GENERAL INTRODUCTION

AND HISTORY OF EIA

• Presenter introduction

• Trainees introduction
Activity
Basic knowledge of participants
about EIA
 Why did EIA start?

 By the early 1960s in the US and other industrial

countries, it was clear that something was wrong
 Silent Spring by Richeal Carison
Cuyahoga River burns in 1966 (3rd time). Cleveland, Ohio,
U.S.
“30 Years of Environmental Progress,” USEPA, 2000.
Environmental crisis in the industrial
economies

 1952 “killer fog” kills 4,000 in London

 1963 Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring documents
the negative effects of DDT
 1966 Cayahoga River in Ohio catches fire
 What was happening?

 Looking back from today, the causes were

obvious:
 Population Growth
 Natural Resource Pressures
 Urbanization
 Industrialization
 Unrestrained profit motive
 These forces were all combining to create
unprecedented environmental damage
Why should developing countries care
about EIA?

 Easy answer: Donor requirements.

 In the early 1970s, several Pakistani workers died as a result of
negligent pesticide management procedures on a USAID
project.
 USAID was sued by an environmental PVO, and adopted
environmental review procedures to comply with NEPA (“Reg
216”)
 Almost all donor agencies now have similar
procedures
 The difficult answer: Because the environmental
crisis faced by most developing countries is at
least as serious as that of the industrialized
countries in the 1960s and 70s.
 Lower levels of industrialization
 BUT. . .
 High population growth and urbanization
 Use of hazardous substances
 Environmental degradation due to poverty
Chemical pollution: obsolete pesticides in Mozambique.
U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization
Deforestation: trees cleared for planting in Guinea.
U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization
 Environmental crisis in the developing
world

 1984
1984Methyl
Methyl isocyanate
isocyanate cloudcloud from
from Union
Union Carbide
Carbide plant
plant accident in accident in kills
Bhopal, India Bhopal,
India kills 2,000+
2,000+
 Cities
Citieswith
withworst air quality:
worst Developing country
air quality:
megacities
Developing country megacities
 Millions of deaths/year from environmental
 Millions of deaths/year from
conditions—particularly poor sanitation
environmental conditions—particularly
poor sanitation
 Regions Major Environmental Issues
Africa The continent has the world’s poorest and most resource dependent
population. It carries the highest health burden due to severe
environmental problems. These include desertification and soil
degradation, declining food security, and increasing water scarcity.
Asia and Rapid economic growth, urbanization and industrialization have
Pacific helped in poverty alleviation but also increased pressure on land and
water resources, widespread environmental degradation and high
pollution levels. Mega- cities are a particular focus of environmental
and health concerns.
Eastern Despite progress with economic restructuring and environmental
Europe and clean up, there is a legacy of industrial pollution and contaminated
Central Asia land during communist era. In many areas, emissions of
particulates, SO2, lead, heavy metals and toxic chemicals continue
to expose the residents to health risks.
Latin Approximately three-quarters of the population live in urban areas.
America Many cities are poor, overcrowded, polluted and lack basic
and the infrastructure. The major environmental issue is the destruction of
Caribbean tropical forests and consequent loss of biodiversity, which is
especially serious in the Amazon basin.
The National Environmental Policy Act 1969 of
USA is the legislative basis for EIA.

The policy was the result of wide

spread recognition in the 1960s that
some major environmental problems
were created by the government’s
projects (power stations, dams and
reservoirs, industrial complexes).

UNECE - Convention on
EIA in a Trans-boundary
Context (1991) Entered into force in 1997
as the first EIA-specific
international treaty.
 Four cornerstones of the Earth Summit

• The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development- a set of

principles which provides guidance on achieving sustainable
development.
• Framework Convention on Climate Change- an international treaty
to stabilize greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere.
• Convention on Biological Diversity- an international convention
with three objectives: the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable
use of its components, and the equitable sharing of benefits from
genetic resources.
• Agenda 21- a global programme of action for achieving sustainable
development to which countries are “politically committed” rather
than legally obliged.

