Environmental Impact

Assessment

EIA
 Defining EIA and its objectives
• 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 tooI, 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.
• EIA systematically examines both beneficial and adverse
consequences of the project and ensures that these effects are
taken into account during project design.
• It helps to identify possible environmental effects of the proposed
project, proposes measures to mitigate adverse effects and
predicts whether there will be significant adverse environmental
effects, even after the mitigation is implemented.
• By considering the environmental effects of the project and their
mitigation early in the project planning cycle, environmental
assessment has many benefits, such as protection of environment,
optimum utilization of resources and saving of time and cost of
the project.
• Properly conducted EIA also lessens conflicts by promoting
community participation, informing decision makers, and helping
lay the base for environmentally sound projects.
 Characteristics of EIA
• Participation: An appropriate and timely access to the process for all interested
parties.
• Transparency: All assessment decisions and their basis should be open and
accessible.
• Certainty: The process and timing of the assessment should be agreed in advanced
and followed by all participants.
• Accountability: The decision-makers are responsible to all parties for their action
and decisions under the assessment process
• Credibility: Assessment is undertaken with professionalism and objectivity.
• Cost-effectiveness: The assessment process and its outcomes will ensure
environmental protection at the least cost to the society.
• Flexibility: The assessment process should be able to adapt to deal efficiently with
any proposal and decision making situation.
• Practicality: The information and outputs provided by the assessment process are
readily usable in decision making and planning.
 Purposes of EIA
• To facilitate decision making
• To aid in the formation of development
• To be an instrument in Sustainable Development
• Resource conservation
• Waste minimization
• To help design projects which enhance the quality of the
environment by examining alternatives.
• Mitigating measures through planning.
• To aid the formation of development.
• It can provide a framework for considering location, design
and environmental issues.
 Phases of EIA
1. Organizing the job
2. Performing the assessment.
3. Writing the Environment Impact Statement.
4. Review of EIS.
 Phases of EIA
1. Organising the Job
• In this step the action or project is identified.
• It requires specialists to form interdisciplinary
team.(ID)
• A form is prepared to document particulars of
the project.
 Phases of EIA
2 Performing the assessment
• Site visit by ID team to determine the possible
environmental impact.
• Record the description.
• Identify and evaluate the positive and negative
effects of proposed project.
• Discussion of alternatives
• Preparation of a checklist for EIA covering the
possible consequences of proposed activity.
 Phases of EIA
3 Preparation of EIS
• It is considered as conclusion of EIA.
• It includes
– Description of site.
– Description of proposed project- goals, objectives, area,
equipments.
– Envt. Impact of proposed project.
– Unavoidable effects of activity.
– Alternatives of activity.
– Measures that can be taken to minimise adverse effects.
– Modifications in proposed project.
 Phases of EIA
4 Review of EIS
• It is presented to public for inspection.
• Discussions with Govt. agency and public
provide information and comments about the
project. ( 1 month period)
• After final review of beneficial and adverse
envt. Impacts; a decision is ultimately taken
either approve/ reject the project.
 EIA Process
Project screening.
• No. of projects that could be subjected to EIA is potentially
very large.
• Many projects have no substantial/ significant envt.
Impacts.
• A screening mechanism seeks to focus on those projects
with potentially significant adverse Envt. Impacts/ where
the impacts are not completely known.
• Those with little/no impacts are screened out are allowed
to proceed to normal planning permission and
administration process.
Evaluation of Impacts
Formulation of environment management plan
 EIA Methodologies
Overlay
• It involves mapping an area and the environmental
approach impacts of the project.
• Area is divided into several geographic units and base
map is prepared.
• The correlative information is collected and envt.
graphs are made in which the contrast of colour
presents the impact degree of different envt. factors.
• A shading system indicates the degree of impact.
• Base maps and envt. graphs maps are overlaid to
analyze the project impacts.
 Adhoc Method

