Abstract The effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in the transport field is increasingly being contested. Apart from technical issues (e.g., impacts measurements), the literature highlights process-related barriers as key obstacles to effective EIA implementation in transport projects (e.g., lack of collaborative work, transparency, etc.). Nevertheless, most academic efforts to date have focused on technical improvements, paying limited attention to the relevance of process-related barriers. To address this shortcoming, the paper aims to explore and compare how EIA is experienced and perceived by professionals in three South-European countries (Italy, Portugal, and Spain), providing additional insights into EIA process-related barriers in transport projects. The findings were obtained through an online survey of 294 professionals, representing two main stakeholder groups: environmental consultants and transport planners. The results reveal four main types of process problems shared in all three countries: (i) EIA timing, (ii) assessment of alternatives, (iii) monitoring system, and (iv) public participation. The highest divergences are seen in Spain, where 42% of identified process-related barriers are shared with the rest of countries, while Italian and Portuguese respondents agree in the perception of 68% of process-related barriers. The main differences between the barriers identified by transport planners and environmental consultants are related to their assessment of the need for more collaborative work between key actors. It is finally discussed the added value of this research to progress towards the homogenization of EIA processes across countries.

中文翻译：

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揭示交通项目中与 EIA 流程相关的障碍：意大利、葡萄牙和西班牙的案例

摘要 环境影响评估（EIA）在交通领域的有效性越来越受到质疑。除了技术问题（例如，影响测量），文献还强调了与流程相关的障碍是交通项目中有效 EIA 实施的主要障碍（例如，缺乏协作工作、透明度等）。然而，迄今为止，大多数学术努力都集中在技术改进上，对与过程相关障碍的相关性关注有限。为了解决这个缺点，本文旨在探索和比较三个南欧国家（意大利、葡萄牙和西班牙）的专业人士如何体验和感知 EIA，为交通项目中与 EIA 过程相关的障碍提供更多见解。调查结果是通过对 294 名专业人士的在线调查获得的，代表两个主要的利益相关者群体：环境顾问和交通规划者。结果揭示了所有三个国家共有的四种主要流程问题：(i) EIA 时间安排，(ii) 替代方案评估，(iii) 监测系统，以及 (iv) 公众参与。西班牙的分歧最大，其中 42% 的已识别流程相关障碍与其他国家共享，而意大利和葡萄牙受访者同意 68% 的流程相关障碍。交通规划者和环境顾问确定的障碍之间的主要区别与他们对关键参与者之间更多协作工作需求的评估有关。最后讨论了这项研究的附加价值，以促进各国 EIA 过程的同质化。