botminds.aiRequest a demo
WorkflowEnvironment, Emissions & Regulatory

Environmental Impact Assessment Review

Environmental impact assessment review that ties every statement of a fact across thousands of pages, so the draft agrees with itself before it is filed.

See the demoBook a demo
Follow two broken facts through one draft ↓
The problem

An environmental impact assessment review that samples will miss the break

One assessment is written by several firms over years, each from whichever revision of the project description it was sent. A value that changes in the project chapter does not reach the air model, the drilling discharges or the carbon appendix, and the summary table keeps the old figure.

Reviewers read chapter by chapter, each in their own discipline, because nobody can compare thousands of statements by hand. Counsel reads the summary and whatever gets flagged. Versions are compared by eye. The gap is found later, by someone arguing against the project.

Built forAssessment coordinatorsLead assessorsEnvironmental counselChapter authors

The Problem Today

One assessment runs to thousands of pages from many firms, and a fact can change between chapters unseen.

458 hrs
to check one sample draft line by line, at 3 minutes a statement our estimate

Compared by hand today

  • Chapters
  • Appendices
  • Sum tables
  • Guidance
  • Several firms, one draftEach writes from its own revision, on its own clock
  • The law is still movingTop courts differ on how far review must reach

The Solution

  1. Each fact gets a threadThe same fact tied across all chapters and appendices
  2. Breaks show firstA value that changes is flagged, cited at both ends
  3. Read like an opponentEach line of attack cites the passage and what counsel loaded
  4. Back to the authorSigned findings go to the firm; returned text gets a fresh check

Built-in controls

  • Agents never change a chapter
  • Two people on each decision
  • Counsel rules on each line of attack

What You Get

Lead assessors and counsel file a draft that agrees with itself, and know where the law is still open.

  • Facts tied page to pageEach statement of a fact joined across firms
  • The other side's case, firstLines of attack ranked strong, arguable or unsettled
  • Corrections checked againReturned text matched to its finding before it closes
One draft, two broken facts

A 2,380-page environmental impact assessment review, thread by thread

Draft 3 of an offshore field expansion: 19 chapters and 11 appendices from six firms, with the filing date set before the board's investment decision. Here is how two facts that broke between chapters get found, sent back and checked, by the people who own each step.

demoThe field, the firms, the people, the guidance and the figures are sample data.

  1. 01First reading

    1,146 facts tied across the draft, and 23 of them break

    Assessment coordinator

    The thread board lays the whole draft out as one strip in true page proportion, with a colored thread for each fact joining every page that states it. Of 1,146 facts, 1,118 hold, 5 differ for a stated reason and 23 break: 7 change a conclusion, 14 a number, 2 only wording. Well count and field life head the list to open first.

  2. 02Well count

    Chapter 3 says 28 wells, and the air model ran on 21

    Lead assessor

    The well count is stated 8 times. The project chapter says 28: 21 producers and 7 water injectors. Chapter 9 and Appendix E model 21, because the air team counted the producers and left out the injectors. Opening the passage shows the sentence on its page. What rests on it: 1,008 rig days modeled against 1,344 planned.

  3. 03Field life

    The carbon appendix stops at 11 years under replaced guidance

    Lead assessor

    Chapter 3 runs the field for 25 years. Appendix K stops at 11, when the contract expires, and cites a guidance revision that was replaced: the one in force says not to stop at a contract term unless an extension is ruled out. Left out are 72.90 million barrels and 35.3 million tons of downstream carbon.

  4. 04Send-back

    Signed only after he has read each passage

    Lead assessor

    The coordinator drafted both findings and cannot sign her own. The lead assessor's sign button stays shut until he has opened each highlighted statement. He reads all three on well count and both on field life, then signs. Each finding goes to its firm with the chapter that controls and a reply date.

