EIA ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT.pptx

EIA ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT.pptx

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  Femin C Francis IIM.Sc Zoology 73206 Environmental Impact Assessment
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  • Environmental ImpactAssessment (EIA) is a planning tool generally accepted as an integral component of decision making in sustainable development. • It is a systematic process used to identify, predict, and evaluate the potential environmental and social impacts of a proposed project or activity. • All anthropological activities have some impact on the environment. • The need to foresee the problems of a developmental project is the primary objective of environmental impact assessment (EIA). • It allows for the development of strategies to avoid, minimize, or mitigate any adverse impacts identified. INTRODUCTION
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  • Definition byDavid P Lawrence- “Determining and managing human actions and their potential impacts of proposed human actions and their alternatives on the environment.” • Definition by Sadler, 1996- “A process of identifying, predicting, evaluating and mitigating the biophysical, social and other relevant activities prior to major decisions being taken and commitments made.” Definitions of EIA
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  HISTORY OF EIAIN INDIA 1976-77 1986 1994 The Planning Commission asked the Department of Science and Technology to evaluate river valley projects from an environmental perspective. The government passed the Environment (Protection) Act, which made EIA mandatory. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (now the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change) issued the first EIA notification. The notification made Environmental Clearance (EC) mandatory for new projects, or for the expansion or modernization of existing projects, that were listed in Schedule 1
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  1.Project Specific EIA:Limited number of adverse impacts. 2.Regional EIA: Development of an entire region in terms of ancillary activities. 3.Sectoral EIA: Long term developmental plan of a particular sector. 4. Risk Analysis: Identifying the probability of occurrence of an accident and its consequences. Types of EIA
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  EIA Process
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  EIA Process andStages 1 Project Screening Determining if an EIA is required based on the project's potential impacts. 2 Scoping Defining the scope and key issues to be addressed in the EIA study. 3 Impact Assessment Analyzing and predicting the potential environmental, social, and economic impacts of the proposed project. 4 Mitigation Developing strategies to avoid, minimize, or compensate for any identified adverse impacts. 5 Reporting Preparing the EIA report, which documents the findings and recommendations. 6 Review and Approval The EIA report is reviewed and approved by the relevant regulatory authorities.
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  • Project Screening:Narrowing down to projects that may have significant environmental impact. • Scoping: Early identification of all possible impacts of the project. • Consideration of Alternatives: Ensuring that all alternatives were considered. • Description of the Project: Classification of the purpose and rationale of the project. • Description of the Environmental Baseline: Establishment of the present and future state of the environment Steps of EIA
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  • Identification ofMain Impacts: Ensuring that all potentially significant environmental impacts are identified. • Prediction of Impacts: Identifying the magnitude and other dimensions of change in the environment with the project. • Evaluation and Assessment of Significance: Assessing the predicted impacts to focus on the significant adverse impacts. • Mitigation: Introducing measures to avoid or compensate the any significant adverse impact. Steps of EIA
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  • Public Consultationand Participation: Ensuring the quality and effectiveness of EIA by considering the public’s views in the decision making process. • EIS Presentation • Review: Systematic appraisal of the quality of the EIS. • Decision making: Consideration of the relevant authority of EIS with other material considerations. • Post Decision Monitoring: Recording outcomes associated with the development impacts. • Auditing: Comparing actual outcomes with predicted outcomes to assess the prediction and effectiveness of mitigation. Steps of EIA
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  1.Ad-hoc Method: Basedon subjective or intuitive assessment of environmental impacts on broad aspects. • Used when there is time constraint or lack of information. • Minimum guidance from a team of specialist mainly based on pragmatism and improvisation of impacts. • Not to be relied on when scientific reports are available. • Examples- Opinion polls, expert opinions, Delphi methods, etc. • Limitations: (i) Does not include all relevant impacts (ii) Minimum guidance (iii) Criteria used for evaluation is not comparable (iv) Failure to provide information about economic, social and biophysical components. Methods of EIA
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  2. Matrix Method:Qualitative environmental impact assessment method. • Provides the framework of different actions or activities of a project with potential environmental impacts. • The impact is described in terms of its magnitude and significance. • Project actions are related to environmental components. • Identifies interactions between various project actions and environmental parameters. • A list of project activities and environmental components that may be affected is provided. • Example- Checklists Methods of EIA
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  3. Network Method: Used to solve the problem of identifying second and higher-order impacts during EIA. • Takes into account the primary as well as secondary impacts. • Also known as impact tree and sequence diagram. • Identification of direct, indirect or short-term and long- term environmental impacts. Methods of EIA
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  4. Map OverlaysMethod : Series of overlaid map transparencies used to identify, predict and communicate the impacts. • Maps of the project area is relied upon in this method. • A comprehensive description of the area’s environment is formed. • Impacts are identified by comparing the area’s characteristics with a large area or region as a whole. Methods of EIA
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  • Control ofEIAs by project proponents is difficult. • Absence of independent institutional setup to monitor EIAs. • Absence of cumulative EIA provisions in the law. • Absence of effective quality control of the EIA process. • EIA is not cost-effective. • Limitation of time and resources. • Evaluation of living systems is impossible to monitor. Problems involved in EIA
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  Thank You