![32
Con’t
• The screening process can have one of the three outcomes:
1 -No EIA is required;
2 - EIA required
o a full and comprehensive EIA is required;
o a more limited EIA is required (often called
preliminary or initial assessment); or
-Further study is necessary to determine the level of
EIA required (often called an initial environmental
examination or evaluation [IEE]).
3 Initial Environmental Examination /IEE/
• IEE is required when the potential environmental impacts
of a proposal cannot be established by the application of
standard screening procedures.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/ch-123timeeia-250220142916-4012b09a/85/environmental-impact-assessment-of-water-32-320.jpg)
environmental impact assessment of water
- 1. WERABE UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF WATER SUPPLY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT FOR G5
- 2. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Environment and Environmental Impacts • Environment can be defined as Surrounds which an organization operates, including air, water, land, natural resources, flora, fauna, human and inter relation. • Environment have two main categories; biotic and abiotic environments. • Environmental impacts associated with socio- economic development harm or improve the environment in one way or another.
- 3. 3 Cont’d • Environmental impact is any change to the environment or its component that may affect human health or safety, biophysical conditions, or cultural heritage, other physical structure with positive or negative consequences. • Env’tal impacts of projects are that resultant changes/alteration in natural, env’tal parameters ,biological or biosphere and man-made parameters like social, legal, political, economic and cultural parameters.
- 4. 4 Cont’d • Impact is change in an environmental parameter, over a specified period and within a defined area, resulting from a particular activity. • Impacts are distinguished as direct (primary) and indirect (secondary, tertiary and higher order). • EIA procedure was developed in order to; - predict environmental impacts of any development activity and - provide an opportunity to mitigate against negative impacts and enhance positive impacts,
- 5. Definition of EIA A formal process to predict the environmental consequences of human development activities and to plan appropriate measures to eliminate or reduce adverse effects and to augment positive effects. A process used to identify and predict the impact on the environment and on man's health and well being. A process used to interpret and communicate information about the impacts.
- 6. Definition of EIA A technique and a process by which information about the environmental effects of a project is collected, both by the developer and from other sources, and taken into account by the planning authority in forming their judgments on whether the development should go ahead or not. • EIA has three basic functions based on the above definitions, • To predict problems, • To find ways to avoid them, and • To enhance positive effects.
- 7. Definition of EIA • EIA has been regarded as both science and art, reflecting the concern both with technical aspects of appraisal and the effects of EIA upon the decision making process. • EIA as a science has to do with the methodologies and techniques for identifying, predicting and evaluating the environmental impacts associated with particular development actions. • EIA as art has to do with those mechanisms for; -ensuring an environmental analysis of such actions -influencing the decision making process.
- 8. Cont’d • EIA is a management tool for planners and decision makers and go together with project studies on engineering and economics. • Environmental assessment is now accepted as an essential part of development planning and management. • An EIA, in our case, is concerned with impacts of water resources development projects on the environment and with the sustainability of the projects themselves.
- 9. Evolution of EIA • Environment and development are complementary and interdependent and EIA is a technique for ensuring that the two are mutually reinforcing. • An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is a document prepared to describe the effects for proposed activities on the environment.
- 10. 10 Table 1 summary of Major development in EIA
- 11. Purpose and objectives of EIA The main purposes of EIA are; Identify and forecast possible positive and negative impacts to the environment resulting from a proposed project. Provide for a plan, which up on implementation will reduce the negative impacts of the project resulting in acceptable environmental changes. Assure the level of plan implementation and the degree of effectiveness of the environmental protection provisions. provides a systematic examination of the environmental implications of a proposed action.
- 12. Characteristics of major projects large capital investment Cover large areas; employ large numbers (construction and/or operation) Complex array of organizational links Wide-ranging impacts Significant environmental impacts Require special procedures Extractive and primary (including agriculture); services; infrastructure and utilities Projects, Environment and Impact
- 13. Cont’d Effect of EIA on Projects The positive influences of EIA on projects are: • Withdrawal of unsound projects • Legitimating of sound projects • Selection of improved project locations • Reformulation of plans • Redefinitions of goals and responsibilities of project proponents.
