ELECTIVE COURSE:

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ASSESSMENT (EIA)

Course Tutor: Dr. Kishan D. Bhatta

Email: kishandatta@yahoo.com
Mobile: 9841341094
EIA METHODOLOGY
SCREENING AND INITIAL IMPACT IDENTIFICATION:
 Screening is the first stage of the EIA process.

 Purpose: To identify the proposals that require an EIA

and exclude those that do not.

 It is intended to ensure that the form or level of any EIA

review is commensurate with the importance of issues
raised by a proposal

 The conduct of screening thus involves making a

preliminary determination of the expected impact of
a proposal on the environment and of its relative
significance.
MANY PROJECTS ARE CONSIDERED BY THE
GOVERNMENT FOR IMPLEMENTATION EVERY YEAR.
EIA NEEDS ONLY TO BE APPLIED FOR THOSE ACTIONS
WHICH MAY SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT THE
ENVIRONMENT.
IT IS THEREFORE IMPORTANT TO ESTABLISH
MECHANISM FOR IDENTIFYING PROJECTS REQUIRING
“EIA”, THIS PROCESS OF SELCTION IS REFERRED AS
SCREENING.
The output from the screening
process is often a document
called an Initial environmental
Examination or Evaluation
(IEE).
 Screening Classifies Project Proposals into the
following three Categories (National EIA Guidelines
1993) :

 Project clearly requiring an EIA

 Project not requiring an EIA
 Project, which may or may not require an EIA and
should consider conducting an IEE to see if an EIA is
required.

Benefits of Screening
 Saves money
 Saves time (avoids unnecessary delays)
 Immediately identifies the major environmental impacts that
are likely’ and
 establish a conception that an EIA study needs to be
conducted.
 Biological/Environ
mental Impacts

Project Economic Impact

Social Impact

Identify
environmental
issues
Still not
SCREENING clear
Determine
whether EIA is
required

Establish need Requires

for project Does not EIA
require
EIA
Money saved
Time Saved
Screening Criteria in Nepal
All projects in Nepal are screened based on three categories:

1. Nature of the Project (Type Criteria)

2. Threshold Criteria
A project that exceeds a predetermined threshold may require an EIA.
Threshold can relate to project size, capital expenditure, raw materials
needed, emissions or outputs, and an area of land required.

 Threshold for environmental parameters

 Financial Threshold

3. Sensitive Area Criteria

 Types of project and its location

 Historical, cultural, and archaeological sites, environmentally sensitive
areas and wetlands
 National Parks, Wildlife Reserve and Conservation areas
 Semi-arid, Mountainous and Himalayan regions
 Flood prone and other dangerous areas
 Residential, School and Hospital Areas
 Areas with main sources of public water supply
Schedule 1:

Schedule 2:

Schedule 3:
Initial Environmental Examination (IEE):

 Projects for which requirements of an EIA could not be

easily ascertained, is subject to an Initial Environmental
Examination (IEE).

An IEE is carried out to determine if significant adverse

environmental effects are likely to occur which require
detailed study before mitigation measures can be
determined .

Thus, an IEE requires,

Adequate in-depth analysis than screening ;
Adequate technical input and advice from
environmental specialists and experts; and
Adequate amount of more resources and time
How IEE should be conducted?
In order to carry out IEE, it is necessary to understand the following
components of the project activities and the surrounding environment:

Project activities to be implemented;

Setting of project, resources’ demands and the waste produced ;

Policies, regulations, and guidelines to be known of IEE; and

 Resources and environment are likely to be impacted.

This information can easily made available in the project proposal and
some experts may visit the project area as an inventory survey, which
may be called as preliminary analysis.
EIA Process Identifies:
1. Most likely significant impacts
(positive/negative) from proposed actions;

2. Mitigation measures for adverse impacts not

expected to be significant;

3. Mechanism for enhancing beneficial impacts;

4. Residual uncertainties not possible to be

resolved in the IEE stage
Methods: USE of Interaction Matrix/Checklist
A preliminary scoping exercise can be conducted to solicit
information from planners, policy makers, project proponents,
concerning authorizing agencies, affected populations ,and NGOs.

A list should be prepared for the project activities, which, upon

implementation, would be likely to affect environmental resources,
including human beings.

