Generic EIA process

ENVS304
 Project

Screening
EIA required No EIA required

Scoping

Impact assessment

EIA report Stakeholder

involvement
Review

Decision

Not approved Approved

Implementation and follow-up

Adapted and modified from Aucamp, 2009
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1. Understanding the project
 The process begins by gathering information
about the activity or project.

 A key task is defining the purpose and need for

a project or activity.
 Purpose and need should be defined initially in terms
of why the activity is being carried out—not how or by
what means results are to be achieved.

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Understanding the project
 After examining the purpose or need, the
specifics of what the project intends to do must
also be characterized e.g. assessing project
design and site

 withoutknowing what the proposed action is, you

cannot know how the action could alter the
environment or what the impacts of those alterations
would be.

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Phase 1 of the EIA process:
Understand the proposed activity
Understand ALL EIA processes begin with
the proposed
activities understanding WHAT is being proposed,
Why is the and WHY.
activity being The question
proposed? “WHY IS THE ACTIVITY BEING PROPOSED?
What is being Is answered with the development objective (D.O.).


proposed?


“building a road” Not a D.O.!
“increasing access
Is a D.O.
to markets”
“If we don’t
understand
We must understand the
it, we can’t Development Objective to identify
assess it!” environmentally sound alternatives
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Phase 1 of the EIA process:
Understand the proposed activity
Understand Once we understand the development
the proposed
activities
objective, we must fully understand
WHAT is being proposed.
Why is the
activity being This includes associated actions!
proposed? PRIMARY ACTIVITY:
What is being construction of diversion dam &
proposed? irrigation canal
ASSOCIATED ACTIONS:
• Survey
• negotiate land tenure
• construct borrow pit
• establish construction camp
• construct temporary
diversion structure
• dispose of soil, debris

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2. Screening/Initial Environmental Examination
(IEE)

 The process of an EIA starts at the early stages

of a project.
 When the project is first considered, not when
construction has begun.

 Screening is the next step, which seeks to see

the effects of the project/activity on the
environment.

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Screening
 Can be defined as the process that determines
the need for and the scale of an EIA

 It is the first and simplest stage of an EIA

 Usually a desktop study but when information is not
enough;
 some kind of assessment needs to be done to gather
more information i.e. the preliminary assessment

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Phase 1 of the EIA process:
Screen the activity
Screen each
activity
SCREENING is the process of asking
Based on the
nature of the
a very basic set of questions about
activity, what the nature of activity.
level of These questions:
environmental • do NOT require analysis.
analysis is
• do NOT require detailed knowledge
indicated?
about the proposed sites, techniques or
methods
Example screening questions:
Does the activity involve:
• Penetration road building?
• Large-scale irrigation?
• Introduction of non-native
crop or agroforestry species?
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Screening
 Results in one of 3 outcomes:
1. The nature of the project demands a full EIA

2. By its nature, the project is unlikely to have any

significant environmental impacts

3. The project may or may not require a full EIA; further

inquiry is required
 Therefore the outcome of the screening process is a decision to
either include or exclude the project from a full EIA Process.

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Phase 1 of the EIA process:
Screen the activity
Screen each
activity
screening classifies the activity into
Based on the
nature of the
a RISK CATEGORY:
activity, what VERY LOW RISK EIA process ends
level of
environmental VERY HIGH RISK Do full EIA study
analysis is
indicated? MODERATE OR Do preliminary
UNKNOWN RISK assessment

The outcome of the

screening process
determines the next step
in the EIA process
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Phase 1 of the EIA Process
Understand Screen the Conduct a
Phase I Phase II
proposed activity Preliminary
activity Assessment
Based on the ACTIVITY IS SIGNIFICANT BEGIN
Why is the nature of the OF MODERATE A rapid, ADVERSE FULL
activity being activity what OR UNKNOWN simplified EIA IMPACTS EIA
proposed? level of RISK study using POSSIBLE STUDY
environmental simple tools SIGNIFICANT
What is being review is ADVERSE
proposed? indicated? IMPACTS
VERY UNLIKELY

ACTIVITY IS LOW
RISK (Of its nature, STOP
very unlikely to have the EIA
significant adverse process
impacts)

ACTIVITY IS
HIGH RISK (Of its
nature, likely to have
significant adverse
impacts)
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Phase 1 of the EIA process:
The Preliminary Assessment
Conduct a
Preliminary
Assessment The purpose of a preliminary
A rapid, assessment is to provide
simplified EIA documentation and analysis that:
study using
• Allows the preparer to
simple tools
determine whether or not
significant adverse impacts are
likely
• Allows the reviewer to agree or

!
disagree with the preparer’s
Screening determinations
determines whether • Sets out mitigation and
the preliminary monitoring for adverse impacts
assessment is
necessary
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 ! We only proceed to
Phase II of the EIA process

if
Phase I indicates that
a FULL EIA STUDY
is required

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3. Scoping
 If a full EIA is required then the next phase is to
define the issues which need to be addressed.