- 14. Cont’d • The most common positive outcomes of EIA are suggestions for measures needed to mitigate the adverse effects of a proposed plan. • To mitigate is to avoid having the damage take place. • Mitigation involves one or more of the following: Minimizing adverse effects by scaling down or redesigning projects. Repairing, rehabilitating, restoring parts of the environment that are adversely affected by a project. Creating/acquiring environments similar to those adversely affected by an action.
- 15. Some terms of EIA Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA): • EIA can be described as a process for identifying the likely consequences for the biogeophisical environment and for human’s health and welfare of implementing particular activities and for conveying this information, at a stage where it can materially affect their decision, to those responsible for sanction the proposals. Environmental Impact Statement (EIS): • The outcome of an EIA is usually some formal document. This report has a variety of names throughout the world; ‘environmental assessment’ and ‘environmental appraisal’ are the common synonyms.
- 16. Cont’d Environmental effects; • Changes of environmental factors due to the implementation of a project. • Environmental effects due to a project may be grouped and classified as: • Direct or indirect: • Direct impact: For example, a discharge of any industry or an effluent from the Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) from the industrial estates into a river may lead to a decline in water quality in terms of high biological oxygen demand (BOD) or dissolved oxygen (DO) or rise of water toxins.
- 17. Cont’d • Indirect impacts on the environment are these which are not a direct result of the project, often produced away from or as a result of a complex impact pathway. • First order, 2nd order, higher order,: the first order effects are the immediate consequences of the proposed activity; second order effects are the immediate consequences of the first order effects, etc. Higher order effects are more difficult to assess than the first order effects, but they can be more important than the 1st order effects. • +ve & -ve: with the meaning of favorable and unfavorable. • Significant and insignificant: according to their relevance and according to a given set of criteria. • Reversible and Irreversible: permanent or long lasting as opposed to short term.
- 18. Cont’d Environmental Impact Mitigation: • measures to control adverse impacts. Such measures may be preventive, corrective and compensatory, corresponding to avoidance, correction or compensation of the impacts respectively. • The purpose of mitigation measures is to avoid, reduce or minimize unwanted impacts and enhance beneficial impacts .
- 19. 19 2. POLICY, SOCIAL, INSTITUTIONAL & LEGAL ASPECTS OF EIA • Environmental Policy of Ethiopia (EPE), supports Constitutional Rights guiding principles include: • Ensuring environmental sustainability, (minimize degrading & polluting impacts on ecological & life support systems), • wise use & management of renewable & non-renewable resources • Public involvement & empowerment, full environmental & social costs or benefits foregone or lost, & • The integrated implementation of cross federal, regional & local policies shall be seen as a prerequisite to achieving the objectives of this Policy on the Environment.
- 20. 20 Cont’d The EIA policies are to ensure that: • To ensure that environmental impact assessments consider not only physical and biological impacts but also deals with social, socio-economic, political and cultural conditions; • To ensure that public sector development programs and projects recognize any environment impact early and incorporate their containment into the development design process; • To recognize that public consultation is an integral part of EIA and ensure that EIA procedures make provision for both an independent review and public comment before consideration by decision makers;
- 21. 21 Con’d • To ensure that an environmental impact statement always includes mitigation plans for environmental management problems . • To ensure that, at specified intervals during project implementation, environmental audit regarding monitoring, inspection and record keeping take place for activities where these has been required by the environmental Impact Statement; • To ensure that preliminary and full EIAs are under taken by the relevant sectoral ministries or departments, if in the public sector, and by developer, if in the private sector; • To create by law an EIA process which requires appropriate environmental impact statements and environmental audits for private and state development projects;
- 22. 22 Con’d • To establish the necessary institutional framework and determine the linkages of its parts for undertaking, coordinating and approving EIAs and the subsequent system of environmental audits required to ensure compliance with conditionality's; • To develop sectoral technical guidelines in EIAs and environmental audits; • To ensure that social , socioeconomic, political and cultural conditions are considered in environmental impact assessment procedures and included in sectoral guidelines;
- 23. 23 Legal framework for EIA • EP without appropriate legislation will be ineffective. • For example, laws exist in most countries for the prevention of water pollution. Recently, much specific new environmental legislation has been enacted. Relevant water and land law as well as environmental protection legislation needs stating, understanding and analyzing as part of an EIA. • When carrying out an EIA it is thus essential to be fully aware of the constitutional requirements and the legal responsibilities of the concerned institutions.
