Environmental Monitoring

A comprehensive (or targetted) post-EIS environmental monitoring program should be

required of major projects, plans, or programs as part of their life cycle, and the resultant
information should be use in environmentally responsible management and decision
making. Pertinent elements should be selected based on the project type, baseline
environmental sesitivity, expected impacts, and monitoring objectives. An integrating
term to denote life cycle environmental management is post-project analysis (PPA).
PPAs refer to environmental studies include comphrehensive or targeted environmental
monitoring, evaluation of the collected data and information, environmentally focused
decision making as appropriate, and implementation of the management decisions.

Examples of environmentally responsible project plan or program management decisions

which can be based on monitoring data, and which can be beneficial in terms of
minimazing adverse impacts and enhancing environmental management. Spellerberg
(1991) has described the following three ways in which floral and/or fauna species
monitoring data can be used in environmental management.

Background Information

Two basic types of monitoring are defined as follows (U.S. Department of the Army,
1988, p.46355):

1. Enforcement monitoring. Enforcement monitoring ensures that mitigation is being

performed as described in the environmental document.
2. Effectiveness monitoring. Effectiveness monitoring measures the success of the
mitigation effort and/or the environmental effect.

Sadler and Davies (1988) have delineated three types of environmental monitoring.

Baseline monitoring refers to measurement of environmental variables during a

representative preproject period to determine existing conditions, ranges of variation, and
process of change. Effect monitoring or impact monitoring involves the measurement
of environmental variables during project construction and operation to determine
changes which may have occurred as a result of the project. Finally, compliance
monitoring takes the form of periodic sampling and/or continuous measurement of levels
of waste discharge, noise, or similar emissions, to ensure that conditions are observed and
standards are met. Some reason environmental monitoring, and , in particular post-EIS
monitoring, have been given minimal attention in the United States because there is the
presumption that numerous federal, state and even local monitoring networks could be
used if necessary, there is resistance to planning and implementing a monitoring program
and even if monitoring is considered a necessity, agency staffing and funding may be
limited.

Some reasons other countries are interested in post-EIS monitoring are:

1. Extant environmental monitoring programs may be minimal in scope

2. In the EIA process, the emphasis is on life cycle environmental management.
3. In many countries there is no structured, legalistic, environmental management
system which focuses attention on regulatory compliance, legislative violations,
fines, and possibly lawsuits
4. These countries recognize that monitoring provides the opportunity to gather
environmental data.

Purposes of Environmental Monitoring

The purposes of information gleaned from the conduction of post EIS monitoring:

1. Environmental monitoring provides information that can be used for

documentation of the impacts that result from a proposed federal action.
2. The monitoring system could warn agencies of unanticipated adverse impacts or
sudden changes in impact trends
3. The monitoring system could provide an immediate warning whenever a
preselected impact indicator approaches a predetermined critical level.
4. Environmental monitoring provides information which could be used by agencies
to control timing, location, and level of impacts of a project.
5. Environmental monitoring provides information which could be used for
evaluating the effectiveness of implemented mitigation measures
6. Environmental monitoring provides information which could be used to verify
predicted impacts and thus validate impact prediction techniques.

Spellberg (1991) has delineated six reasons biological and ecological monitoring:
 1. As a basis for managing biological resources for sustainable development and
resource assessment
2. As aids in the management and conservation of ecosystems anf populations
3. As tools to focus on land use and landscape as a basis for better use of the land
that is combining conservation with other use
4. As a source of data to aid in the use of organisms to monitor pollution and to
indicate the quality of the environment
5. Usage to advance knowledge about the dynamics of ecosystems
6. As a means of targeting insects pests of agriculture and forestry for study so as to
establish effective means of control of those pets.

In the context of human health impacts, biological monitoring can be used to relate
environmental media concentrations to potential health effects (Schweitzer, 1981). The
most direct approach involves medical investigations and human surveillance to identify
possible health impacts on nearby populations.