• A good example of an adhoc method is a team of experts

assembled for a short time to conduct an EIA.
• These conclusions are assembled into a report. Sometimes
this is the only required or possible approach.
• In other instances, when more scientific methods are
available, it is not sufficient to rely on adhoc methods
• Disadvantage – does not define specific parameters to be
investigated
 Checklists
• Checklists and matrices are commonly used to organize and present
information.
• This method present a specific list of envt. Parameters to be investigated
for possible impacts.
• The basic categories of checklists are
Simple checklist
It consists of list of envt., economic and social factors which may be
affected by specific project actions.
Questionnaire checklist
It present a series of questions relating to impacts of a project.Those
assessing projects must attempt to answer all questions and choose
option of answer from three answer
Advantages
they are useful in summarizing information to make it accessible to
specialists from other fields, or to decision makers who may have a
limited amount of technical knowledge;
Checklists
 Matrix/leopold

Matrix/leopold
• Matrix methods identify interactions between various project
actions and environmental parameters and components.
• They incorporate a list of project activities with a checklist of
environmental components that might be affected by these
activities.
• Combining these lists as horizontal and vertical axes of a
matrix allows the identification of cause-effect relationships
between specific activities and impacts.
Matrix (no. from 1-10)
 EIA in India
• For all the developmental projects, ( Govt/ private),
the MOEF requires an impact assessment done by a
competent organization.
• There are 30 different industries listed by MOEF that
require a clearance before they are set up.
• New projects are called green field projects where no
development has been done.
• Projects that already exists but require expansion
must also apply for clearance. These are called
brown field projects.
LIST OF PROJECTS REQUIRING ENVIRONMENTAL CLEARANCE FROM
THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT

1. Nuclear Power and related projects such as Heavy Water Plants, nuclear
fuel complex, Rare Earths.
2. River Valley projects including hydel power, major Irrigation and their
combination including flood control.
3. Ports, Harbours, Airports (except minor ports and harbours).
4. Petroleum Refineries including crude and product pipelines.
5. Chemical Fertilizers (Nitrogenous and Phosphatic other than single
superphosphate).
6. Pesticides (Technical).
7. Petrochemical complexes (Both Olefinic and Aromatic) and Petro-chemical
intermediates such as DMT, Caprolactam, LAB etc. and production of basic
plastics such as LLDPE, HDPE, PP, PVC.
8. Bulk drugs and pharmaceuticals.
9.Exploration for oil and gas and their production, transportation and storage.
10. Synthetic Rubber.
11. Asbestos and Asbestos products.
12. Hydrocyanic acid and its derivatives.
13. Primary metallurgical industries (such as production of Iron and Steel, Aluminium,
Copper, Zinc, Lead and Ferro Alloys).
(b) Electric arc furnaces (Mini Steel Plants).
14 Chlor alkali industry.
15. Integrated paint complex including manufacture of resins and basic raw materials
required in the manufacture of paints.
16. Viscose Staple fibre and filament yarn.
17. Storage batteries integrated with manufacture of oxides of lead and lead
antimony alloys.
18. All tourism projects between 200m 500 metres of High Water Line and at locations
with an elevation of more than 1000 metres with investment of more than Rs.5 crores.
19. thermal Power Plants.
20. Mining projects *(major minerals)* with leases more than 5 hectares.
21. Highway Projects **except projects relating to improvement work
including widening and strengthening of roads with marginal land acquisition
along the existing alignments provided it does not pass through ecologically
sensitive areas such as National Parks, Sanctuaries, Tiger Reserves, Reserve
Forests**
22. Tarred Roads in the Himalayas and or Forest areas.
23. Distilleries.
24. Raw Skins and Hides
25. Pulp, paper and newsprint.
26. Dyes.
27. Cement.
28. Foundries (individual)
29. Electroplating
30. Meta amino phenol
• Common hazardous waste treatment , storage and
disposal facility
• Ports ,harbours
• Highways
• Common effluent treatment plants
• Common municipal solid waste management facility
• Building and construction projects ( more than 20000
sq mtrs)
• Townships and area development projects ( covering
area more than 50 ha , or built up area more than
1,50,000 sq mtrs)
 EIA
• After EPA 1986, an EIA is mandatory for developmental
projects.
• Project proponents are expected to select a competent
agency to undertake an EIA.
• Projects are classified into mild/ moderate/serious impact.
• Agency that does the assessment submits a report to the
proposer.
• A report then forwarded to the MOEF.
• MOEF is the main authority for the impact assessment.
• After 1997, the MOEF has stipulated that a public hearing
should be done at local level. An EIS is kept for the public to
read. Public opinions are taken into consideration and
minutes of the meetings are sent to the MOEF.