- 24. 24 Legal Acts in Ethiopia • The proclamation No1/1995 to pronounce the coming into effect of the constitution of the FDRE(Article 43, 44 and 92) consider environmental issues. • Article 43 (The Right to Development) 1. The peoples of Ethiopia as a whole and each Nation, Nationality and people in Ethiopia in particular have the right to improve living standards and to sustainable development. 2. Nations have the right to participate in national development and, in particular, to be consulted with respect to policies and projects affecting their community 3. All international Agreements and relations concluded, established or conducted by the state shall protect and ensure Ethiopia’s right to sustainable development. 4. The basic aim of development activities shall be to enhance the capacity of citizens for development and to meet basic needs.
- 25. 25 Article,44 :- Environment Rights 1. All persons have the right to live in a clean and healthy environment. 2. All persons who have been displaced or whose livelihoods have been adversely affected as a result of state programs have the right to commensurate monetary or alternative means of compensation, including relocation with adequate state assistance. Article, 92:- Environmental Objective 1. Government shall endeavor to ensure that all Ethiopians live in a clean and healthy environment 2. The design and implementation of programs and projects of development shall not damage or destroy the Environment.
- 26. 3. THE EIA PROCESS • EIA process involves a number of steps and it is a systematic process that examines the environmental consequences of development actions, in advance. Public participation for EIA • Public involvement is a fundamental principle of the EIA process. If appropriately implemented it will contribute for the successful design, completion, operation and management of proposals. • Public involvement is a valuable source of information on key impacts, potential mitigation measures and the identification and selection of alternatives.
- 27. 27 Cont’d The purpose of public involvement is to: Inform the stakeholders about the proposal and its likely effects Suggest (an idea or plan)/ their inputs, views and concerns for discussion ; and Take account of the information and views of the public in the EIA and decision making. The key objectives of public involvement are to: Obtain local and traditional knowledge that may be useful for decision- making; Facilitate consideration of alternatives, mitigation measures and tradeoffs; Ensure that important impacts are not overlooked and benefits are maximized; Reduce conflict through the early identification of contentious issues; Provide an opportunity for the public to influence project design in a positive manner (thereby creating a sense of ownership of the proposal);
- 28. 28 Cont’d • Improve transparency and accountability of decision-making; and increase public confidence in the EIA process. • Participation is a more interactive process of engaging the public in addressing the issues, establishing areas of agreement and disagreement and trying to reach common positions. The range of stakeholders involved in an EIA typically includes: The people (individuals, groups and communities) who are affected by the proposal; Project beneficiaries; Government agencies; NGOs and interest groups; and Others, such as donors, the private sector, academics etc.
- 29. 29 Cont’d Key principles for public involvement, which are widely agreed, are outlined as: Inclusive – covers all stakeholders; Open and transparent – steps and activities are understood; Relevant – focused on the issues that matter; Fair – conducted impartially and without bias toward any stakeholder; Responsive – to stakeholder requirements and inputs; and Credible – builds confidence and trust.
- 30. 30 Guiding principles of EIA Basic principles that underline the objective of EIA are: • Early application • Accountability • Participation • Flexibility • Issues based: • Credibility • Alternatives: • Time and cost effectiveness • Transparency • Conservation based • Supportive • Practicality Provide information in a form useful to the decision makers Link information to decisions about the project Present clear options for the mitigation of impacts and for sound environmental management
- 31. 31 Basic steps of EIA Process 1. Screening:- is the first key decision of the EIA process. • Purpose is to determine whether a proposal requires an EIA or not and the level at which the assessment should occur • The conduct of screening thus involves making a preliminary determination of the expected impact of a proposal on the environment and of its relative significance. • A certain level of basic information about the proposal and its location is required for this purpose
- 32. 32 Con’t • The screening process can have one of the three outcomes: 1 -No EIA is required; 2 - EIA required o a full and comprehensive EIA is required; o a more limited EIA is required (often called preliminary or initial assessment); or -Further study is necessary to determine the level of EIA required (often called an initial environmental examination or evaluation [IEE]). 3 Initial Environmental Examination /IEE/ • IEE is required when the potential environmental impacts of a proposal cannot be established by the application of standard screening procedures.
