CE482

ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT ASSESSMENT
MODULE 6 LECTURE 2
PREPARED BY,
RESHMY M. RAJU
M.TECH ENV. ENGG.
APCE SNIT ADOOR

TOPIC : EIA- SCREENING

EIA- SCREENING
• Screening is the first and simplest process in project
evaluation

• Screening is done to determine whether or not a proposal

should be subject to EIA and, if so, at what level of detail.

• Guidelines for whether or not an EIA is required are country

specific depending on the laws or norms in operation.

• Legislation often specifies the criteria for screening and full

EIA.
 EIA- SCREENING
• Development banks also screen projects presented for financing to decide whether an
EIA is required using their set criteria.

• The output of the screening process is often a document called an Initial Environmental
Examination or Evaluation (IEE).

• The main conclusion will be a classification of the project according to its likely
environmental sensitivity.

• The project plan is screened for scale of investment, location and type of development
and if the project needs statutory clearance.
 EIA- SCREENING
• The government rules categorize projects into two categories, A and B based on the
spatial extent of the impacts, effects on human health and the effects on the environment.
Category A projects are looked into by the Central Government

Category B Projects go to the State Government.

Category B projects are further sub divided into Category B1 and Category B2.
 B1 require a public hearing for EIA

 B2 don’t require.
 EIA- SCREENING – issues
• Firstly, the projects are excepted from EIA on the basis of value of investments they
would be involving. The logic behind this is to keep out the small projects from tangles
of the complex process.

• But, no one has proved that environment impacts are caused only by projects above
certain value.

• There are many small scale industries that contribute to pollution to a great extent, and
sometimes at par with large projects.

• Secondly, even if a project may be eligible for exception from EIA process, they might
involve some technical processes which might be harmful to the environment.