Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is the process of assessing the likely environmental impacts of a proposal and identifying options to minimise environmental damage. The main purpose of EIA is to inform decision makers of the likely impacts of a proposal before a decision is made. EIA provides an opportunity to identify key issues and stakeholders early in the life of a proposal so that potentially adverse impacts can be addressed before final approval decisions are made.
EIA is not a way of allowing an environmental ‘veto’ on development proposals. Environmental considerations may be set aside in favor of other considerations including economic and other benefits of going ahead.
EIA is a structured approach for obtaining and evaluating environmental information prior to its use in decision-making in the development process. This information consists basically of predictions of how the environment is expected to change if certain alternative actions are implemented and advice on how best to manage environmental changes if one alternative is selected and implemented. Until relatively recently, with a few notable exceptions, EIA focused on proposed physical developments such as highways, power stations, water resource projects and large-scale industrial facilities. Slowly, but increasingly, its scope of application is expanding to include policies, plans and other actions which also form part of the development process.
Decision-makers are provided, by EIA, with information on the anticipated consequences of their choices. EIA is, therefore, a management tool with technical input, not a technical aid with ‘add on’ management aspects. This distinction is crucial to an understanding of the objectives of EIA and how it can best be implemented.
EIA has been in existence since 1970 (when it was introduced into the United States of America following the National Environmental Policy Act coming into effect) and has spread rapidly since then to all parts of the world. EIA is still relatively ‘young’ and the number of countries which use it, as a legal/administrative requirement, is still increasing. At the same time, EIA practice (and the techniques used) is evolving as experience has been gained on its utility in a wide range of development and geographic contexts.
The use of EIA has been formalized by the introduction of national laws and regulations and, in some cases, policies which establish systems of institutionalised procedures to ensure that all proposed physical development, expected to be environmentally damaging, is assessed prior to authorization and possible implementation.
Environmental Impact Statements are one part of a whole planning process that aims to protect the environment whilst economic development is occurring.
Few precaution, which needs to be taken while preparation of report of EIA are:
- presentation should not be too complex or technical
- Provide sufficient information about the project
- Information base should be strong
- Don’t forget to Omit the information
- Include only relevant information
- Presentation should be clear as per the targeted audience
- Identification of adequate risk and its impacts
- Identification of adequate indirect and far reaching impacts
- Time constraints has to be kept in mind.
The fundamental components of an EIA would necessarily involve the following stages:
1.Screening to determine which projects or developments require a full or partial impact assessment study;
2.Scoping to identify which potential impacts are relevant to assess (based on legislative requirements, international conventions, expert knowledge and public involvement), to identify alternative solutions that avoid, mitigate or compensate adverse impacts on biodiversity (including the option of not proceeding with the development, finding alternative designs or sites which avoid the impacts, incorporating safeguards in the design of the project, or providing compensation for adverse impacts), and finally to derive terms of reference for the impact assessment;
3.Assessment and evaluation of impacts and development of alternatives, to predict and identify the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project or development, including the detailed elaboration of alternatives;
4.Reporting the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or EIA report, including an environmental management plan (EMP), and a non-technical summary for the general audience.
5.Review of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), based on the terms of reference (scoping) and public (including authority) participation.
6.Decision-making on whether to approve the project or not, and under what conditions; and
7.Monitoring, compliance, enforcement and environmental auditing. Monitor whether the predicted impacts and proposed mitigation measures occur as defined in the EMP. Verify the compliance of proponent with the EMP, to ensure that unpredicted impacts or failed mitigation measures are identified and addressed in a timely fashion.
Benefits:
EIA allows the likely significant environmental effects of a project tobe identified and to be avoided, remedied or minimised at an early stage.Nevertheless, the general public is often concerned about the possibility of unknown or unforeseen environmental effects of particular development. Where a planning application is accompanied by an ES the Planning Service will advertise the availability of the ES and take any representations about the likely environmental effects into consideration in making its decision. By making the information on the likely significant effects available, EIA can help allay fears created by a lack of information. Once EC (environmental clearance)is granted, for industries they may apply for CTE (Consent to establish) and CTO (Consent to Operate).
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