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Definition of EIA

Environmental
 Impact Assessment is
EIA is a systematic Environment is
process to identify, broadly interpreted:
physical, biological,
predict and evaluate the and social.
environmental effects of
proposed actions and
projects.
 EIA
It is a planning and management tool for
sustainable development that seeks to
identify the type, magnitude and
probability of environmental and social
changes likely to occur as direct or
indirect result of a project or policy and to
design the possible mitigation procedure.
In EIA, the term
“impacts” is used
instead of “effects
of activities.”
What is an
impact?
What is an impact?

The impact of an activity is

a deviation (a change)
from the baseline situation The baseline
situation is the
that is caused by the existing
activity. environmental
situation or
condition in the
! To measure an impact, you absence of the
activity.
must know what the
baseline situation is. The baseline
situation is a key
concept in EIA.

More…
The baseline situation
Water Quantity, quality, reliability,
In characterizing the accessibility
baseline situation,
Soils Erosion, crop productivity,
many environmental fallow periods, salinity,
components MAY be nutrient concentrations
of interest Fauna Populations, habitat

The components of
Env Health Disease vectors, pathogens
interest are those that
are likely to be affected
Flora Composition and density of
by your activity—or natural vegetation,
upon which your productivity, key species
activity depends for its
success Special Key species
ecosystems
The baseline situation

The baseline situation is

Water table
not simply a “snapshot.”
Describing the baseline
situation requires describing
both the normal variability in
environmental components &
current trends in these time
components. This chart of
groundwater levels
shows both variability
and a trend over time.

Both are part of the

groundwater baseline
situation.
Types of impacts & their attributes
Direct & indirect
The EIA process is impacts
concerned with
Short-term & long-
all types of impacts and term impacts
may describe them in a
Adverse & beneficial
number of ways impacts
Cumulative impacts
 Intensity
 Direction
 Spatial extent
 Duration
But all impacts are
 Frequency
 Reversibility NOT treated
 Probability equally.
 Specifically,
! It is ESSENTIAL in EIA
to focus on the most
significant impacts.

Don’t waste effort & time

analyzing and discussing
impacts that are less
important.
General EIA Process Flow Chart
 EIA Core Values

A number of core values and guiding principles for the

practice of EIA have been identified:
Sustainability – EIA process result in environmental
safeguards as it is anticipatory and preventive rather
than curative (aids precautionary and preventive
principle).
Integrity – the process will conform to agreed standards
and be performed by multidisciplinary teams.
Utility – the process provides balanced, credible
information for decision- making.

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 Key Guiding Principles for EIA

Continuity - as an integral part of planning, designing and implementation cycle of and

development initiative, EIA should run continuously and throughout project cycle.

Participatory - EIA provides a framework for stakeholders and all interested parties to
participate in decision-making.

Transparency – EIA facilitates dialogue, predictions and responses in a forum where

proponents, decision-makers, experts and the public interact in an open and accessible
way in considering the potential impacts of a project on local community, natural
resources and environmental quality. All assessment decisions and their basis, should be
open and accessible.

Credibility – assessments are undertaken with professionalism and objectivity, using

multidisciplinary skills.

Certainty – the process and timing of assessment must be agreed in advance and followed
by all participants.

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Cost-effectiveness – the assessment process and its outcomes will ensure
environmental protection at the least cost to society. It ensures fair and
equitable distribution of project costs and benefit. As a minimum, local people
in a project area must not be worse-off than they were before a project was
implemented.

Flexibility – the assessment should be able to adapt to deal efficiently and

effectively with any proposal or decision- making situation.

Practicality – the information and outputs are readily usable for planning,
designing and in decision-making.

Accountability – decision-makers are responsible to all parties for decision and

actions under the assessment process.

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What is an activity?
We are discussing the impacts of activities.
What are activities?
An activity is:
 a desired
accomplishment or
output Accomplishing an activity
E.g.: a road, seedling requires a set of actions
production, or river
ACTIVITY: ACTIONS:
diversion to irrigate market access Survey, grading, culvert
land road construction, compaction,
rehabilitation etc. . .