A simple matrix can list project activities in the horizontal

column, with the anticipated environmental resources to be listed
in the vertical column.

The response of each environmental parameter to each project

activity is represented by an interaction cell and could be rated 1-3
, where ‘1’ represents no impact, ‘2’ moderate impact and
‘3’ severe impact.
Methods: Use of Interaction Matrix/Checklist
 A completed matrix, in which , no impact was rated higher than ‘2’ might be
considered to place the project in the category making an IEE sufficient, as
the impacts are not severe, and impact mitigation can be prescribed easily.

 Yet, if only one impact is rated ‘3’ then a significant adverse environmental
impact is anticipated and an EIA is recommended.

The use of information obtained in IEE:

 The appropriate time to carry out IEE is at the pre feasibility stage.

This has tremendous benefit because if the environmental issues are properly
addressed, at this stage, there is no need to carry out an EIA during the
feasibility stage.
 However, if there remain some residual problems, even after IEE, there
should be a recommendation for carrying out a full-scale EIA, focusing only on
particular key issues.
Involvement of Resources and Time:
 Project proponents, authorizing agencies, EIA experts (at least
two), local people, NGOs, and other interested groups should
participate in the process of IEE execution.

Meetings, brainstorming sessions, field examinations, data

collections and processing would be enough at this stage of
evaluation.

 Minimum expenditure will be incurred, and the time for the

period required is one month maximum.
Approval of Terms of Reference (ToR):
ToR for IEE study, in the format mentioned in EPR99, will be
prepared by the proponent and submitted to the Department of
Electricity Development (DoED) in case of hydropower projects.

After examining and reviewing the ToR, DoED sends the reports
to the Ministry of Water Resources (MOWR) along with its comments
and suggestions. In the meantime, DoED sends one copy of the ToR to
the Ministry of Forestry and Soil Conservation (MoFSC) and requests
for their comments to be sent to the MoWR.

After examining and reviewing the reports along with comments

sent by DoED and MoFSC, MoWR approves the documents with or
without any notes.
Approval of IEE:
 Based upon the approved ToR, and the prevailing law,
the project proponent prepares IEE report and submits to
the DoED in case of power projects.

After examining and reviewing the projects, DoED

sends the reports to MoWR along with its comments and
suggestions.

The MoFSC is also requested to send its comments on

the reports to MoWR. After examining and reviewing the
reports along comments sent by DoED and MoFSC,
MoWR then approves the documents with or without any
notes, if the reports are found to be an appropriate
standard.
SCOPING
 Scoping is the heart of the EIA

The next important step, following the screening

procedure is to determine the coverage or scope of the EIA
study of a project proposal identified as potentially
significant with environmental impacts. This activity is
referred to 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 those responsible for an EIA study to properly
brief the study team 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;
 provide an opportunity to the public involved in
determining the factors to be assessed;
 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 internal planning
tool for those conducting a scoping exercise

Purpose of Scoping at an early stage are:

i) to define all the communities and agencies which are allowed to

participate in making decisions relating to the proposal;

ii) 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:
The information collected should be processed and assembled into an
information package and distributed to appropriate individuals and
organizations for comment.
Governmnet 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:

Literature Review:
 Published and unpublished documents, reports and decisions. If any should
be thoroughly reviewed. Pertinent issues should be identified and
included in the scoping documents for EA study.

Map Interpretation:

 Available maps should be interpreted and 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.
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 addresses for the submission
of opinions and suggestions.

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.
Field Study:
 The proponent should conduct a reconnaissance survey in the project site to
collect and update necessary information on physical, biological, socio-
economic and cultural aspects.

 Simple checklist and/or questionnaire may be used to generate update and

verify the information.

Participatory Rapid Appraisals and 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).
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.
Impact Identification:
 Checklists, matrices and networks could be used to identify potential
impacts of the project activities on the environment at generic level.

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.

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.
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 following Scoping 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 TOR Components: 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 Instituions

3. Existing Environmental Conditions

4. Alternatives

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
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ydd17ClOjOk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ydd17ClOjOk
 Assessment of Impacts and Impact
Aggregation:

Method of Impact Identification

 Ad hoc Method
 Checklist Method
 The Matrix method
 The Network methodology
 Task Specific Computer Models:
The Overlay Method, Geographic Information System, Expert System
 HAPPY
TIHAR/DEEPAWALI