As Ed said, a list isn't necessarily a perfect process, but it does work. The World Bank and the IFC and various other IFIs use a list approach. It has a number of project attributes. That could include things like how it affects the habitat of, say, an endangered species, or something like that. So it can be more than just projects. It's a list of projects or project attributes that would trigger an environmental assessment under a specified legislation.
The thing is to take the administrative debate about who's supposed to do it out of the equation. At the outset, proponents and governments and the public all should be able to see that this project requires a comprehensive study. There should be no four- or five-month debate that doesn't produce any discussion of how to mitigate the environmental effects or to plan a better project.