- 33. 33 IEE C’d • IEE is a relatively low-cost analysis that makes use of information already available. • IEE is a preliminary EIA study that: describes the proposal and the environmental setting; considers alternatives to improve the environmental benefits; addresses the concerns of the local community; identifies the potential environmental effects; identifies measures to mitigate adverse impacts; and describes, as necessary, environmental monitoring and management plans.
- 34. 34 A Detailed /Full/ EIA Criteria for the determination of the need for, and level of EIA • Screening criteria is used for the determination of the need for, and level of, EIA. • The most important criteria to be considered are: Character of the receiving environment (the sensitivity of the project location), Potential impact of proposal, Resilience of natural and human environments to cope with change, Confidence of prediction of impacts and Degree of public interest. Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) as it provides: - information about the proposal - describes the proposal and examine alternatives - identifies and addresses the concerns of the community -mitigates adverse effects and enhances potential benefits
- 35. 35 Screening approaches a) Checklists: are lists of project types that must be subjected to different levels of environmental assessment. • most widely used and effective screening method. • Checklists of Environmentally Critical Projects /ECP/requiring EIA include the following and Projects defined as ECP require an EIA based on type, regardless of location. • Heavy industries: non-ferrous metal industries, iron and steel mills, petroleum and petrochemical industries, smelting plants. • Resource extractive industries: major mining and quarrying projects, forestry projects, fishery projects. • Infrastructure projects: major dams, major power plants, major reclamation projects, major roads and bridges.
- 36. 36 b) Sensitive area criteria: • focuses on areas that are environmentally sensitive. Projects that require an EIA are those located in environmentally critical areas, regardless of type. • Environmentally Critical Areas /ECA/ are: national parks, protected areas, watershed reserves, wildlife reserves, and sanctuaries; potential tourist spots; habitat for any endangered or threatened species of indigenous wildlife (flora and fauna); areas of unique historical, archaeological, or scientific interest; or
- 37. 37 CONT… areas traditionally occupied by cultural communities or tribes; areas frequently visited and/or hard-hit by natural disaster; areas with critical slopes; agricultural lands; recharge areas of aquifers; water bodies and etc
- 38. 38 Cont’d c) Preliminary assessments • are undertaken when more information is required to determine a screening decision. • are low- cost environmental evaluations which make use of information that is already available.
- 39. 39 Different countries and donors use different criteria for screening project • The World Bank lists three categories of projects in relation to EIA: • Category A (environmental analysis is normally required as the project may have adverse and significant environmental impact) • Category B (limited environmental analysis is appropriate, as the project may have specific environmental impact) and • Category C (environmental analysis is normally unnecessary)
- 40. 40 steps of EIA Process cont’d 2. Scoping- is a critical, early step in the preparation of an EIA. The scoping process identifies the issues that are likely to be of most importance during the EIA and eliminates those that are of little concern. Typically, this process concludes with the establishment of the preparation of an EIA. Scoping ensures that EIA studies are focused on the significant thing. Scoping is the process of identifying :- the key environmental issues, Several groups, particularly decision makers, the local population and the scientific community, who have an interest in the project should be considered, and scoping is designed to investigate their views. • Scoping occurs early in the project cycle at the same time as outline planning and pre-feasibility studies.
- 41. 41 Cont’d The purpose of scoping is to identify: the important problems and issues of the project; the appropriate temporal, spatial and institutional boundaries of the project and its impact; the likely data (information) necessary for the study; and the significant positive and negative impacts and factors to be studied in detail.
