Environmental impact assessment
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The document discusses environmental impact assessments (EIAs). It defines EIAs as processes that identify, predict, and evaluate the physical, chemical, biological, social, and other impacts of proposed projects prior to major decisions. The document outlines the key stages of EIAs, including screening, scoping, preliminary assessments, mitigation, environmental management plans, public participation, and impact assessment methods. It emphasizes that EIAs are tools used to reduce negative environmental impacts and promote sustainable development.
Environmental impact assessment
- 1. Environmental impact assessment Presentation author: Ms. G. Tejasri Faculty of Engineering Sciences, NIT AP – 534101.
- 2. Sustainable development • Development that meets the needs of today’s generation without compromising those of future generations
- 3. EIA • The environmental impact assessment is an innovative process recommended by different international agencies as a valid environmental protection tool and endorsed by the experience gained in developed countries that have incorporated it into their legal systems.
- 4. •It is an early warning process that verifies the enforcement of environmental policies. •It is a preventive tool used to evaluate the negative and positive environmental impacts of policies, plans, programs, and projects. •The EIA proposes measures to adjust impacts to acceptable levels.
- 5. • EIA is a tool used in planning development strategies and projects, and its use has been adopted into planning regulations in a number of countries, and by a number of regional groupings and multilateral agencies
- 6. •Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a process of identifying, predicting, evaluating, and mitigating the physical, chemical, biological, cultural, social, and other relevant effects of proposed projects, plans and programs prior to major decisions and commitments being made. •The objective of EIA is not to halt the projects but to bring about project design changes for reducing negative environmental impact.
- 7. • EIA can be defined as the systematic identification and evaluation of the potential impacts of the proposed project, plans, programs or legislative actions relative to the physical-chemical, biological, cultural and socio- economic components of the total environment.
- 8. Principles of EIA administration and practice Three core values on which the EIA process is based: • Integrity– the EIA process should meet internationally accepted requirements and standards of practice; • Utility– the EIA process should provide the information which is sufficient and relevant for decision-making; and • Sustainability– the EIA process should result in the implementation of environmental safeguards which are sufficient to mitigate serious adverse effects and avoid irreversible loss of resource and ecosystem functions.
- 9. Purpose of EIA • To encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment • To promote efforts which will prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimulate the health and welfare of man • To enrich the understanding of the ecological systems and natural resources important to the Nation
- 10. • To implement a strategy of sustainable development, prevent adverse impact on the environment after the implementation of plans and construction projects, and promote coordinated development of the economy, society, and environment. • To allow government officials, business leaders, and all concerned citizens to understand the likely environmental consequences of proposed actions, and to cooperate in making wise decisions that restore and maintain the quality of our shared environment for future generations.
- 12. Important parts of the EIA process • To decide in advance whether an environmental impact assessment is necessary. • To analyze only the actions that may have a significant environmental impact. • To incorporate beforehand significant impact criteria, such as: –Air and water pollution. –Deterioration of protected natural and ecological resources. –Undesirable impacts such as landscape deterioration, generation of noise, and others. –Discharges of toxic or hazardous substances or waste generation. –Cumulative adverse effects. –Negative socio cultural impacts. –Significant public controversy.
- 13. Limitations of Environmental Impact Studies • It is not always possible to emphasize the interdisciplinary character, although this is essential. • They use predictive methods based on scientific information that is not always available. • They use abstract concepts which cannot always compete with sciences that incorporate quantifiable data. • They need data that are all at the same level and exchangeable on compatible scales.
- 14. • Since they have a varied methodological framework, it is necessary to know the land or place affected in order to define its use. • They use the fragility and quality analysis of the affected land, for which there are often no baseline data available. • They require detailed information that is not always available or is not compatible with the study requirements. • They have to improve the methods of appraisal for analyzing environmental impacts in the same way as economic and social impacts. • Some environmental components are difficult to address, such as quality analysis, fragility of the land, and landscape value, among others.
- 16. EIAprocess
- 18. Screening • Screening is the first key decision of the EIA process. • Screening is the process used to determine whether a proposed project or activity requires an EIA and, if so, what level of environmental review is necessary. • The purpose of screening is to determine whether a proposal requires an EIA or not. • Some type of screening procedure is necessary because of the large number of projects and activities that are potentially subject to EIA.
- 19. Scoping • Scoping is a critical, early step in the preparation of an EIA. • The scoping process identifies the issues that are likely to be of most importance during the EIA and eliminates those that are of little concern. • Typically, this process concludes with the establishment of Terms of Reference for the preparation of an EIA. • A quality scoping study reduces the risk of including inappropriate components or excluding components which should be addressed in an environmental assessment.
- 20. Preliminary assessment • The preliminary assessment is useful insofar as it reviews the required environmental coverage and provides decision makers with background data. • It helps identify requirements that need to be met if environmental sustainability is to be achieved.
- 21. • A good preliminary assessment requires the following information: – General description of the project – Applicable environmental legislation – An estimate of significant environmental impacts – A general description of the area of influence – Mitigating measures to manage potential impacts.
- 22. Mitigation • Mitigation is the design and execution of measures to reduce, mitigate, or minimize the negative impacts of a project, work, or activity on human or natural environments. • Mitigation can restore one or more environmental components to pre-impact quality; if this is not possible, it can reestablish the basic properties. • Mitigation is the avoidance, elimination, reduction or control of adverse effects of a project. • May require changes in planning, design and engineering, location and timing, and project management to mitigate adverse effects.
- 24. Environmental management plan • The environmental management plan identifies measures to mitigate and compensate significant environmental impacts. • It ensures mitigation measures are implemented • It establishes systems and procedures for this purpose • It monitors the effectiveness of mitigation measures • It takes action when unforeseen impacts occur
- 26. Public involvement/ participation • Public involvement is a fundamental principle of the EIA process. • Process through which people who will be affected by or are interested in a decision, and who have a stake in the outcome, get a chance to influence its content before it is made. • Timely, well planned and appropriately implemented public involvement programs will contribute to EIA studies and to the successful design, implementation, operation and management of proposals. • Specifically public involvement is a valuable source of information on key impacts, potential mitigation measures and the identification and selection of alternatives.
- 27. Environmental impact assessment methods • a) Meetings of experts: This method is useful when the impact to be studied is specific and limited. If it is not so, neither speed nor thoroughness can be demanded because of interdisciplinary conflicts. • b) Checklists: Detailed lists to identify impacts rapidly. There are merely indicative lists and quantitative lists that use standards to define the main impacts (for example, air pollution according to number of households) • c) Simple cause-effect matrices: They are limited matrices that relate the affected environmental variable with the human activity that induces it.
- 28. • d) Graphs and flow charts: They seek to determine chains of primary and secondary impacts with existing interactions and are used to define the types of impacts expected. • e) Environmental cartography or map overlay: Set of maps that represent the main environmental characteristics. • f) Networks: Expanded flow charts with primary, secondary, and tertiary impacts.
- 29. • g) Geographic information systems: Computer programs that do not identify impacts, but rather attempt to assess their importance. • h) Matrices: Double-input tables with environmental characteristics and expected activities of the project. The corresponding impact is identified by intersecting each row with each column.