“From the interviews it appears that NCEA’s status and authority, and the extent to which it is seen as an expert, remain great. The added value of the advisory report for the quality of the decision making is generally estimated as high. Furthermore, there is broad agreement that NCEA’s advisory report contributes to predictable development of the subsequent decision making. This is largely because this advisory report is seen as a kitemark assuring that an environmental assessment report can withstand scrutiny (including by the administrative court).” External evaluation of the Environmental Management (tariffs for NCEA) Act 2018 by Berenschot. Independent It is important to specify what is meant by ‘independent’. It means that NCEA experts have no involvement or interest in the project for which they are reviewing an SEA, EIA or scoping document, in terms of their employer, colleagues, private (e.g. partner), city of residence or additional jobs. It is the responsibility of both the NCEA and its individual experts to verify this before starting the review. Furthermore, the competent authority is given the opportunity to provide arguments against involving a given expert on the grounds that the expert is in some way involved in the project. The final decision lies with the NCEA itself. The NCEA’s independent status is emphasised by the fact that the NCEA never expresses an opinion on the desirability of a project. It is only concerned with the information that is needed for the decision making with regard to a project. Closely related to independence is the notion of transparency. By working in public, the NCEA avoids appearing to have conflicting interests. The NCEA only works on the basis of public information that is accessible to all. In its review reports it explicitly mentions the specific documents consulted. Moreover, our website discloses which projects are currently undergoing review. Last but not least, all review reports are published on the website, together with the names of the experts who were the reviewers. It is therefore quite common for NCEA reports to be quoted in court proceedings. 12 The NCEA’s Views and Experiences 2018
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