  5. 05Challenger's reading

    On the displacement credit, the agent says it cannot judge

    Environmental counsel

    The agent has read the draft as an opposing lawyer would: 11 lines of attack, 4 strong, 5 arguable and 2 where the law is unsettled. On the 35% displacement credit it quotes the loaded guidance and two top-court rulings, and says it cannot judge. Counsel seeks an outside opinion. Filing stays shut until she rules.

  6. 06With the author

    The author sees his two pages, the finding and the suggested fix

    Chapter author at the air consultancy

    His view holds only his firm's chapters. He sees the lead assessor's finding, his own sentences on each page and the corrected text the agents suggest: 28 wells, 1,344 rig days. He can return corrected text or dispute it with a reason. The challenger's reading, the library and other firms' chapters stay closed to him.

  7. 07Returned

    Two changes came back, both matched, and none nobody asked for

    Version comparer

    Returned text is compared against Draft 3. Two parts are back, with two changes, and each is matched to the finding that asked for it. A change nobody asked for, such as a shortened mitigation, would stop the finding from closing until a person ruled on it. Here there are none.

  8. 08Fresh check

    All eight statements now read 28, and he checks them again

    Lead assessor

    The thread is whole again: all eight statements of the well count read 28. A returned chapter does not close itself. He opens the corrected pages in the air chapter and the dispersion appendix and reads them, then decides: close the finding, or return it for a second try.

  9. 09Closed

    One thread rejoined, 22 breaks still open

    Lead assessor

    On the board, well count now reads rejoined and the break count falls to 22. Field life is still with its author. The filing gates stay shut until every break is closed, each stated reason is accepted and counsel has ruled on every line of attack, so the board shows the real distance to filing.

Downstream emissions, as the appendix wrote them and as the chapter states

Every sold barrel and its gas treated as burned, at 0.4848 tons of CO2 a barrel. Fourteen years make the difference.

Field life countedOil, million barrelsDownstream carbon, Mt
11 years, as Appendix K wrote it224.01108.6
The fourteen years left out72.9035.3
25 years, as Chapter 3 states296.91143.9

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Breaks a chapter-by-chapter read would have passed

A count copied from the wrong list

The air team modeled 21 producers and left out the 7 injectors, so rig days and NOx run short.

A replaced guidance revision

Appendix K cites the old revision and stops at contract expiry; the one in force says otherwise.

A total that drifts as values move

Chapter 10's carbon total sits 2.1% off the appendix, and 22.9% once field life is fixed.

A change nobody asked for

Returned text that alters anything beyond its finding stops the close until a person rules.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Around the draft

The downstream sum, the filing gates and what counsel loaded

Screens the coordinator, counsel and the auditor use alongside the threads. Open any one full size.

Downstream emissionsThe appendix re-added from the production table and the loaded factors: 296.91 million barrels over 25 years, 143.9 million tons. The agent never picks a method.
Six gates to filingBreaks closed, reasons accepted, counsel's rulings, a sampled check of holding facts, unasked changes and held parts. Release stays shut until all six are met.
What counsel loadedLaw, guidance and past decisions, each with its status. A replaced revision is marked, and rulings from elsewhere are marked persuasive only.
What was loadedAll 30 parts of the draft by firm and page range, each read, with anything held for a person shown apart.
Find in the draftWalk the draft part by part, or search it. Each fact in the project chapter shows its value, its sentence and its page.
Audit trailReads, drafts, signatures, rulings and agent steps, newest first. Counsel's text stays held, and the export carries the counts.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Two people on each finding, and counsel on each line of attack

The person who drafts a finding cannot sign it, and a checker must open what he checks.

Assessment coordinator
Sees
The thread board, the breaks and the agents' draft findings
Signs
Drafts findings and builds the filing pack; signs none of her own
Lead assessor
Sees
Each passage on both sides of a break, opened by his own hand
Signs
Signs send-backs, makes the fresh check, proposes release
Environmental counsel
Sees
The challenger's reading and the law she loaded
Signs
Rules on each line of attack and countersigns release
Chapter author
Sees
Findings on his own firm's chapters only
Signs
Returns corrected text or disputes with a reason
Internal auditor
Sees
The trail, and that counsel ruled, not what counsel wrote
Signs
Nothing; exports the evidence
The agents

Eight agents read the draft, and none of them changes a chapter

Their output lands with the coordinator, the lead assessor or counsel.