Five objectives for social impact assessment and monitoring are (Krawetz, MacDonald,
and Nichols, 1987)

1. To document compliance with expected performance (for example, inspection,

surveillance in terms of regulatory permits, and contractual agreements
2. To achieve impact management that is project control to ensure that problems do
not develop which interfere with construction through delays or cost overruns
3. To facilitate research and development, including straight documentation,
enhancing technical capacity for future project planning evaluating predictions
and testing spesific hypotheses
4. To establish credibility (public assurance)
5. To provide evidence of change, including determination of status, trend
monitoring, and early warning systems

Environmental monitoring can also serve as a basic component of a periodic

environmental regulatory auditing program for a project (Allison, 1988). Some purposes
of environmental auditing are to verify compliance with environmental requirements; to
evaluate the effectiveness of in place environmental management systems; and/or to
assess risks from regulated and unregulated substances and practices. Some direct results
 of an auditing program include an increased environmental awareness by project
employees, early detection and correction of problems and thus avoidance of
environmental agency enforcement actions and improved management control of
environmental programs (Allison, 1988).

Case Studies of Monitoring

Summary of Environmental Monitoring in Eight Case Studies

Case Studies Project,
Monitoring Uses of purposes of monitoring
(reference) program type
Fine ant control progam Post control Pesticide effectiveness To describe project effectiveness and
(Anirnal and Plant Pesticide residues in environmental consequences
Health Inspection environmental compartments
Service, 1961)
Wastewater treatment Wastewater Septic tank discharges To describe need for project and to determine
around Crystal Lake treatment Groundwater flow effectiveness of project for water quality
(U.S. Environmental facility Lake water quality and equatic improvements
Protection Agency, ecology
1960)
Surface lignite mine Lignite Water quality in surface To describe existing water quality and to establish
(U.S. Environmental extraction streams and lakes basis for controlling potential impacts
Protection Agency, Discharge permit monitoring
1963)
Airport runway Airport Noise from aircraft and To describe baseline noise and to use as input to
extension (Federal modification existing ambient noise levels noise prediction
Aviation
Administration, 1988)
Nuclear facility waste Waste disposal Soil and groundwater quality To establish need for project and to serve as basis
management program for waste disposal planning
(U.S. Department of
Energy, 1987)
Surface lignite mine Lignite Soil composition, wheat To describe baseline environmental conditions and
(U.S. Environmental extraction production hydrogeological to serve as look alike information for project
Protection Agency, parameters, groundwater design ang impact prediction
1990b) quality, baseline flows in
streams, and noise
Reservoir system on Operation of River flow, water quality To determine influence of reservoir operational
Tennessee River 16 reservoirs (dissolved oxygen and other patterns on water quality (particularly dissolved
(Tennessee Valye and dams in constituents), and oxygen) and to improve water quality and aquatic
Auhority, 1991) Tennessee effectiveness of seration of habitat by increasing minimum flow rates and
River system water releases from dams aerating releases from the TVA dams to raise
dissolved oxygen levels and to extend the recreation
season on TVA lakes by delaying drawdown for
other reservoir operating puposes, primarity
hydropower generation
Contruction and Multipurpose Water temperature, turbidity, To validate extant water quality models, and to
operation of Elk Creek reservoir the and suspended sediment;river serve as basis for predicting both single project and
Lake (U.S. Army Corps third of three flow rates; game fish; and cumulative impacts on fihseries, water quality, and
of Engineers, 1991) reservoirs in terrestrial habitats for eight terrestrial wildlife habitat
the river basin evaluation species; monitoring
at two existing reservoirs and
at proposed site of Elk Creek
Lake

Environmental monitoring can also be used as an aid to project or program operation and
management. In fact, specific post-EIS monitoring was addressed in six of the eight case
studies (pest control program, both surface lignite mines, waste disposal at a nuclear
facility, a reservoir system on the Tennessee River, and construction and operation of Elk
Creek Lake). The most comprehensive illustration of environmental monitoring coupled
with ongoing decision making was in conjuction with the operation of 16 extant reservoirs
and dams in the Tennessee River system (TVA, 1991). While essentially no information
on the costs of the environmental monitoring efforts was included in the eight case
studies, it can be concluded that these efforts can be expensive. Monitoring costs for a
specific study are a function of numerous factors, including availanility of extant data,
the number and types of parameters to be monitored, the length of the monitoring
program, and data management and interpretation needs.

