ENVIRONMENTAL

IMPACT ASSESMENT
BY: ENG: HAMDA NUR
INTRODUCTION TO THE CHAPTER
• Environment, Environmental Impact and sustainable development

• EIA history, purpose and the concept of sustainable development

• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

 ENVIRONMENT
• Environment can be defined as a
sum total of all the living and non-
living elements and their effects
that influence human life.
• The word environment describes
living and nonliving surroundings
relevant to organisms. It
incorporates physical, chemical and
biological factors and processes
that determine the growth and
survival of organisms, populations,
and communities.
Cont…
• All these components fit within the ecosystem concept as a way to
organize all of the factors and processes that make up the environment.
The ecosystem includes organisms and their environment within a
specific areas.
• The environment has never been constant and static. It has always
been changing, sometimes slowly and sometimes rapidly or drastically.
Thus like other organisms, man is also affected by his environment and
these changes in environment may benefit or harm the man or other
organisms living in it. Many species on earth could not cope up with
changing environment, as a result of which they have since vanished
and many are on the brink of vanishing.
 Environmental Impact

• Environmental impact is any change to

the environment or its component that
may affect human health or safety,
biophysical conditions, or cultural
heritage, other physical structure with
positive or negative consequences.
Cont…
• The environmental impacts of a project are that resultant
changes/alteration in natural, environmental and man-made
parameters.
• An impact has both spatial and temporal components and can be
described as the change in an environmental parameter, over a
specified period and within a defined area, resulting from a particular
activity compared with the situation which would have occurred had
the activity not been initiated.
 Environmental Impact

• The environment is the ultimate

source for basic needs of human
beings.
• Human being by utilizing
environmental resources, releases
energy and waste products which
haves detrimental impacts.
• Environmental impacts associated
with socio-economic development
harm or improve the environment
in one way or another.
 TYPES OF IMPACT
• Impacts are distinguished as direct (primary) and indirect (secondary,
tertiary and higher order).
• Some impacts are a direct consequence of a particular activity.
• Other impacts however occur as a result of changes in a chain of
environmental parameters.
• An impact that may in itself not be significant but the combination of
one or more impacts that can have a greater effect than the sum of
the individual impacts is called cumulative impact.
 ENVIRONMENTAL DEGREDATION
• We also have the power to
destroy the natural systems
that sustain us. Our capacity
for destruction is illustrated
through the deterioration of
the ozone layer, through the
extinction of species, and
through mass deforestation
and desertification.
• In many parts of the world,
economic development projects
directed at improving levels of
material comfort have had
unintended detrimental effects on
people and natural resources.
Water, land, and air have been
degraded to the point where they
can no longer sustain existing
levels of development and quality
of life.
• With inadequate environmental planning,
human activities have resulted in the
disruption of social and communal
harmony, the loss of human livelihood
and life, the introduction of new diseases,
and the destruction of renewable
resources.
• These and other consequences can
negate the positive benefits of economic
development.
• Economic development in
developing countries has been
focused on immediate economic
gains environmental protection
has not been a priority because
the economic losses from
environmental degradation often
occur long after the economic
benefits of development have
been realized.
• The major environmental
problems which continue to
incite human concern are varied.
• Over population, soil erosion,
depletion of natural resources,
poverty, loss of bio diversity,
pollution of the environment
and many more.
• All these problems of the
environment are mainly due to
the anthropogenic activities
which are dangerous both to the
earth and to us.
• As a result, an environmental impact
associated with any economic, social,
political and cultural practices has to
be studied systematically as the
carrying and buffering capacity of the
environment is limited.
• Our understanding of the connections
between human life and other
elements of nature is limited.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ASSESMENT
What is Environmental impact assessment?
• EIA is a systematic process to identify, predict and evaluate the
environmental effects of proposed actions and projects. This process
is applied prior to major decisions and commitments being made.
• A broad definition of environment is adopted; whenever appropriate
social, cultural and health effects are considered as an integral part of
EIA.
• Particular attention is given in EIA practice to preventing, mitigating
and offsetting the significant adverse effects of proposed
undertakings.
An EIA may be defined as:

• A formal process to predict the environmental consequences of human

development activities and to plan appropriate measures to eliminate or
reduce adverse effects and to augment positive effects. (FAO definition)
• A process used to identify and predict the impact on the environment and
on man's health and wellbeing of legislative proposals, policies, programs,
projects and operational procedures, and to interpret and communicate
information about the impacts.(Muns def,)
• A technique and a process by which information about the environmental
effects of a project is collected, both by the developer and from other
sources, and taken into account by the planning authority in forming their
judgments on whether the development should go ahead. (UK DoE,1989)
History of EIA and The concept of sustainable development

• EIA is one of a number of policy tools that are used to evaluate

project proposals. It is also a relatively recent development when
compared to use of economic appraisal methods.
• A number of factors led to the introduction of EIA in the US National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA, 1969), including public concern
about the quality of the environment and the increasing effects of
new technologies and ever-larger development schemes. In addition,
then available economic appraisal techniques, such as benefit cost
analysis, did not take account of the environmental and social impacts
of major projects.
 NEPA

