1. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ASSESSMENT
Kashmeera N.A.

2. EIA
EIA
• What is it?
• People involved
EIA
• Objectives
• Principles
EIA
• Types
• Steps involved

3. What is it?
• Formal process to predict envtal consequences of
a proposed plan/project.
• Done prior to the decision to move forward.
• Envtal consequences include changes in physical,
ecological& socio-economic components of envt.
• Done before,during and after completing devptal
project.

4. People involved
• Decision maker
• Assessor
• Proponent
• Reviewer
• Expert advisors
• Special interest groups

5. Objectives
• To ensure that the environmental considerations are
explicitly addressed and incorporated into the development
and decision-making process.
• To anticipate and avoid or minimize the adverse
biophysical, social and other relevant effects of
development proposals.
• To protect the productivity and capacity of natural systems
and the ecological processes .
• To promote development that is sustainable and optimizes
resource use as well as management opportunities

6. Principles
CORE VALUES
Integrity :
should be fair,
objective,
unbiased and
balanced
Utility: should
provide
balanced,
credible
information for
decisionmaking
Sustainability:
should result in
environmental
safeguards

7. TYPES
Regional EIA
Strategic
environmental
assessment
Sectoral EIA
Project level
EIA

8. Strategic environmental assessment
• SEA represents a proactive approach to
integrate environmental considerations into
the higher levels of decision-making – beyond
the project level, when major alternatives are
still open.

9. Regional EIA
• integrates environmental concerns into
development planning for a geographic
region,normally at the sub-country level.
• facilitates adequate integration of economic
development with management of renewable
natural resources within the carrying capacity
limitation to achieve sustainable
development.

10. Sectoral EIA
• helps in addressing specific environmental
problems that may be encountered in
planning and implementing sectoral
development projects.

11. Project level EIA
• refers to the developmental activity in
isolation and the impacts that it exerts on the
receiving environment.
• Thus, it may not effectively integrate the
cumulative effects of the development in a
region.

12. Steps involved
• Screening,
• Scoping,
• Base line data,
• Impact identification,
• Prediction,
• Evaluation,
• Mitigation,
• EIS preparation,
• Review ,
• Environment audit.

13. 1.Screening
• done to see whether the project needs an EIA
for clearance or not.
2.Scoping
•involves determination of the extent of EIA
required for the project.

14. • Gives a holistic picture of the overall environmental setting
of the project location showing any potentially critical
environmental changes and information about the site.
• The following environmental parameters are usually
considered while preparing the baseline data:
• (a) Site location and topography.
• (b) Regional demography.
• (c) Regional landmarks.
• (d) Geology
• (e) Hydrology
• (f) Meteorology
• (g) Ecology

15. Baseline data
• (a) Site location and topography.
• (b) Regional demography - population distribution within 10 and 50 kilometer radius; land-
use and water-use pattern.
• (c) Regional landmarks like historical and cultural heritage in the area. For this archaeological
or state register can be checked.
• (d) Geology – Groundwater and surface water resources are quantified; water, quality,
pollution sources etc are studied.
• (e) Hydrology – Groundwater and surface water resources are quantified; water,
quality,pollution sources etc are studied.
• (f) Meteorology – Temperature extremes, wind speed and direction, dew point,atmospheric
stability, rainfall, storms etc. are recorded.
• (g) Ecology – The flora, fauna, endangered species, successional stage etc. are enlisted

16. • It includes the details of project
characterization and base-line environmental
characteristics to ensure the identification of
full range of environmental impacts.
• Various methods employed for impact
identification are as follows:
• (a) Checklists
• (b) Matrices
• (c) Quantitative Method

17. 4.Impact Identification.
• (a) Checklists: These are based on enlisting of
specific environmental, social, biological and
economic factors affecting the environment.
Checklists can be simple, descriptive or
questionnaire based.
• (b) Matrices: This is most common type of
impact identification method. Here the
impacts are arranged in rows and columns i.e.,
like a matrix.

