Abstract Environmental licensing is the regulatory procedure that enforces the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of human activities inside a given country. Despite worldwide acceptance of EIA as a valid tool, its application in coastal environments is still too diverse and limited regarding the specificity of the natural processes influencing the shore. This paper compares the Environmental Licensing Procedure (ELP) of four countries, focusing on the activities that could affect the coastal geomorphology. The acquisition and validation of information were done through interviews with EIA representatives in each country, who signalized the official documents of environmental licensing and coastal management to be considered in the documentary review. The results present those differences and similarities among ELP stages in each country, based on the principles of the International Association of Impact Assessment and the national documents analyzed. In sum, 59 interventions associated with human uses and activities in the coastal zone were compared according to the prescriptive character of the environmental licensing in Italy, Spain, Cuba and Colombia. The natural processes influencing coastal geomorphology were also analyzed within the technical criteria included in the official guidelines for the EIA, finding a generalized weakness in processes associated with geochemical courses on coastal environments. By way of discussion, seven good practices are illustrated, according to their pertinence to the impact assessment of the coastal zone: 1) The integration of screening and scoping; 2) Evaluation focusing on the environment rather than the intervention; 3) Binding the coastal zone delimitation; 4) Institutional articulation; 5) Accreditation of environmental consultancies; 6) Official guidelines by types of environment; 7) The integration of environmental geographic information. Finally, general conclusions to assist EIA practitioners operating in the four countries and recommendations to lead further research are provided, introducing a novel process-oriented approach for ELP.

中文翻译：

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沿海干预环境许可的七种良好做法：意大利、古巴、西班牙和哥伦比亚监管框架的经验教训以及对沿海过程的见解

摘要 环境许可是在特定国家/地区执行人类活动环境影响评估 (EIA) 的监管程序。尽管 EIA 作为一种有效工具被全世界接受，但它在沿海环境中的应用仍然过于多样化，并且在影响海岸的自然过程的特殊性方面受到限制。本文比较了四个国家的环境许可程序 (ELP)，重点关注可能影响沿海地貌的活动。信息的获取和验证是通过与每个国家的 EIA 代表面谈来完成的，他们表示在文件审查中要考虑环境许可和沿海管理的官方文件。结果显示了每个国家 ELP 阶段之间的差异和相似之处，基于国际影响评估协会的原则和分析的国家文件。总之，根据意大利、西班牙、古巴和哥伦比亚环境许可的规定特征，对沿海地区与人类使用和活动相关的 59 项干预措施进行了比较。影响沿海地貌的自然过程也在 EIA 官方指南中包含的技术标准内进行了分析，发现了与沿海环境地球化学过程相关的过程中的普遍弱点。通过讨论，根据与沿海地区影响评估的相关性，说明了七种良好做法： 1) 筛选和范围界定的整合；2) 评价侧重于环境而非干预；3) 具有约束力的海岸带划界；4) 制度衔接；5) 环境顾问的认可；6) 按环境类型划分的官方指南；7）环境地理信息的整合。最后，提供了有助于在这四个国家开展工作的 EIA 从业者的一般性结论和引导进一步研究的建议，为 ELP 引入了一种新的面向过程的方法。