CHAPTER-3

EIA
TECHNIQUES

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EIA
TECHNIQUES
 Qualities of appropriate technique to evaluate
a project:
 it should be systematic in approach
 it should be able to organize a large mass of
heterogeneous data
 it should be capable of summarizing such data
 it should have good predictive capability
 it should be able to finally display the raw data and
the derived information in a meaningful fashion.

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TECHNIQUES
 Objective Criteria for selection of Methods:
 General:
 simplicity
 manpower, time and budget constraint
 Flexibility
 Impact identification:
 comprehensiveness
 specificity
 timing and duration
 Impact measurement:
 explicit indicators
 magnitude
 objective criteria

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TECHNIQUES
 Impact interpretation and evaluation:
 significance
 aggregation
 risk and uncertainty
 alternative comparison and public involvement
 Impact communication:
 summary format, key issues and compliance
 Methods Available:
 Baseline studies
 Check-list
 Battelle Environmental Evaluation System
 Matrices
 Network diagrams
 Overlays
 Cost/Benefit Analysis
 Mathematical modeling
 Expert advice
 Economic techniques 4
EIA
TECHNIQUES
 Baseline studies:
 When do we require baseline studies?
 At the SCOPING STAGE
 Why do we require baseline studies?
 To identify Key-Issues of the EI

 available data and local knowledge are sources of info.

for base line studies.

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TECHNIQUES
 Checklist:
 is an invaluable aid for several activities of an EIA,
particularly scoping and defining baseline studies
 They are used as a means of checking whether
all of the important items have been included, and
do not represent a methodology for EIA by itself
 Checklist Types: prepared by a variety of
financial, regulatory and professional organization
 ADB,
 WORLD BANK,
 ICOLD,
 ICID …
 See the Oregon checklist!
06/18/24  See the WRAM-scaling6
EIA
TECHNIQUES
 Battelle Environmental Evaluation System:
 This method takes the item-by-item evaluation
approach and then determines a numerical value
function of each parameter
 is used to evaluate the expected future condition
of the environmental quality, both ‘with’ and
‘without’ the project
 A difference in environmental impact units (EIU’s)
between those two conditions constitute:
 either an adverse impact, which corresponds to a loss of
EIU’s,
 or a beneficial impact, which corresponds to a gain in
EIU.
 Go to case study
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EIA
TECHNIQUES
 Mathematically:
m m
E1   Vi   Wi   Vi   Wi
i 1 1 i 1 2
 Where:
 E1=value in environmental impact
 (V)i1=value in environmental quality of parameter i ‘with’
project
 (V)i2= value in environmental quality of parameter i ‘without’
project
 Wi=relative weight (importance) of parameter i
 m= total no. of parameters
 To help in transforming these parameters estimates into environmental
06/18/24 quality scale, value function graphs are used for each parameter in the8
3 Flow Variation(C) Moderate Very Slight 35
change change

4 Climate Change Very Slight No change 15

(D) change

5 Land Loss (E) Moderate No change 35

change

6 Agricultural (F) Improvement Extensive 95

Production deterioration

7 Domestic Water Improvement Moderate 60

Supply (G) deterioration

8 Reservoir Leakage Slight change No change 10

( H)

9 Resettlement (I) Moderate Moderate 40

change change

10 Reservoir fisheries Slight Change None (0.0) 40 9

(J)
EIA
TECHNIQUES
 Steps in determination of value function for an
environmental parameter are as follows:
 Information is collected on the relationship between the
parameter and the quality of the environment.
 The parameter scale, which is normally the abscissa, is
ordered, so that the lowest value is zero.
 The environmental quality scale is divided into equal
intervals between 0 to 1, and appropriate value of the
parameters for each interval is determined.

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TECHNIQUES
REMARKS
•These steps should be performed repeatedly for all the
environmental parameters of interest by various groups of
experts until a group curve is obtained.
•The next step is the computation of the EIUs.
•The problem areas in a project are identified using minor
and major flags.
•The positive impact is also marked by + and the negative
impacts with – EIU.
•A conclusion may be finally formulated. [SEE EXAMPLE]
 See value function curves

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EIA
TECHNIQUES
 Matrices:
 are used to quantify effects by applying numerical values to
the magnitudes and importance of various actions
 main Advantages:
 Provide a graphic tool for displaying impacts to their audience
in a simple manner
 Identify first order effects
 Offers the possibility of rating and weighting, through this,
offers criteria to decision making analysis
 Matrices are strong in identifying impacts and unlike checklists
can also represent higher order effects and interactions
 Can identify the dynamic nature of the impact
 Can communicate the result in an easily understood format

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EIA
TECHNIQUES
 Main disadvantages of matrix method:
 Simple matrices can not show higher interactive
effects between impacts
 Matrix method can not compare different
alternatives in a single format
 A great deal of information that is valuable for
decision making is lost in the conversion to
numbers
 Look at basic interaction matrix and Leopold

matrix

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EIA
TECHNIQUES
 Each cell requires three operations:
 if an effect is likely to occur, a diagonal is placed
across the cell
 On the upper side of the slash, a number from 1-
10 indicating the magnitude of possible effects.
(1 is least, 10 is the highest).
 On the lower side of the slash, a number is placed
from 1 to 10 indicating the importance
(Significance)

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TECHNIQUES
 Network method:
 is based on a list of project activities to establish cause-
condition relationships
 it attempts to define a set of possible networks and allow
the user to identify impacts by selecting and tracing out the
appropriate project actions
 From the system diagram environmental attributes
examined in three respects;
 Initial condition (or first order, direct impact)
 Consequence condition (or second and third order impact)
 Environmental effects

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TECHNIQUES
 Overlay Method:
 This method uses a set of transparent maps of a

project area

Ecological site
Historic site
visual
health
settlement
noise
water
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TECHNIQUES
 Cost/Benefit Analysis
 provides the nature of expenses and benefits for
a project in monetary terms
 Among the hardest tasks for the economist or
project analyst is to decide which of the
environmental and resource impacts are
important and how to measure them and include
them in monetary terms

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