Environmental

Impact Assessment

EIA & LCA

CEL3408
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES 2

 discuss environmental impact assessment (EIA) as an

environmental management tool;
 trace the evolution of EIA;
 discuss what forecasting of environmental changes entails;
 explain strategic environmental assessment (SEA);
 list and comply with the environmental clearance
procedures in India;
 plan and carry out an environmental impact assessment
study.
Environmental Impact Assessment

 Environment Impact Assessment or

EIA can be defined as the study to
predict the effect of a proposed
activity/project on the
environment.
 A decision making tool, EIA
compares various alternatives for a
project and seeks to identify the
one which represents the best
combination of economic and
environmental costs and benefits.
Environmental Impact Assessment

is intended as an instrument
of preventive environmental
management. It provides a
framework and an
information basis for
decision making on
activities affecting the
environment.
EIA – Three core values

1. Integrity: The EIA process should be

fair, objective, unbiased and
balanced
2. Utility: The EIA process should
provide balanced, credible
information for decision making
3. Sustainability: The EIA process
should result in environmental
safeguards
EIA
applies to the assessment of the environmental effects
of those public and private projects which are likely
to have significant effects on the environment.
EIA
Project means:
 the execution of construction works or of other
installations or schemes
 other interventions in the natural surroundings and
landscape including those involving the extraction of
minerals.
EIA
Development consent means:
 the decision of the competent authorities which
entitles the developer to proceed with the project.
EIA
….. have significant effects on the environment by virtue inter alia,
of their:

nature, size, location.

 EIA
… direct and indirect effects of a project on the following factors:

 human beings, fauna and flora

 soil, water, air, climate and the landscape
 theinter-action between the factors
mentioned in the first and second indents
 material assets and the cultural heritage.
 Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA)
There are two types of EIA models- the statutory
model which makes the assessment of impact
compulsory under an enacted law, or a delegated
legislation, and the administrative model under
which an administration exercises its discretion to
find out whether an impact study is necessary. Till
1992, India was following the administrative model
of EIA.
 EIA – Statutory Model
• On 27th January, 1994 a notification was issued
dealing with mandatory EIA. The notification
requires project proponent to submit an EIA
report, and environment management plan, details
of the public hearing and a project report to the
impact assessment agency for clearance, further
review by a committee of experts in certain cases.
• By the amendment in the year 1997, public hearing
was made compulsory before impact assessment
was finalized.
Environmental
Clearance
Process
Information requirements

Description of the project:

 physicalcharacteristics, land-use
requirements during construction
and operation
 production processes, materials
used
 estimate of expected residues and
emissions (water, air, soil pollution, noise,
vibrations, light, heat, radiation, etc.)
Information requirements

Alternatives:
 outline of the main alternatives
 main reasons for choice, including
environmental effects
Information requirements

Impacts on:

 population, fauna, flora, soils, water,

air, climatic factors, material assets
incl. architectural and archeological
heritage, landscape
 interrelationship between these
factors
Information requirements

Likely significant effects from:

 existence of the project
 use of natural resources
 emission of pollutants, creation of nuisances, elimination of
waste
and the description of the methods used to assess the
effects.
Information requirements

Description of measures:
 to prevent, reduce, and where possible to offset
any significant adverse effects on the
environment.
Purposes of EIA 19

 To facilitate decision-making

 To aid in the formation of development

 To be an instrument for sustainable development

Environmental Impact Assessment

procedural steps:
 description of the project
 description of the environment
 identification of environmental impacts
 evaluation of environmental impacts
 management and control of impacts
 presentation of the study
 public participation
 judgment by authorities
EIA Process
Environmental Impact Assessment

procedure:
 deciding whether an EIA is required (Screening)
 determining the scope of EIA (Scoping)
 preparing of the impact statement (EIS)
 consultations, public participation
 evaluating EIA results and consultations
 reaching a decision
 monitoring impacts after project implementation
Hierarchy in EIA 23

Site selection studies

Rapid or comprehensive studies

Regional studies

Carrying capacity studies

 Phase B

Phase A
Phase C
Project
Life
Cycle
Phase E
Phase D
A. Project
Concept/Identification