Planning considerations for a monitoring program

Three premises relative to monitoring programs in the United States are:

1. There is an abundance of environmental monitoring data routinely collected by

various governmental agencies and the private sector. This data typically needs to
be identified, aggregated and intreperted.
 2. Environmental monitoring program are expensive to plan and implement;
therefore every effort should be made to utilize or to modify extant monitoring
programs, as appropriate.
3. Because of overlapping environmental management and monitoring
responsibilities of many local, state and federal government agencies, it may be
necessary to carefully coordinate environmental monitoring planning among
several agencies.

A generic conceptual framework for developing an environmental monitoring plan for

biological and ecological monitorings has been described by Spellerberg (1991).

The first step in developing such a plan is to define the monitoring objectives. In many
monitoring schemes, the objectives are either not stated or are so complex that they
become meaningless (Spellerberg, 1991). The second step is to determine the places
where the monitoring will take place. The third step is to make sure the data collected is
documented for future use. The fourth step is the arrangements for data collection and
storage. The fifth step involves the process of selecting the variables. Methods for
collection of data from the field or assemblage of data from other sources should therefore
be considered, along with the choice of parameters. Indicators and composite indicies can
be useful in monitoring studies (Spellerberg,1991). The sixth step involves preliminary
data gathering and conduction of baseline surveys. The seventh step involves the analysis
and presentation of the data.

Numerous special issues may be encountered in the planning and implementation of

monitoring programs (Schweitzer, 1981)

1. Statistical aspects and representatives sampling are important factors in the design
of a monitoring program
2. Access to preferred sampling sites is not always possible.
3. Special efforts are needed to minimize holding times between sampling and
analysis.
4. A quality assurance program involving surrogate recoveries, inter and
intralaboratory duplicates and field and laboratory blanks is essential.

Guidelines and policies

The basic premies is that targeted or comprehensive) post-EIS monitoring programs
should be planned and implemented for selected projects with potentially significant
negative impacts. To facilitate and institutionalize such programs, certain guidelines and
policies will be needed. Some guidelines and policies for environmental monitoring anf
auditing in relation to the EIA process have been proposed by Sadler anf Davies (1988).

1. Baseline monitoring. Baseline monitoring should be planned and initiated during

the scoping phase of EIA.
2. Formulation of impact predictions. Predictions statements must be expressed as
verifiable impact hypotheses, so that statistical tests can be applied.
3. Effects monitoring. Effects monitoring must be designed to establish cause effect
relation ships which provide the basis for impact management through the
implementation of corrective action.

Ten selected principles and recommendations associated with post-projects analysis

(PPA) as developed by the task force mentioned earlie.

1. Post project analysis should be used to complete the EIA process by providing the
necessary feedback in the project implementation phase both for proper and cost
effective management and for EIA process development.
2. A preliminary plan for the PPA should be prepared during the environmental
review of a project.
3. The PPA should focus on important impacts about which there is insufficient
information; identification of these impacts and their priorities is undertaken
during the environmental review process.
4. The authority to undertake a PPA should be linked to the EIA process so that the
concerns identified for inclusion in the PPA during the environmental review can
be properly addressed.
5. PPAs should be done for all major projects with potentially significant impacts.
In addition for other projects, focused PPAs may be suitable either to facilitate
environmental management of the project or the acquisition of knowledge from
the project.
6. The development of hypotheses to test should be a part of PPAs.
 7. In order to undertake PPAs effectively, baseline data relevant to the hypotheses
should be collected and should be as complete as possible.
8. Monitoring and evaluation of the data collected in the monitoring process should
be an essential part of PPA.
9. As a tool for managing PPAs, advisory boards consisting of representatives of
industry, government, contractors, independent experts, and the public should be
used.
10. Public participation in the PPA should be encouraged and PPA reports should be
made public.

Implementation includes the development of response strategies (management actions)

and periodic reporting. Post project analysis (PPA) is a term being used in some
countries to denote the role of the environmental monitoring in life cycle project
management. Incorporation of environmental monitoring requirements in the EIA process
in the United States would be a logical outgrowth of the EIS focused nature of the EIA
process.