Informing public interest determinations in impact assessment using a multiple account evaluation framework

This article presents a comprehensive multiple account evaluation (MAE) framework that is intended to inform public interest determinations in impact assessment (IA). Using MAE methodology; which involves separating impacts into government revenue, economic activity, environmental, social, health, and Indigenous accounts; the proposed ‘Public Interest MAE Framework’ seeks to inform senior government decision makers on all the positive and adverse consequences associated with a proposed project in a manner that allows for analysis of key trade-offs from the perspective of society as a whole. The proposed framework is applied to a case study to demonstrate how the framework functions in practice. Additionally, a survey is conducted with IA practitioners, experts, stakeholders, and Indigenous groups to evaluate the proposed Public Interest MAE Framework. The primary conclusion of this study is that the Public Interest MAE Framework has the potential to inform public interest determinations and overcome many of the limitations associated with other estimation methods used in IA. Finally, opportunities and challenges associated with integrating the Public Interest MAE Framework into IA are explored.