- 42. 42 Cont’d Key objectives of scoping in the EIA Process is to: inform the public about the proposal; identify the main stakeholders and their concerns and values; define the reasonable and practical alternatives to the proposal; focus the important issues and significant impacts to be addressed by an EIA; define the boundaries for an EIA in time, space and subject matter; Identifies assessment methods; Identify baseline and other information needs establish the Terms of Reference for an EIA study.
- 43. 43 Guiding principles for carrying out the scoping process include the following • Recognize scoping is a process rather than a discrete activity or event; • Design the scoping process for each proposal, taking into account the environment and people affected • Start scoping as soon as you have sufficient information available; • Prepare an information package or circular explaining the proposal and the process; • Specify the role and contribution of the stakeholders and the public; • Take a systematic approach but implement flexibly; • Document the results to guide preparation of an EIA; and • Respond to new information and further issues raised by stakeholders.
- 44. 44 steps of EIA Process c’d 3. Impact Prediction, Evaluation and Mitigation Impact identification • Is a process designated to ensure that all potentially significant impacts are identified and taken in to account in the EIA process. • The aim is to ensuring that all adverse or favorable impacts are identified and taken into account in the EIA process. • A number of EIA methodologies and tools have been developed for impact identification. 1. Experts judgment 2. Checklists and matrices 3. Flowcharts and decision trees 4. Multicriteria analysis …. etc
- 45. 45 steps of EIA Process cont’d Impact prediction • Typical parameters to be taken into account in impact prediction and decision-making are: nature (positive, negative, direct, indirect, cumulative); magnitude (severe, moderate, low); extent/location (area/volume covered, distribution); timing (during construction, operation, decommissioning, immediate, delayed, rate of change); duration (short term, long term, intermittent, continuous); reversibility/irreversibility; likelihood (probability, uncertainty or confidence in the prediction); and significance (local, regional, global).
- 46. 46 Con’d • Methods for predicting the characteristics of impacts are: best estimate - professional judgment; quantitative mathematical models; experiments and physical models; and Case studies as analogues or points of reference.
- 47. 47 steps of EIA Process cont’d Impact Evaluation • Is a stage that follows from prediction and involves an assessment of the relative significance of the impacts. • Once the impacts have been identified and predicted, they are evaluated to determine their significance. • As noted earlier, the attribution of significance begins early, during screening and scoping, and extends throughout the EIA process. • There is a gradually ‘narrowing cone of resolution’ on questions of impact significance as more complete information becomes available. • Following impact identification and prediction, impact evaluation is the formal stage at which a test of significance is made. Step one involves evaluating the significance of ‘as predicted’ impacts to define the requirements for mitigation and other remedial actions. Step two involves evaluating the significance of the ‘residual’ impacts, i.e. after mitigation measures are taken into account.
- 48. 48 Con’d Impact evaluation methods 1. Comparison • The most formal evaluation method is the comparison of likely impacts against legal requirements and standards (e.g. air quality standards, building regulations etc). • Socio-economic impacts can raise in particular the distributional dimensions to evaluation, who wins and who loses. 2. Cost -benefit analysis • Is an impact evaluation method that seeks to apply monetary values to costs and benefit. • The basic principle of CBA is to measure the cost and benefit in monetary terms as money is the common measures of value; and monetary values are best understood by the community and decision makers.
- 49. 49 Cont’d • CBA has several stages: project definition, identification and enumeration of costs and benefits, evaluation of costs and benefits, and discounting and presentation of results. • If the benefit-to-cost ratio comes out greater than one the activity causing environmental impact may be declared acceptable.
- 50. 50 Cont’d A test of significance can be applied by asking three questions: Are there residual environmental impacts? If yes, are these likely to be significant or not? If yes, are these significant effects likely to occur e.g. are the probability high, moderate or low? Criteria to evaluate whether or not adverse impacts are significant include: environmental loss and deterioration; social impacts resulting directly or indirectly from environmental change; non-conformity with environmental standards, objectives and guidelines; and likelihood and acceptability of risk.