 Scoping can be defined as identification of a

number of priority issues from a range of
potential problems to be addressed by an EIA.
A process for narrowing the scope of an assessment
and ensuring that it is focused on significant
issues/impacts
Scoping
 Scoping is a key stage in the EIA process,
it determines those impacts that are
significant and also;
 the key boundaries, issues, and impacts that
the assessment should address.
 e.g. time scale, geographical scale, budget, project
alternatives, affected environment, significant
impacts

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Scoping
 Scoping also normally includes the
selection of interdisciplinary expertise
needed for the EIA, and

 The development of Terms of Reference

for the preparation of an EIA process.

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4. Impact assessment
 Identifies impacts of the project on various
components of the environment

 Activities throughout the entire cycle of the

project should be considered

However, it is crucial to conduct a baseline

study as the starting point.

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5. Mitigation
 Consists of activities designed to reduce
the undesirable impacts of a proposed
action on the affected environment.
 Limitscosts of environmental damage
 Also explores ways by which +ve impacts can
be enhanced to ensure maximum benefit

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Stakeholder involvement
 Stakeholder involvement/public participation is
the process in which individuals, companies,
authorities or groups that are affected by the
proposed activity participate in the EIA process.

 Ideally stakeholder involvement should be

carried out at all stages of the EIA process.

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Who is involved in EIA?

Public consultation is always

Sponsor of the activity important for full EIA studies.
(usually commissions/conducts the
EIA) However, it is good practice
Regulatory agencies/ for preliminary assessments
Review authorities because:

Broad-based public • Predicting impacts is

Communities (men & women) FACILITATED by broad-
Civil society based public consultation;
Private Sector Judging significance is very
difficult without it.
• Transparency and
accessibility require
disclosure to stakeholders
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6. The EIA report
 Once it has been determined that a project has
potentially significant impacts on the environment
and the main issues to be considered in the study
have been identified, the EIA has to be undertaken
and presented in the form of an Environmental
Impact Assessment report.

 The assessment must determine the significance of

direct and indirect impacts, both beneficial and adverse,
and the duration of the impacts.

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The EIA report

The EIA report contains integrated findings

of all the EIA steps to enable authorities to
make decisions

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EIA report normally includes the following
information:
 The impact the project would have on the physical environment.

 Any possible pollution of the soil, of waters of all kinds such as

surface, underground, costal and of the atmosphere.

 The impact of the project on wildlife, the natural habitat and all
other ecological factors.

 The project’s likely influence on the qualities of life of the local

populations.

 Any influence the project may have on existing industry and

employment.

 Any need that may result for new or improved infrastructure

such as utilities, transport, housing, school recreational
amenities etc.
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7. EIA Report Review:
 Review: Once the EIA is completed and the EIA report is
submitted to the competent authority, it has to be ensured that
the EIA has been conducted properly, that all of the necessary
analysis have been undertaken and are contained in the final
report.
 It is necessary to develop review criteria to check the accuracy and
comprehensiveness of the EIA Report.

 The review can be carried out by decision maker or by review

committee.

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Review
 Effective review criteria should allow an authority to:

 Ensure that all relevant information has been analysed and

presented.
 Assess the validity and accuracy of information contained in EIA
Report.
 Quickly become familiar with the proposed project and consider
whether additional information is needed.
 Assess the significance of the project’s environmental effects.
 Evaluate the need for mitigation and monitoring of environmental
impact and advise on whether a project should be allowed to
proceed.

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8. Decision/Authorisation
 Once the study is finished and EIA report is submitted,
the responsible decision-makers engage in a task of
balancing environmental, economic, political and
technical factors in reaching a final decision regarding
the course of action to be taken.

 This is the stage at which the proposal is approved.

 Contains various conditions under which the project may

proceed.

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9. Implementation and follow-up
 At this stage the project starts after
authorisation

 Follow ups and/or checks are made

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