Draft reader

Reads every page, table and scan of each part.

  • Never changes a chapter
  • Never hides what it could not read
Fact tracker

Ties each statement of a fact into one thread and compares value, unit and basis.

  • Never says which firm is at fault
Break explainer

Says why a value differs and what rests on it, with its confidence.

  • Never decides which value is right
Method checker

Re-adds downstream emissions from the production table and the loaded factors.

  • Never picks a method
Law and guidance matcher

Finds what loaded text speaks to a passage and flags replaced revisions.

  • Never cites anything not loaded
  • Never gives legal advice
Challenger reader

Lists the lines of attack an opposing lawyer would take.

  • Never forecasts a court result
  • Never judges where the law is unsettled
Finding writer

Drafts send-backs for the coordinator.

  • Never sends anything
Version comparer

Matches returned changes to findings and flags the rest.

  • Never accepts a change

What stays with the assessors, the authors and counsel

Which value is rightThe agents show the break both ways. The lead assessor and the author settle it.
Where the law is openOn an unsettled point the agent says it cannot judge, and counsel rules or seeks an opinion.
Closing a returned chapterA correction closes only after the lead assessor opens the returned pages himself.
Release for filingThe lead assessor proposes and counsel countersigns, with every gate checked again at each signature.

What counsel ask about environmental impact assessment review

What is environmental impact assessment review here?

Environmental impact assessment review is checking a draft assessment before it is filed. This solution ties every statement of each fact across the chapters and appendices, shows where a value breaks with both pages cited, and reads the draft as an opposing lawyer would. Assessors and counsel decide, and authors correct their own chapters.

How is this different from an environmental impact assessment checklist?

A checklist asks whether a topic is covered. This compares the draft with itself: the same fact, wherever it is stated, across firms and revisions. It also catches a cited guidance revision that has since been replaced, and a total that no longer adds up from its table.

Does it help with legal defensibility?

It lists the lines of attack with the passage and the guidance counsel loaded behind each, ranked strong, arguable or unsettled. Where the law is unsettled it says it cannot judge. It never forecasts a court result and never gives legal advice. Counsel rules on each line.

Can it check downstream emissions?

It re-adds the downstream figure from the production table and the factors loaded in the library, and checks that it covers the whole field life and cites the guidance in force. It does not choose a method. A gap goes back to the appendix author through a finding.

What happens when an author returns a corrected chapter?

The returned text is compared with the draft, and each change must match the finding that asked for it. A change nobody asked for stops the close. The lead assessor then opens the corrected pages and closes the finding or sends it back.

Who can see what?

Each chapter author sees findings on his own firm's chapters only. The challenger's reading is held by counsel and stays out of exports and findings. The internal auditor reads the whole trail and sees that counsel ruled, not what counsel wrote.

Does it work for an environmental statement review outside oil and gas?

The method is the same for any long environmental impact statement written by several firms: tie the facts, show the breaks, read it like an opponent. This sample is an offshore field expansion, with its own chapters, guidance and factors loaded.

Environment, Emissions & Regulatory

More environmental and regulatory solutions

All 7 solutions →
Spill Reporting

Reports owed found from the first field message, each on its own clock.

1-min demoFlaring and Venting Compliance

Every spike on the flare meter has a log, a cause a person confirmed and a notice on time.

1-min demoPermit Condition Compliance

Conditions read as written, with the proof tested against their own words.

1-min demo

Bring one draft assessment
and the guidance you file under.

We’ll tie its facts across your chapters and show you the breaks before anyone reads a page.

Book a demoBrowse solutions