- 51. 51 Cont’d Criteria to evaluate adverse impacts on natural resources, ecological functions or designated areas include: reductions in species diversity; depletion or fragmentation on plant and animal habitat; loss of threatened, rare or endangered species; impairment of ecological integrity, resilience or health e.g. o disruption of food chains; o decline in species population; o alterations in predator-prey relationships.
- 52. 52 Cont’d Criteria to evaluate the significance of adverse social impacts that result from biophysical changes include: threats to human health and safety e.g. from release of persistent and/or toxic chemicals; decline in commercially valuable or locally important species or resources e.g. fish, forests and farmland; loss of areas or environmental components that have cultural, recreational or aesthetic value; displacement of people e.g. by dams and reservoirs; disruption of communities by influx of a workforce e.g. during project construction; and pressures on services, transportation and infrastructure.
- 53. 53 steps of EIA Process cont’d Impact mitigation and Environmental Management Plan (EMP) • Mitigation is a critical component of the EIA process. • Its aim is to prevent adverse impacts from happening and to keep those that do occur within an acceptable level. • Opportunities for impact mitigation will occur throughout the project cycle. The objectives of mitigation are to: find better alternatives and ways of doing things; enhance the environmental and social benefits of a proposal; avoid, minimize or remedy adverse impacts; and ensure that residual adverse impacts are kept within acceptable levels.
- 54. 54 Cont’d The objectives of impact management are to: ensure that mitigation measures are implemented; establish systems and procedures for this purpose; monitor the effectiveness of mitigation measures; and take any necessary action when unforeseen impacts occur. The elements of mitigation are organized into a hierarchy of actions: first, avoid adverse impacts as far as possible by use of preventative measures; second, minimize or reduce adverse impacts to as low as practicable levels; and third, remedy or compensate for adverse residual impacts, which are unavoidable and cannot be reduced
- 55. 55 Cont’d Key principles for the application of mitigation consistent with the above framework include the following: give preference to avoid and prevent measures; consider feasible alternatives to the proposal and identify the best practicable environmental option; identify customized measures to minimize each of the main impacts predicted; ensure they are appropriate, environmentally sound and cost-effective; and use compensation or remedial measures as a last resort.
- 56. 56 Cont’d Mitigation can be carried out by: structural measures, such as design or location changes, engineering modifications and landscape or site treatment; are well established for certain types of projects, such as dams, roads, and oil and gas exploration and development. non-structural measures, such as economic incentives, legal, institutional and policy instruments, provision of community services and training and capacity building.
- 57. 57 Cont’d Depending on the timing of the project cycle and the nature of impacts, a number of approaches can be taken to achieve the objectives of mitigation. These include: developing environmentally better alternatives to the proposal; making changes to project planning and design; carrying out impact monitoring and management; and compensating for impacts by o monetary payment o in kind measures o site remediation bonds o a resettlement plan.
- 58. 58 Cont’d • An environmental management plan (EMP), also referred to as an impact management plan, is usually prepared as part of EIA reporting. • It translates recommended mitigation and monitoring measures into specific actions that will be carried out by the proponent. Depending upon particular requirements, the plan may be included in, or appended to, the EIA report or may be a separate document. • The EMP will need to be adjusted to the terms and conditions specified in any project approval. It will then form the basis for impact management during project construction and operation.
- 59. 59 Cont’d EMP should contain the following: summary of the potential impacts of the proposal; description of the recommended mitigation measures; statement of their compliance with relevant standards; allocation of resources and responsibilities for plan implementation; schedule of the actions to be taken; programme for surveillance, monitoring and auditing; and contingency plan when impacts are greater than expected.
- 60. 60 ….Step of EIA… 4. Public Participation, Presentation and Review • Public involvement contribute to EIA studies to the successful design, implementation, operation and management of proposals. • Specifically public involvement is a valuable source of information on key impacts, potential mitigation measures and the identification and selection of alternatives. • It also ensures the EIA process is open, transparent and robust, characterised by defensible analysis.
