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Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Impact Assessment
Introduction
• Impact
• Assessment
• Environmental Impact
• Environmental Impact Assessment
Why EIA?
When to carry out EIA?
EIA Standards
General Methodology
• Steps in EIA
• Outcome of EIA
• Environmental Impact Statement
Introduction
Impact:
• The effect or impression of one thing on another
• The power of making a strong, immediate impression
Assessment:
• The act of determining an amount to be paid
• The act of judging a situation or an event
Environmental Impact:
Effect of any activity on surrounding environment
(Short/Long)
Environmental Impact Assessment
• The assessment of environmental impacts likely to arise
from a major action (legislation, policy, program or
project) significantly affecting the environment.
Stages in EIA
• Local level
• Regional level
• National level
• Global level
Steps in EIA
• Preliminary activities
Coordinator selection
Background information
• Description of the project/development action:
This step seeks to clarify the purpose and rationale of the project
and understand its various characteristics, including the stages of
development, location and processes.
Steps in EIA
Impact identification
• Baseline study
Data on environmental condition prior to implementation
OR
Description of the environmental baseline: This includes the
establishment of both the present and future state of the
environment, in the absence of the project, taking into account the
changes resulting from natural events and from other human
activities.
Steps in EIA
Impact evaluation
• Evaluation and assessment of significance: This seeks to
assess the relative significance of the predicted impacts to
allow a focus on key adverse impacts.
• Formal definition of significance is the product of
consequence and likelihood as
Significance =consequence X Likelihood
Steps in EIA
Impact evaluation
Mitigation measures in quantitative terms
Mitigation: This involves the introduction of measures
to avoid, reduce, remedy or compensate for any
significant adverse impacts.
Project alternatives:
• This seeks to ensure that the proponent has considered
other feasible approaches, including alternative project
locations, scales, processes, layouts, operating condition
and the no-action option.
Steps in EIA
Public consultation and participation:
• This aims to assure the quality, comprehensiveness and
effectiveness of the EIA,
• as well as to ensure that the public’s views are adequately
taken into consideration in the decision-making process.
Documentation
Work done report
Recommendations
Alternatives / comments
• Decision – making
Accept / reject a plan
• Post Audits
Closeness of predictions
Steps in EIA
Cont..
Environmental impact statement (EIS)
The results of scoping will form determine the scope, depth and
terms of reference to be addressed within the Environmental
Statement.
EIA Methodology
Cont..
Why carry out Scoping?
To identify the key issues and concerns of the interested parties.
– Who is concerned?
– What are their concerns?
– Why are they concerned?
– What is the threshold of concern where change becomes
unacceptable?
3. Examination of alternatives:
To establish the preferred or most environmentally sound and
benign option for achieving the proposal objectives.
The extraction can only occur were the mineral is sited. In such
cases an alternatives is pointless.
EIA Methodology
Cont..
4. Mitigating measures:
Uncertainty
• If the uncertainties are great, with the possibility of
grave consequences and no mitigating measures,
then the development plan is rejected.
7. Decision making:
To approve or reject the proposal and to establish the terms and
conditions for its implementation.
8. Follow Up:
To ensure that the terms and condition of approval are met; to
monitor the impacts of development and the effectiveness of
mitigation measures; to strengthen future EIA applications and
mitigation measures; and, where required, to undertake
environmental audit and process evaluation to optimize
environmental management.
i (ai )( X ) (Y ) ( Z )
X Y Z
Where X = liters of water per capita;
Y= number of people per house hold;
Z = number of houses in a unit.
Measurement of physical environment
variables
Cont..
Commercial /Industrial Demand
= X Y Z
Noise
It is major source of environmental pollution of its kind
called as noise pollution. To measure noise, we have
well defined physical unit called ‘decibel’ or its variant
like dBA. Instruments are available for measuring noise
in these units directly.
Measurement of physical environment
variables
Cont..
Solid Waste
This is generated in the environment in various forms like cans,
plastic material, bottles and other types of rubbish generated by
households, and scrap materials, wrapping papers and other waste
generation by industrial and business units. We may use the
following formulae to measure total solid waste generated in the
environment.
Where,
1. Checklist Method:
Checklist means a listing of potential environmental
impacts.
Wildlife X X
Air X X
Water X X
Noise X X
Eco. Value X X X
Public Health X
Impacts Assessment Methods
Cont..
2. Matrix Method:
A ‘simple interaction matrix’ is formed where project actions are
listed along one axis, say, vertically downward and environmental
impacts are listed along the other axis, say, horizontally.
Three step method:
• Identify all the actions that are part of proposed project and the
impacts of these actions.
• Describe the impact interaction in terms of its magnitude and
imortance .
• Sum the products of the all ‘magnitude’ and ‘importance’ ranks
across the rows and columns of the matrix. All rows or columns
sum will give an overall measurement of the impact score for the
project.
Impacts Assessment Methods
Cont..
m
i j
ij wij
Weighted impacts of project actions (hypothetical entries)
Actions
Total
Habitat Noise Impounding Fertilizer
Dredging Impact
Environmental Construction variation Water Use
Factor
Conditions
A1.1.1
A1 A1.1
A1.1.2
A1
A2.1
A2
A2.2 A2.2.1