ELECTIVE COURSE:

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ASSESSMENT (EIA)

Course Tutor: Dr. Kishan D. Bhatta

Email: kishandatta@yahoo.com
Mobile: 9841341094
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU9G2E_RYJo
SCOPING
 Following the screening procedure, the next important step is
to determine the coverage or scope of the EIA study of a project
proposal. This activity is referred as “scoping”.

Scoping helps in developing and selecting alternatives to the

proposed action and in identifying the issues to be considered in
an EIA.

It is also a procedure designed to establish the terms of

reference (TOR) for an EIA study.
Outline of Scoping Procedure:
1. Identify the environmental issues to be considered in an EIA;

2. Scoping helps in:

Reaching agreement on specific issues;
Identifying alternatives;
TOR Preparation;
Public Participation;
Identifying methods to be used in the EIA; and
Achieving cost-effectiveness

3. Mechanism:
Open Scoping: Public meetings, workshops, seminars
Closed scoping: Letters, interviews, Discussions
AIMS of SCOPING
Scoping is required in order to help:

 identify concerns and issues for consideration in an EIA;

 enable to properly brief on the alternatives and on impacts to be

considered at different levels of analysis;

 determine the assessment methods to be used;

 identify all affected interests;

 facilitate an early agreement on contentious/controversial issues;

 save time and money; and

 establish Terms of Reference (ToR) for EIA study.

SCOPING APPROACH:
Planning for public involvement:

Developing a communication plan is an important planning tool for

those conducting a scoping exercise

Purpose of Scoping at an early stage is:

 to define all the communities and agencies which are allowed to participate in
making decisions relating to the proposal;

 to identify whom to talk to, as well as when and how to undertake the
communication exercise. The project proponents, relevant experts, affected local
people as well as groups with special interest should be considered for inclusion
in the list of persons to be covered by the communication plan.
Ways to make involvement of affected interests and
collection of information include:

 Obtaining written submissions from the relevant government

agencies and the public;

 Holding community meetings and public hearings;

 Conducting preliminary field study/observation of sites;

 Conducting workshops/seminars; and

 Establishing an intersectoral task force

Collecting Existing Information:
Existing information on the nature of the project should be
collected;

A preliminary list of potential environmental impacts and practical

alternatives supported by maps, drawings and other aids should be
prepared.

 Such information will form a basis for further discussion

 Distribution of Information to
affected Persons:
 After the collection of information, it should be processed
and assembled into an information package and
distributed to individuals and organizations for
comments.

 Government departments and concerned local and

regional officials should be contacted.

(Public meetings at project sites as well as central level)

Identifying Major Issues of Public
Concern:
 All the concerns and issues raised by affected interests
should be compiled into a comprehensive list.

 Each contribution should be categorized and no issue or

concern should be ignored or rejected in the compilation of
the list.
Evaluating the significance of
issues on the basis of available
information:
 Once the issues have been identified and grouped, their
scientific validity needs to be carefully evaluated.

 If certain questions of a technical nature remain

unresolved , a discussion panel or workshop can be
organized at an appropriate venue to resolve the question.
Establishing priorities for
environmental assessment :
Although grouping of the issues is undertaken, a more
detailed exercise should be conducted at this stage.

Issues to which immediate solutions can be provided or

issues which have no relevance to the proposed project
should be dropped. The key issues remaining should be
arranged in order of priority .
Developing a strategy for
addressing priority issues:
 Issues to which immediate solutions can be provided such as
suggesting feasible alternatives or mitigation measures that can be
implemented at an early stage should be removed from the list.

For those issues which need further information to be resolved,

TOR should be prepared to provide guidelines for EIA study.

 The extent of information required for a detailed EIA depends

upon the type, level and magnitude of the project concerned.
SCOPING METHOD
Various methods could be used to prepare scoping document,
however the frequently used methods are checklists, matrices,
networks, consultation and expert judgment.

Some of the methods used in preparing scoping documents are given

below:

1. Literature Review:
Review of published and unpublished documents, reports and decisions.
Pertinent issues should be identified and included in the scoping
documents for EA study.
2. Map Interpretation:
 Available maps should be interpreted (at least a location
map should be included in the scoping documents).

