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Environmental Impact Assessment Processes (general) Environmentalism The Environment

What are the important steps involved in an environmental

3 ANSWERS

Biswa Bhusan
Answered Mar 24, 2018 · Author has 66 answers and 54.6k answer views

EIA represents a systematic process that examines the environmental consequences of the development
actions, in advance. The EIA process involves a number of steps, some of which are listed below:

1. Submission of preliminary information (Identifying and Defining the Project):

The project proponent should submit information regarding the nature, location and impacts of a
proposed project that requires an EIA. The best time for a project proponent to submit the preliminary
information on the proposed project is as soon as the project concept is finalized and the location of the
project is decided. A brief summary of the project is extremely helpful at this stage. The existing laws and
regulations that are applicable to the project should also be reviewed along with the regulating authorities.
It is very important to identify the team that will carry out the EIA procedure along with a coordinator and
the decision maker who will read the final report.

2. Environmental Screening:

The EIA process begins from the very start of a project. Once a developer has identified a need and
assessed all the possible alternatives of project design and sites to select a preferred alternative, two
important questions must be asked: 'What will be the effects of this development on the environment? Are
those effects significant?' If the answer to the second question is 'yes', an EIA may be required. Answering
this question is a process known as screening and can be an essential first step into a formal EIA. Screening
is done partly by the EIA regulations, operating in a country at the time of assessment.

3. Environmental Scoping:

Scoping is a stage, usually involving the public and other interested parties, that identifies the key
environmental issues that should be addressed in an EIA. Scoping actually controls the cost and time of
the assessment in deciding the scope of the EIA and therefore is a very important step both in identifying
the impacts and controlling the size of the EIA. The following techniques are used for scoping. Checklist
technique, Matrix technique, Networks technique, Overlay technique.

4. Consideration of 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.
5. Description of the environmental baseline:

Following on from scoping, it is essential to collect all relevant information on the current status of the
environment. This study is referred to as a baseline study as it provides a baseline against which change
due to a development can be measured. Baseline studies are based on the experience with respect to
environmental aspects and cover everything important about the environmental impacts of the project.
Baseline studies are rather easily carried out in the countries where the required technical expertise, long
term database for environmental measures (for instance in the case of river flow) and relevant research
papers and reports are available for the area concerned.

6. Impact prediction:

Once the baseline study information is available, the important task of impact prediction can begin.
Impact prediction involves forecasting the likely changes in the environment that will occur as a result of
the development.

7. Impact assessment:

The next phase involves the assessment of the identified impacts - impact assessment. This requires
interpretation of the importance or significance of the impacts to provide a conclusion, which can
ultimately be used by decision-makers in determining the fate of the project application. This step is
generally considered as the most technical in nature and therefore is the most difficult and controversial
part of the EIA. It is difficult because not every impact, especially natural and social impacts, can be
quantified. A well balanced final decision can be reached regarding the fate of the project.

8. Mitigation measures:

These measures are taken to reduce the magnitude or intensity of the impacts affecting the environment.
This of course will incur some costs, but it is expected that such measures will, in the long run, mitigate the
impacts so as to make the project both economically and environmentally viable. The EIA team has to
decide between two alternatives, either having a high cost and low pollution program or having a low cost
but a high pollution situation.

9. Public Participation:

Best EIA practice involves and engages the public at numerous points throughout the process with a two-
way exchange of information and views. Public participation may consist of informational meetings,
public hearings, and opportunities to provide written comments about a proposed project. However, there
are no consistent rules for public participation among current EIA systems.

10. Producing the environmental impact statement:

The outcome of an EIA is usually a formal document, known as an environmental impact statement (EIS),
which sets out factual information relating to the development, and all the information gathered relating
to screening, scoping, baseline study, impact prediction and assessment, mitigation, and monitoring
measures. It is quite common that a requirement of an EIS is that it also produces a non-technical
summary. This is a summary of the information contained within the EIS, presented in a concise non-
technical format, for those who do not wish to read the detailed documents. This is very important, as EISs
are public documents intended to inform the public of the nature and likely consequences of a
development in time to comment and/or participate in the final project design.
11. EIS review:

Once the EIA is complete, the EIS is submitted to the competent authority. This is the body with the
authority to permit or refuse development applications. The competent authorities are often in a position
of having very little time to make a decision and have a detailed and lengthy EIS to read through which
may contain errors, omissions, and developer bias. It is essential, therefore, that they review the document.
Review can take a number of forms: it may be purely an ad hoc process whereby the document is read and
commented on by decision-makers; it can be more formalised and expert opinion is sought; or it can be
through the use of formal review methods designed specifically for the purpose. Basically, the review
process should enable the decision-maker to decide whether the EIS is adequate (ex: whether it is legally
compliant), whether the information is correct, and whether it is unbiased. If it is, they are then in a
position to use the EIS as information to be considered in determining whether the project should receive
consent.

12. Decision:

A decision to approve or reject a project is generally based on the final EIA. Usually the decision is taken by
a manager or a committee, or personnel from the concerned ministry who had not been associated with
the EIA during its preparation. In general, a decision maker has three choices:

i. accepting one of the project alternatives

ii. returning the EIA with a request for further study in certain specific areas

iii. totally rejecting the proposed project along with alternative versions.

13. Auditing:

This follows monitoring and involves comparing actual outcomes with predicted outcomes, and can be
used to assess the quality of predictions and the effectiveness of mitigation.

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OTHER ANSWERS

Liohn Sherer, works at Compumatik

One common approach to impact assessment is a generalized six step process described by Canter (1996).
Depending on the type of assessment being conducted, the six steps are adapted.
1. Identify potential impacts

2. Describe existing conditions / conduct baseline study

3. Procurement of relevant laws, regulations, or criteria related to impacts and/or conditions

4. Predict impacts: Future-without-project, future-with-project, future-with-alternative

5. Assess impact significance

6. Identify and incorporate mitigation measures

Canter, L. W. (1996). Environmental Impact Assessment. USA: McGraw-Hill.

Here is a more general list of steps:

2. Screening

3. Scope

4. Impact prediction & evaluation

5. Impact mitigation & management

6. Review & Decision

7. Implementation

8. Monitoring/Follow-up

**Public consultation at any/all stages

Complete EIAs are often preceded by a scoping document, which generally consists of:
1. Information gathering
 2. Define the scope of the project

3. Identify the Valued Ecosystem Components (VECs)

4. Define the scope of the Assessment to be conducted

5. Verify and document scoping work.

This determines the extent of the assessment to be conducted, what it will cover, its goals and its
methodology.

VECs are selected based on 5 criteria:

2. Public visibility and concern

3. Economic or social importance

4. Protected, rare, and endangered species

5. Keystone species, important ecological/trophic roles

A completed EIA consists of 9 sections:

2. Aims & Objectives

3. Description of proposal & alternatives

4. Relationship to legislation & policies

5. Existing & expected conditions

6. Impact evaluation

7. Alternatives evaluation

8. Impact management & monitoring

9. Appendices

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