18. Matrices
• Simple Matrix
• 2-dimensional in nature
• environmental component on one axis and developmental actions
on the other axis.
• Time Dependent Matrix
• time-scale of impacts is taken
• Magnitude Matrix,
• the magnitude of impact is also denoted in the matrix by putting
symbols.
• Leopold Matrix
• consists of a hoziontal list of 100 project actions and a vertical list
of 88 environmental components.
• Magnitude of the impact and importance of the impact are shown
on a scale varying from 1 to 10.

19. Quantitative Method
• It compares the relative importance of all
impacts by weighing, standardizing and
aggregating the impacts.
• The best known method here is Battelle
Environmental Evaluation System (BEES)
which consists of Environmental, Social and
Economic parameters.

20. 5.Impact Prediction
• Here the magnitude and other dimensions of
changes associated with the project are identified
in comparison with a situation without the
project.
• involves identification of potential change in the
indicators of various environmental factors.
• The two important models of impact prediction
are:
• (a) Mathematical Model
• (b) Mass Balance Model

21. • (a) Mathematical Model: The cause and effect
relationships are expressed in the form of a
flow chart or mathematical function.
• (b)Mass Balance Model: This is usually
adopted where physical changes are
involved.Here all inputs are balanced by the
outputs.

22. 6.Impact Evaluation
• After prediction of the impacts, their relative significance is
assessed
• methods of evaluation can be qualitative or quantitative
• to determine magnitude of the impact, temporal and spatial
extent of the impact, recovery (resilience) of the affected
environment, and the value of the affected environment.
• most important method- cost benefit analysis.

23. Cost benefit analysis
• This method takes into consideration a long view
of the project and also the side-effects.
• Net social benefit is considered including all costs
and benefits.
• It takes into account all tangible annual benefits
and costs in monetary terms.
• However, it is very difficult to identify the
intangibles like environmental parameters.
• The intangible category includes loss of a rare
species, urbanization of a beautiful natural
landscape, loss of human health etc.

24. 7.Mitigation
• done to avoid, reduce and if possible,
remedy the significant adverse change.
• Various mitigation measures could be as
follows:
• (a) Avoidance of Impacts
• (b) Reduction of adverse effects
• (c) Repair or restoration
• (d) Compensation for adverse effect

25. • (a) Avoidance of Impacts
• achieved by control of solid/liquid wastes by recycling or removing .
• (b) Reduction of adverse effects
• This is done by using sensitive building designs, using colour
matching with the local environment to reduce visual impact of the
project, using silt-traps and planting of crop-covers.
• (c) Repair or restoration
• The agricultural land used for storage of materials during
construction may be fully rehabilitated. Land used for gravel
extraction may be restored for agricultural use. Any diversion in
stream flow during construction by a road project must be
reestablished.
• (d) Compensation for adverse effect
• If there is loss of a public recreational space or wildlife habitat, then
provision must be made for creation of a spot with afforestation or
plantation of the type of native plants. If there is lot of noise
produced during the project operation, sound insulation must be
done.

26. 8.Decision Analysis
• Individual decision or group response are used
• In order to have minimum bias, group
response is usually taken.
• commonly used approach - multi-step
questionnaire based Delphi approach.

27. 9.Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS)
• It should include the following five major aspects
• (a) The environmental impact of the proposed action.
• (b) The adverse impact that cannot be avoided if the
development occurs.
• (c) Alternatives to the proposed action.
• (d) Relation between the local short-term use of
human environment and maintenance
• of long-term production.
• (e) Irreversible changes in resources.
• EIS is to be written in the format provided by the MOEF
or CEQ as per their guidelines.

28. 10.Environmental Audit
• involves comparison of the impacts predicted
in the EIS with those actually occurring after
implementation to assess whether the impact
prediction performs satisfactorily.

29. • THANK YOU