Initial stage of the project

planning
• Basic nature of the project is known
including the site(s) where the project
is being proposed to be implemented
• “Screen” project to determine if
project requires a full EIA
Screening
Screening
• Identify environmental issues of concern
Environmental • Determine whether EIA is needed
impact • Establish need for project

Economic
Project
impact
Not require Require Impacts
EIA EIA unclear
Social
impact
Threshold criteria Impact criteria
• Size • Significant but
• Location easily identifiable
• Output impacts
• Cost/Finances • Significant impacts
• Environmental • Sensitive area
effects
• etc.
B. Pre-feasibility Stage
“Scope” the project to identify issues/impacts for investigation

Methods for Scoping

Making a plan for Evaluating the

public involvement significance of issues

Identifying major issues Distribution of information

of public concern to interested parties

Establishing priorities for Developing a strategy for

environmental assessment addressing priorities
 Existing or baseline data:

provide a description of the status and

Initial trends of environmental factors (e.g., air
Assessment pollutant concentrations) against which
predicted changes can be compared
of Impacts and evaluated in terms of importance
provide a means of detecting actual
change by monitoring once a project
has been initiated
 Conduct the EIA and determine
C.

if the project is viable
Magnitude of impact - indicate
Feasibility

whether the impact is irreversible
or, reversible and estimated
Stage 
potential rate of recovery
Extent of impact - spatial extent
of impacts should be determined
 Duration of Impact - arising at
different phases of the project
cycle and the length of the
impact [e.g. short term (during
construction-9 yrs), medium term
(10-20 yrs), long term (20+ yrs)]
  The EIA is a "reference" guide
during implementation
 Outlines mitigation strategies and
monitoring schemes

D.  Preventative measures - reduce

potential adverse impacts before
Implement occurrence
 Compensatory measures -
& Audit compensate for unavoidable
adverse impacts
the Project  Corrective measures - reduces
the adverse impact to an
acceptable level
 Audit project after completion to
identify lessons learned
E. Environmental Monitoring

Environmental monitoring provides feedback about the

actual environmental impacts of a project
Helps judge the success of mitigation measures in
protecting the environment
Ensure compliance with environmental standards

Facilitate any needed project design or operational

changes
Strategic environment
assessment

 Strategic environment assessment (SEA) refers to systematic

analysis of the environmental effects of development policies,
plans, programmes and other proposed strategic actions. This
process extends the aims and principles of EIA upstream in the
decision-making process, beyond the project level and when
major alternatives are still open. SEA represents a proactive
approach to integrating environmental considerations into the
higher levels of decision-making.

 Despite its wide use and acceptance, EIA has certain

shortcomings as a tool for minimizing environmental effects of
development proposals. It takes place relatively late at the
downstream end of the decision making process, after major
alternatives and directions have been chosen
Environmental impact 34

statement (EIS)

The environmental impact statement (EIS) provides

documentation of the information and estimates derived from
the various steps in the EIA process.

The information contained in a EIS provides the decision-

makers/regulators with valuable information that could
ultimately contribute to either the abandonment or substantial
modification of a proposed development action.
A typical EIS contains the 35

following three parts:

Part 1 – Methods and key issues

Part 2 – Background to the proposed development

Part 3 – Environmental impact assessments on topic

areas
Impact indicators 36

An impact indicator is an element or a parameter that

provides a measure (in at least some qualitative sense) of
the significance of the effect, i.e., the magnitude of an
environmental impact.

Some indicators such as morbidity and mortality statistics

and crop yields have associated numerical scales.

Other impact indicators, however, can only be ranked as

‘good’, ‘better’, ‘best’ or ‘acceptable’, ‘unacceptable’,
etc.
 37
The selection of a set of indicators is often a crucial step in the
impact assessment process, requiring input from the decision-
maker.

The most widely used impact indicators are those within statutory
laws, acts, i.e., indicators such as air and water quality standards
that have statutory authority.

For example, the problem of designing an environmentally

acceptable oil-fired generating station is simplified for the
engineers, if they are given one or both of the following:
Emission standards for various pollutants.
Air and water quality standards.