Different forms of assessment

Last week we discussed that EIA typically covers environmental impacts.

However, it is now recognized that a wider range of impacts must also be
taken into account.

These assessments include social, economic, cultural, and environmental

impacts. Each of these broader assessments also has sub-assessments. For
example, during a social or cultural impact assessment, a health impact
assessment might also be conducted. Similarly, during an environmental
assessment, a noise assessment may be required to evaluate the effect of
noise on species. Nowadays, it is common to conduct a climate impact
assessment alongside other assessments. Additionally, during an economic
impact assessment, a visual amenity assessment may be conducted to
evaluate the impact of a development on the surrounding view and potential
economic effects on property values.

Different Forms of Assessment

Apart from environmental assessments, the most commonly conducted

assessments aim to understand how a proposed activity will impact the
affected communities and individuals. These assessments are known as
social impact assessments (SIA), socioeconomic assessments (SEA), cultural
impact assessments (CIA), or economic impact assessments (EIA). The
following sections provide a summary of the essential elements of these
assessments.
Social Impact Assessment (SIA)

A protest in response to fossil fuel pipelines being routed through protected

Native American reservations.

Social impacts refer to the intended and unintended changes or

consequences of a proposed activity on individuals, households, groups,
communities, or organizations. The SIA aims to identify, predict, and evaluate
the positive and negative social impacts that are likely to arise from the project.
These impacts may affect various aspects of people’s lives, such as their
culture, community, political system, environment, health and well-being,
personal and property rights, and safety. Negative impacts may include
decreased amenities, loss of access and enjoyment of a site, changing the
aesthetic value/amenity of a place, impacts on public health, amongst others.
Positive impacts may include an increase in community capacity for increased
livelihoods, shared infrastructure, and social development arising from more
people moving in. Identifying social impacts early on will enable better
decision-making if the proposed activity proceeds. In some cases, the
identification of social impacts can overturn a proposal, such as in 1974-1978
when a proposed gas line from Yukon Territory to Alberta was overturned for
a social reason. In this case, the impacts on a local tribe were not considered.
Cultural Impact Assessment (CIA)

A traditional maori carving over Mount Taranaki, New Zealand.

A cultural assessment evaluates the impact of a proposed activity on any

aspect that is considered cultural. UNESCO defines culture as distinctive
spiritual, material, intellectual, and emotional features that characterise a
society or social group. This often refers to the impact of an activity on
Indigenous interests and how it affects their capacity to harvest, practice
ceremonies, use and keep knowledge, burial sites, access to important sites,
and practice language and lore. In non-Indigenous contexts, a cultural impact
may refer to impacts on cultural heritage, such as a building, a place, or a
maritime wreck. For example, the proposed widening of the Arthur Highway in
Tasmania, known by local Indigenous groups as tirulina, was opposed by the
Tasmanian Aboriginal Council as the road construction, which would include
digging 75-meter pits, is an old Aboriginal burial site. In New Zealand, a
cultural impact assessment provided information about the predicted cultural
impacts on the Maori of a proposed Expressway. In Japan, a cultural impact
assessment of the Ainu people about a development in the Saru River region
provided an opportunity to document cultural impacts and issues.
Health Impact Assessment (HIA)

An Indonesian man wears his shirt as a mask during haze from forest and
land fires caused by slash-and-burn land clearance for palm oil farming.

Proposed activities can affect people’s health in various ways. The results of
an HIA can be used to build better, cleaner energy options, green spaces, and
zones for walkability, among others. For instance, a wind farm often attracts
attention because of the documented health impacts on people’s health and
well-being due to the noise the turbines make. Mining can contaminate water
bodies, while pulp mills generate dust and air pollution. For instance, in
Tasmania, residents opposed the proposed construction of a pulp mill due to
the risk of increased air pollution, which could cause asthma, respiratory
conditions, and cancer. The construction of major infrastructure, such as the
Olympics in London or the addition of a parallel runway at the Brisbane airport,
typically requires a comprehensive Health Impact Assessment (HIA). These
assessments consider the potential health effects on the surrounding
community, which may include sleep disturbance, cardiovascular and
physiological effects, mental health effects, effects on performance,
communication, residential behaviour, and annoyance. If you’re interested in
reviewing the airspace Health Impact Assessment report, you can find
it here and in the references below [1].

References:
https://www.bne.com.au/sites/default/files/docs/BNR_EIS_MDP_D7_Health_I
mpact_Assess.pdf