ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING VINODH KUMAR BALAJI

UNIT 1
SYLLABUS: Basic concepts of EIA initial environmental examinations, elements of EIA
factors affecting EIA, impact evolution and analysis, preparation of environmental base map,
classification of environmental parameters.
1. ENVIRONMENT IMPACT AND ASSESSMENT:
EIA is an activity designed to identify and predict the impact of a project on
biogeophysico - chemical environment and on human health so as to recommend appropriate
legislative measures, programs, and operational procedures to minimize the impact.
Environmental Impact Assessment, as a rational instrument, shall be undertaken for
proposed activities that are likely to have a significant adverse impact on the environment and
are subject to a decision of a competent national authority.
EIA is an exercise to be carried out before any project or major activity is undertaken to
ensure that it will not in any away harm the environment on a short-term or long-term basis. Any
developmental activity requires not only the analysis, the monetary costs and benefits involved
and of the need of such a project but also most important, it requires a consideration and detailed
assessment of the effect of a proposed development on the environment.
WHAT IS IMPACT?
An impact can be defined as any change in the physical, chemical, biological, cultural or
socio-economic environmental system as a result of activities relating to a project.
WHAT IS AN ASSESSMENT?
It means collecting, summarizing, organizing and understanding pieces of existing
knowledge and communicating them into planning.
WHAT IS MANAGEMENT?
Management is the planning, organizing, and controlling the efforts of all resources like
men, material and money to achieve goals.
2. SALIENT FEATURES OF EIA
(a) The EIA procedure identifies the possible positive and negative impacts to the
environment resulting from a proposed project. These impacts are identified over both "short-
term" and "long-term" time frame;
(b) The EIA provides for a plan, which upon implementation, will reduce or offset the
negative impacts of a project resulting in a minimum level of environmental degradation. This
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING VINODH KUMAR BALAJI
minimization may be a result of implementation of a project alternative or project modifications
or environmental protection measures, which simply reduces the number or magnitude of
negative impacts. The plan may also result in utilization of positive impacts for enhancement
measures which offset negative impacts;
(c) To measure the level of plan implementation and the degree of effectiveness of the
above environmental protection provisions, the EIA provides a monitoring programme. This
programme will be also designed so that it identifies the parameters of uncertainty and measures
the related impacts.
(d) EIA has found wide utility both in developed and developing countries in achieving
development in an environmentally sound manner.
3. THREE CORE VALUES OF EIA:
1. Integrity: The EIA process should be fair, objective, important and balanced. It will
conform to agreed standards.
2. Utility: The EIA process will provide balanced, credible information for decision-
making.
3. Sustainability: The EIA process should result in environmental safeguards which are
sufficient to mitigate serious adverse effects and avoid permanent loss of resource and
ecosystem functions.
4. BENEFITS OF EIA:
Superior environmental and sustainable design.
Better fulfillment with standards
Saving in capital and operating cost.
Reduce time and cost for approval.
Increased project acceptance
Better protection of the environmental and human health.
5. PRINCIPLES OF EIA:
Be applies to all proposal with significant impact.
Begin early in the project cycle.
Address relevant environmental, social and health impacts.
Identify and take account of public views.
Result in a statement of impacts and mitigation (improvement) measures.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING VINODH KUMAR BALAJI
Facilitate informed decision making and condition setting.
6. EIA PROVIDES THE FOLLOWING:
Participation: Appropriate and timely access to the processes for all interested parties.
Transparency: All assessment decisions, and their basis, should be open and accessible
Certainty: The process and timing of assessment should be agreed in advance and followed by
all participants.
Accountability: Decision-makers are responsible to all parties for their actions and decisions
under the process.
Credibility: Assessments should be undertaken with professionalism and objectivity.
Cost-effectiveness: The assessment process and its outcomes will ensure environmental
protection at the least cost to society.
7. EIA PROCEDURE
The entire EIA procedure can be divided into two complementary tasks or sub-reports, (i)
the Initial Environmental Examination (lEE) and (ii) the Full-Scale Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA).
INITIAL ENVIRONMENTAL EXAMINATION (LEE)
lEE is a means of reviewing the environmental integrity of projects to help determine
whether or not EIA level studies can be undertaken.
In this sense lEE can be used for project screening to determine which projects require a full-
scale EIA. lEE will have several other uses for ensuring project-oriented environmental
management as well as minimizing the effort, expense, and delay in carrying out such
planning.
lEE involves assessing the potential environmental effects of a proposed project that can be
carried out within a very limited budget and will be based on the available recorded
information or on the professional judgment of an expert.
If the lEE results indicate that a full-scale EIA is not required, then, any environmental
management parameters. Such as, environmental protection measures or a monitoring
programme can be adapted to complete the EIA for such a project.