- 61. Levels and forms of public involvement Level Form of involvement Informing One way flow of information from the proponent to the public Consulting Two way flow of information between the proponent and the public with opportunities for the public to express views on the proposal Participating Interactive exchange between the proponent and the public encompassing shared analysis and agenda setting and the development of understood and agreed positions on the proposal and its impacts Negotiating Face to face discussion between the proponent and key stakeholders to build consensus and reach a mutually acceptable resolution of issues, for example on a package of impact mitigation and compensation measures. Adapted from Bass et al (1995)
- 62. 62 Presentation • The EIS should be kept as brief as possible while presenting the necessary information. The main text should include all relevant discussion of impacts, and appendices should present only additional data and documentation . They are usually expected to be less than 150 pages.
- 63. 63 Review • The purpose of review is to assure the completeness and quality of the information gathered in an EIA. • When undertaken as a formal step, it acts as a final check on the quality of the EIA report submitted to obtain a project authorisation. • Key objectives of EIA review are to: assess the adequacy and quality of an EIA report; take account of public comment; determine if the information is sufficient for a final decision to be made; and identify, as necessary, the deficiencies that must be addressed before the report can be submitted.
- 64. • Monitoring can be defined as the continuous assessment of environmental or socio- economic variables by the systematic collection of specific data in space and time. It can be strictly continuous, e.g. using recording instruments, but more commonly involves periodic repeated data collection, usually by the same or similar methods as in baseline surveys. • The primary aim of monitoring is to provide information that will aid impact management, and, secondarily, to achieve a better understanding of cause-effect relationships and to improve EIA prediction and mitigation methods. …Steps of EIA… 5. Monitoring and Auditing after Decision
- 65. Types of monitoring • Base line monitoring : - monitoring which may be carried out over seasons or years to quantify ranges of natural variation and /or directions and rates of change, that are relevant to the project impact prediction and mitigation . • Compliance monitoring: - this is monitoring activity aimed to check that specific conditions and standards are met, e.g. in relation to emission of pollutants. • Impact and mitigation monitoring: - which aims to compare predicted and actual (residual) impacts, and hence to determine the effectiveness of mitigation measures.
- 66. Environmental auditing • Auditing is accounting to describe a systematic process of examining, documenting and verifying that EIA procedures and outcomes correspond to objectives and requirements. • Environmental auditing is a review process similar to that carried out in financial accounting. Both result in a statement of facts, which certifies that practice is in accordance with standard procedure. In the case of environmental auditing, there is an added level of interpretation, focusing on the factors of performance. The concern is to identify how the aspects, processes or systems under review can be improved.
- 67. EIA audits are used to: • identify the impacts of project implementation; • verify whether or not the conditions of approval have been implemented; • test the accuracy of impact predictions; • check the effectiveness of mitigation measures; and • improve compliance and performance of EIA practice.
- 68. Main techniques for conducting an environmental audit • examination of records and documentation relating to impacts, actions taken to manage them and aspects of performance; • interviews with management and line staff to corroborate factual information and probe areas of concern; and • site inspection to check that environmental measures and controls are operating as described and intended.
- 69. The main types of EIA related audits are: • Implementation audits - to verify that EIA implementation met the conditions of project approval. • Impact audits - to determine the impact of the project and the accuracy of EIA predictions. • Compliance audits - to verify that project impacts complied with environmental standards and regulatory requirements. It is the verification process whereby the company established the extent to which it is complying with environmental legislation with environmental legislation, discharge and emission limits, building permit (standards). • Effectiveness or policy audits - to check the feasibility of mitigation measures and the consistency of EIA practice. It is the process of checking the system or procedures against the existing policy and standard and relevance of those standards and procedures for ensuring continual improvement in environmental performance.
- 70. 70 • EIA is part of a larger process of decision-making to approve a major proposal. • In many authorities the information of the EIA report and from other sources, like public submissions, is presented to decision-makers in a summary form. • Decision-makers then have the use of: the EIA Report (often called an Environment Impact Statement); and the summary report (called an Assessment Report or similar). Decision making
- 71. Decision making in EIA There can be a number of different outcomes from decision-making: the proposal can be approved; the proposal can be approved with conditions; the proposal can be placed on hold pending further investigation; the proposal can be returned for revision and resubmission; and the proposal can be rejected outright.