation presents some short- ages regarding projects that can be licensed within its maritime zones, we will use the Portuguese example to address possibly underdevel- oped marine EIA legislation. Although several developments on the shoreline are subject to EIA in Portugal (e.g., harbors, marinas and port installations, dykes, dredging operations), offshore activities with po- tentially negative impacts on the marine environment are not covered by national or EU legislation, namely sinking of ships for recreational purposes, hydrocarbon prospecting, and wave-energy generation. More than fifty artificial reefs were constructed or were being planned in the OSPAR Maritime Area (OSPAR Commission, 2009) be- cause of their potential to enhance tourism-driven economic develop- ment (Pendleton, 2005) or fishing incomes (Whitmarsh et al., 2008). Yet, the scuttling of ships can also be considered dumping of waste as toxic materials and heavy metals are released in the process (Monfils Environmental Impact Assessment Review 55 (2015) 182–194 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Room C-571, Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1087, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail address: f.c.diasguerra@vu.nl (F. Guerra). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2015.08.003 0195-9255/© 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Environmental Impact Assessment Review journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/eiar