If on the other hand, full-scale EIA is required, lEE can be of great help as a mechanism
to determine and identify key issues that merit full analysis in EIA and to designate the issues
that deserve only a cursory discussion. It may also identify other environmental review and
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING VINODH KUMAR BALAJI
consultation requirements so that necessary analyses or studies can be made concurrently with
EIA. This would reduce delay and eliminate redundant or extraneous discussion from EIA
reports. lEE is a means of providing the most efficient and feasible preparation of adequate
environmental management plans with or without the requirement of a full scale EIA. Therefore,
for most Industrial Development Projects, lEE is desirable simply from the economic point of
view.
8. ELEMENTS OF EIA REPORT or EIA PROCESS:
Proposal identification:
What is the problem?
What options / alternatives ae available to solve the problem?
What are the environmental implications of these options / alternatives?
What is the preferred options / alternatives? Why?
1. Screening: First stage of EIA, which determines whether the proposed project requires an
EIA and if it require EIA, then the level of assessment required.
2. Scoping: This stage identifies the key issues and impact that should be future
investigated. This stage also defines the boundary and time limit of the study.
3. I mpact analysis: This stage of EIA identifies and predicts likely environmental and
social impact of the proposed project and evaluates the significance.
4. Mitigation: This step in EIA recommends the actions to reduce and avoid the potential
adverse environmental consequences of development activities.
5. EI A report: This stage presents the result of EIA in a form of report to the decision
making body and other interested parties.
6. EI A review: It examines the adequacy and effectiveness of the EIA report and provides
information necessary for the decision making.
7. Decision making: it decides whether the project is rejected, approved or needs further
change.
8. Fallow up: This stage play once the project is commissioned. It checks whether the
imparts of the project do not exceed the legal standards and implementation of the
mitigation measures are in the manner as described in the EIA report.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING VINODH KUMAR BALAJI

Public consultation:
A public hearing process in which only local affected people can participate.
A process for obtaining written comments from others who are concerned
citizens.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING VINODH KUMAR BALAJI
9. BASELINE DATA OR ENVIRONMENTAL BASE MAP:
The term baseline refers to conditions existing before development against which
subsequent changes can be referenced. Baseline studies are carried out to:
1. Identify environmental conditions which might influence project decision. (e.g.: site
layout, structural or operational characteristic)
2. Identify sensitive issues or areas required mitigation or compensation
3. Provide input data to analytical models used for predicting effects.
4. Provide baseline data against which the results of future monitoring programs can be
compared.
Base line for an industrial development project usually includes demography, land use
infrastructure, receiving water, ground water and soil conditions, other industries and their waste
streams, institutions, ecological resources, area of culture, archaeological and tourist.
The environmental base map should be as simply as possible and for this purpose a
schematic type drawing will be usually be more appropriate than a map drawn strictly to scale.
FACTORS AFFECTING EIA:
There are six factors that should be taken into account when assessing the significance of
an environmental impact arising from a project activity. The factors are interrelated and should
not be considered in isolation. For a particular impact some factors may carry more weight than
others but it is the combination of all the factors that determines the significance.
1. Magnitude: Will the impact be irreversible? If irreversible, what will be the rate of
recovery or adaptability of an impact area? Will the activity preclude the use of the impact area
for other purposes?
2. Prevalence: Each action taken separately might represent a localized impact of small
importance and magnitude but a number of actions could result in a wide spread effect,
3. Duration and Frequency: The significance of duration and frequency is reflected in
the following questions. Will the activity be long-term or short-term? If the activity is
intermittent, will it allow for recovery during in active periods?
4. Risk: To accurately assess the risk, both the project activity and the area of the
environment impacted must be well known and understood.
5. Importance: This is defined as the value that is attached to an environmental
component
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING VINODH KUMAR BALAJI
6. Mitigations: Are solutions to problems available? Existing technology may provide a
solution to a silting problem expected during construction of an access road, or to bank erosion
resulting from a new stream configuration.
10. CLASSIFICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS AND THEIR POSSIBLE IMPACT:
S.NO PARAMETERS IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS
1 Air
Degradation, type of emissions released and the extent to
which they affect air quality, creation of excess noise and
the effect on man.
2
Drinking Water quality
And
Water quality of aquatic resources
Availability, use and quality of water, effects on the
aesthetics and aquaculture potential of the ecosystems.
Effect on the canal system, depletion of ground water,
pollution of waters by hazardous and toxic substances,
effect on temperature and siltation capacity.
3 Solid waste facilities Excess generation of solid waste stress on the existing
4
Vegetation
Crop productivity
Destruction of forest cover,' depletion of cultivable land,
changes in biological productivity, changes in the species
diversity and hastening the disappearance of important
species.
5 Energy and natural resource
Effects on physio - chemical characteristics of soils, effect
on stability or instability of soils.
6. Soils and local geology
Impact on availability of energy sources in the area
thermal power generation, natural gas consumption, and
effect on local natural resources
7 Processes
Floods, erosion, earth quake, depositions, stability, and air
movements.
8
Man-made facilities and
activities
Structures, utility networks, transportation, and waste
disposal
9 Cultural status
Employment situation, life style of people, and health
services
10 Ecological relationship Food chain, diseases/vectors.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING VINODH KUMAR BALAJI