A project or program may

consist of many activities
The EIA process

Phase II:
Phase I:
Full EIA study
Initial inquiries
(if needed)

• Understand • Scope
proposed activities • Evaluate baseline situation
• Identify & choose alternatives
• Screen • Identify and characterize potential
• Conduct impacts of proposed activity and
preliminary each alternative
assessment (if • Develop mitigation and monitoring
needed) • Communicate and document

Our focus!
Phase 1 of the EIA Process
Understand Screen the Conduct a
Phase I Phase II
proposed activity Preliminary
activity Assessment
Based on the ACTIVITY IS SIGNIFICANT BEGIN
Why is the nature of the OF MODERATE A rapid, ADVERSE FULL
activity being activity what OR UNKNOWN simplified EIA IMPACTS EIA
proposed? level of RISK study using POSSIBLE STUDY
environmental simple tools SIGNIFICANT
What is being review is ADVERSE
proposed? indicated? IMPACTS
VERY UNLIKELY

ACTIVITY IS LOW
RISK (Of its nature, STOP
very unlikely to have the EIA
significant adverse process
impacts)

ACTIVITY IS
HIGH RISK (Of its
nature, likely to have
significant adverse
impacts)
Phase 1 of the EIA process:
Understand the proposed activity
Understand ALL EIA processes begin with
the proposed
activities understanding WHAT is being proposed,
Why is the and WHY.
activity being The question
proposed? “WHY IS THE ACTIVITY BEING PROPOSED?
What is being Is answered with the development objective (D.O.).


proposed?
“building a road” Not a D.O.!

 “increasing access
to markets”
Is a D.O.

We must understand the

Development Objective to identify
environmentally sound alternatives
Phase 1 of the EIA process:
Understand the proposed activity
Understand Once we understand the development
the proposed
activities
objective, we must fully understand
Why is the
WHAT is being proposed.
activity being This includes associated actions!
proposed?
PRIMARY ACTIVITY:
What is being construction of diversion dam &
proposed? irrigation canal
ASSOCIATED ACTIONS:
• Survey
• negotiate land tenure
• construct borrow pit
• establish construction camp
• construct temporary
diversion structure
• dispose of soil, debris
Phase 1 of the EIA process:
Screen the activity
Screen each
activity
SCREENING is the process of asking
Based on the
nature of the
a very basic set of questions about
activity, what the nature of activity.
level of These questions:
environmental • do NOT require analysis.
analysis is • do NOT require detailed knowledge
indicated?
about the proposed sites, techniques or
methods
Example screening questions:
Does the activity involve:
• Penetration road building?
• Large-scale irrigation?
• Introduction of non-native
crop or agroforestry species?
Phase 1 of the EIA process:
Screen the activity
Screen each
activity
screening classifies the activity into
Based on the
nature of the
a RISK CATEGORY:
activity, what VERY LOW RISK EIA process ends
level of
environmental
VERY HIGH RISK Do full EIA study
analysis is
indicated?
MODERATE OR Do preliminary
UNKNOWN RISK assessment

The outcome of the

screening process
determines the next step
in the EIA process
Phase 1 of the EIA process:
Screen the activity

! Each donor agency

and national EIA law
has its own set of
screening questions.

 Screening is the topic

of an upcoming
module
Phase 1 of the EIA process:
The Preliminary Assessment
Conduct a
Preliminary
Assessment The purpose of a preliminary
A rapid, assessment is to provide
simplified EIA documentation and analysis that:
study using
• Allows the preparer to
simple tools
determine whether or not
significant adverse impacts are
likely
• Allows the reviewer to agree or

!
disagree with the preparer’s
Screening determinations
determines whether • Sets out mitigation and
the preliminary monitoring for adverse impacts
assessment is
necessary
Phase 1 of the EIA process:
The Preliminary Assessment
Typical Preliminary
Assessment outline

1. Background (Development For each activity it covers, a

objective, list of activities) preliminary assessment has 3
possible findings:
2. Description of the baseline • The project is very unlikely
situation to have significant adverse
impacts. (EIA process ends)
3. Evaluation of potential
• With specified mitigation
environmental impacts
and monitoring, the project
4. Mitigation & monitoring is unlikely to have
significant adverse impacts
5. Recommended Findings • The project is likely to have
significant adverse impacts
(full EIA study is required)
What is mitigation?