 A map could be prepared to show the potential

development areas, natural resources and possible
impacts of the project activities on the environment.
3. Public Notice:
 In accordance with the provision of EPR 1997, the proponent
should issues 15 days public notice in the national daily
newspaper about the project.

 The proponent should clearly provide detail address for

the submission of opinions and suggestions.
4. Planning for Public
Involvement:
 Public consultation must be ensured during scoping exercise.

 To facilitate this process, the proponent should develop a

communication plan to provide information and obtain
written submissions from relevant government agencies and
the public.

 This method will help in identifying major issues of public

and/or stakeholders concern.
5. Field Study:
 Theproponent should conduct a reconnaissance
survey in the project site to collect and update
necessary information on physical, biological,
socio-economic and cultural aspects.

 Simplechecklist and/or questionnaire may be

used to generate, update and verify the
information.
6 Participatory Rapid
Appraisals/Rapid Assessment
 This method could be used to generate field level
information, particularly on the socio-economic and
natural resource conditions.

 It involves the public in more proactive ways.

 In practice, there are many forms of rapid appraisals such as

Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA), Participatory Rural Appraisal
(PRA), and Appreciative Inquiry (AI).
7. Data Processing:
Information and issues collected through
literature review, map interpretation, public
notice and field study should be processed
and presented in a concise and
comprehensive manner.
8. Impact Identification:
 Checklists, matrices and networks could be used to
identify potential impacts of the project activities on the
environment at generic level.

9. Issue Prioritization:
 Once the preliminary impacts are identified, the
seriousness of issues should be evaluated to establish
priorities for EA study.

 As sufficient information is not collected during this

stage, issues could be prioritized through qualitative
approaches and consultative processes.
10. Identification of a Strategy for
Addressing Priority Issues:

 The scoping document should also give indication

on the possible and appropriate strategies that
should be employed for addressing the priority
issues.

11. Report Preparation:

 Based on the above methods, the final scoping
documents could be prepared and processed for
approval as per the legal provisions or the
administrative decisions.
Terms of Reference (TOR):
Terms of Reference are prepared to provide
specific guidelines for the EIA study.

TOR assists in :
 Identifying and describing the impacts/issues to be
investigated;
 Synthesizing the working procedure;
 Delineating the specific activities to be implemented,
 Fitting the EIA study into the context of existing policies,
rules, and administrative procedures;
 Accomplishing the work within a specified time frame.
Main Components of TOR :
TOR should specify the following content
1. Introduction: Background and purpose of the proposal, study
boundary, responsible party for preparing the EA report, policy and
legal requirements, and EA-related guidelines.
2. Scope of the work to be considered during the study.

3. Alternatives

4. Institutional and Public Involvement: How they should be

involved?

5. Required Information: Major Tasks, Study schedule, reviews,

study team, costs, data and information
6. Analysis of Impacts : Positive and negative impacts;
identification , prediction and evaluation of impacts using
necessary methods and techniques

7. Impact mitigation and monitoring: Environmental

Management plan, monitoring plan and monitoring costs and
environmental auditing

8. Conclusions and recommendations

9. References

10. Annexes

11 Need for executive summary (both in English and Nepali)

SCHEDULE 4 of EPR 1997
Cover page with title and name of the proponent;
Executive Summary
Table of Contents
Acronyms
1. Project Description (Background, Project Description with Salient
Features, and Objectives of EIA, Methodology, description of the study
area and study limitations)

2. Review of Policy, Laws, Guidelines and Institutions

3. Existing Environmental Conditions

4. Alternatives
SCHEDULE 4 of EPR 1997
5. Environmental impacts and Protection Measures (Construction
and Operational Phases)

6. Environmental Monitoring and Auditing ( Types, Parameters,

Methods, and Schedule)

7. Environmental Management Plan

8. Conclusion and Recommendation

9. References

10. Appendices: maps, tables, graphs, drawing and designs,

photographs, checklists and questionnaires, issues raised during
public hearing, recommendation letters of VDCs, municipalities
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