• The first formal process to assess environmental impacts was conducted in

the US in the early 1979s, in response to rising to public concern over
environmental deterioration.
• The passage of the US national Environmental policy ACT of 1969 (NEPA)
mandated the EIA process for all projects involving federal actions,
including the issuance of permits, licenses, and financial assistances.
• NEPA was intended to provide full and fair discussion of the significant
environmental impacts of a planned action and to inform decision makers
and the public of the reasonable alternatives , which would avoid or
minimize adverse impacts, or enhance the quality of the human
environment.
Cont…
• In the 1970’s, following concern over pesticide deaths in Pakistan
associated with a USAID funded activity, environmental groups
claimed USID over its lack of compliance with NEPA. Regulation 216
and the environmental review procedure were formulated to address
these concerns.
• In the past several years, an increasing number of countries and
multinational institutions have enacted laws and directives
establishing EIA requirements for project reviews.
Cont…
• In 1989, The World Bank issued
• an operational directive requiring EIAs for certain categories of
projects. In 1985, the European Economic Community issued a
directive establishing minimum requirements for EIA in all member
countries. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) adopted
goals and principles of EIA in 1987. In 1991, twenty six nations of the
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe signed a Convention
on EA in a Tran’s boundary Context, requiring all signatory nations to
establish EIA procedures for Tran’s boundary impacts.
MAJOR TRENDS IN EIA
 EIA SIGNIFICANCE
• EIA is a planning tool which is used, together with
the project feasibility study, to ensure that the
project plan is the optimal plan, that is, the plan is
environmentally as well as economically sounds
and thus represents the best approach to planning
for development projects in order that continuing
economic development will be sustainable.
• The purpose of the assessment is to ensure that
decision makers consider the ensuing
environmental impacts to decide whether or not
to proceed with the project.
 Specifically, an EIA…
Identifies the sources of impacts
Predicts the likely environmental impacts of
projects
Finds ways to reduce unacceptable impacts and
enhance the positive contributions of the project
Presents to decision makers and other
concerned agencies the results of the assessed
impact of the projects.
Based on the above definitions, on can observe
that EIA has three basic functions:
• To predict problems,
• To find ways to avoid them, and
• To enhance positive effects.
 PURPOSE OF EIA
• EIA is an aid to decision-making. For
the decision-maker, for example a local
authority, it provides a systematic
examination of the environmental
implications of a proposed action, and
alternatives, before a decision is taken.
• The EIS can be considered by the
decision-maker along with other
documentation related to the planned
activity. EIA is normally wider in scope
and less quantitative than other
techniques, such as cost–benefit
analysis.
IT IS….
• An aid to the formulation of
development actions
• Developers may see the EIA process
as another set of hurdles to jump
before they can proceed with their
various activities; as yet another
costly and time consuming activity in
the development consent process.
IT IS NOT….
• It is not a substitute for decision-making, but it
does help to clarify some of the trade-offs
associated with a proposed development action,
which should lead to more informed and
structured decision-making.
• The EIA process has the potential, not always
taken up, to be a basis for negotiation and to find
common ground between the developer, interest
groups and affected parties, and the planning
regulator. This can lead to an outcome that
balances well the interests of the development
action and the environment.
• However, EIA can be of great benefit to them, because it can provide a
framework for considering location and design issues and environmental
issues in parallel. It can be an aid to the formulation of development
actions, indicating areas where a project can be modified to minimize or
eliminate altogether its adverse impacts on the environment.
• The consideration of environmental impacts early in the planning life of a
development can lead to more environmentally sensitive development;
to improved relations between the developer, the planning authority and
the local communities; to a smoother development consent process; to
reduced risks during project construction and operation; and sometimes
to a worthwhile financial return on the extra expenditure incurred.
• A vehicle for stakeholder consultation and
participation Development actions may have
wide-ranging impacts on the environment,
affecting many different groups in society.
• There is increasing emphasis by government at
many levels on the importance of consultation
and participation by key stakeholders in the
planning and development of projects
• EIA can be a very useful vehicle for engaging
with communities and stakeholders, helping
those potentially affected by a proposed
development to be much better informed and
to be more fully involved in the planning and
development process.
EIA & SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
• The 1987 Report of the UN World Commission on Environment and
Development defined sustainable development as ‘development
which meets the needs of the present generation without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs.
• Sustainable development means handing down to future generations
not only ‘man-made capital’, such as roads, schools and historic
buildings, and ‘human capital’, such as knowledge and skills, but also
‘natural/environmental capital’, such as clean air, fresh water,
rainforests, the ozone layer and biological diversity.
 ETERNAL ECONOMIC GROWTH

• The economic goal of increased gross

national, product (GNP), using more
inputs to produce more goods and
services, contains the seeds of its own
destruction.
Environmental input and the Economy

• The natural environment is

the ‘sink’ for the wastes and
the ‘source’ for the
resources.
• Environmental pollution and
the depletion of resources
are invariably the ancillaries
to economic development.
The interaction of economic and social
development with the natural
environment and the reciprocal
impacts between human actions and
the biophysical world have been
recognized by governments from local
to international levels, and attempts
have been made to manage the
interaction better.
In its 7th Environment Action
Programme, the EU stresses the
importance of the circular economy,
ecological resilience and zero carbon
emissions in achieving its vision for EU
citizens.
 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Economic development and social development must be
placed in their environmental contexts.