Mitigation is. . .
 The implementation of
measures designed to
reduce the undesirable
effects of a proposed
action on the
environment

Mitigation is the topic of

an upcoming module!
To arrive at findings:
Identify, Predict and Judge
Arriving at the FINDINGS in a preliminary
assessment requires 3 steps:
1
Identify potential Many resources describe the potential
impacts impacts of typical small-scale activities.

2 Determine which potential impacts are likely

Predict potential
to become actual, and quantify these
impacts
impacts to the extent possible.

3 Judge the Determine whether the predicted impacts are

significance of indeed significant!
potential impacts THIS WILL OFTEN DEPEND ON HOW
EFFECTIVE THE PROPOSED MITIGATION
MEASURES ARE!
 Subsequent modules. . .
 Present tools to assist
in identifying &
predicting impacts
Discuss the factors
involved in judging
significance
! We only proceed to
Phase II of the EIA process

if
Phase I indicates that
a FULL EIA STUDY
is required

Most small-scale activities do

not require a full EIA study!
Phase 2 of the EIA process:
The Full EIA study
A formal scoping process

The full EIA study has ! precedes the study to ID

issues to be addressed
very similar objectives Analysis of environmental
and structure to a
preliminary
! impacts is much more
detailed
Alternatives* must be
assessment.
However, the full EIA ! formally defined. The
impacts of each
alternative must be
study differs in identified & evaluated,
important ways: and the results compared.
Public participation is
usually required.
!
*includes the project as
proposed, the no-action alternative A professional EIA team
at least one other real alternative is usually required.
Phase 2 of the EIA process:
The Full EIA study
With a few additions, the Basic steps of the full
EIA study
basic outline of the
preliminary assessment is Scope

Communicate & Document throughout

the template for the steps Evaluate baseline
situation
involved in a full EIA study:
Identify & choose
1. Background (Development alternatives
objective, list of activities)
Identify and characterize
2. Description of the baseline potential impacts of
situation proposed activity and
3. Evaluation of potential each alternative
environmental impacts
Compare alternatives
4. Mitigation & monitoring
Develop mitigation and
5. Recommended Findings monitoring
Phase 2 of the EIA process:
The Full EIA study

In summary,
 The full EIA study is a far
more significant effort than
the preliminary assessment.

It is reserved for activities for

which screening or the
preliminary assessment
shows that significant
impacts are likely.
Who is involved in EIA?

Public consultation is usually

Sponsor of the activity only REQUIRED for full EIA
(usually commissions/conducts the
EIA) studies.
Regulatory agencies/ However, it is good practice
for preliminary assessments
Review authorities
because:
Broad-based public • Predicting impacts is
Communities (men & women)
Civil society FACILITATED by broad-
Private Sector based public consultation;
Judging significance is very
difficult without it.
• Transparency and
accessibility require
disclosure to stakeholders
Making EIA effective
To be an effective tool for
SD, EIA must be: EIA is undertaken early enough
 a integral part of the to affect project design
project development Mitigation and monitoring
developed in the EIA process is
cycle. implemented.

 Honest The full EIA study must

consider real alternatives
Impacts must be assessed
honestly.
 Transparent & The EIA products must be clear
accessible and accessible to key actors.
 Costs and Benefits of Using EIA

Benefits
There are both direct and indirect benefits of EIA.

• More environmentally sustainable design or improvements in the design.

• Better compliance with environmental standards.
• Savings in capital and operating cost.
• Reduces time and cost of approvals of development application.
• Resolves conflict, solves problems and thus increase project acceptability.
• Improves institutional co-ordination and inter-agency co-operation.
• Improves accountability and transparency in planning and decision-making
• For business and governments - EIA - important planning and management
tool.
• Environmental assessments good > good management > good business

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 Costs

• Determination of exact costs of preparing EIA is often difficult.

• Proponent is usually responsible for carrying out an

environmental impact assessment and incurring associated
costs.

Too late introduction or start of EIA in the project cycle; poor

drafting of terms of references; inadequate management
of EIA according to schedule; inadequacy of EIA reports
and requirement for additional technical data and
upgrading, result in prolonged time duration for the
administration of EIA process and hence more financial
resources.

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Government planning and decision-making:
“D-D-D” -- “Discuss, Decide, Deliver”

Questions?????