Environmental Impact Assessment

Theory and Practice

Anji Reddy Mareddy

• Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9780128111390
• eBook ISBN: 9780128112380
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Civil Engineering
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Environmental Impact Assessment: Theory and Practice describes the various pieces of knowledge necessary to speak the language of EIA and carry out EIAs focusing on a variety of environmental issues, including impacts on environmental components, like air, water, soils, land, noise and biological environments. Organized into 15 chapters, the book provides engineers with the tools and methods to conduct an effective assessment, including report preparations, design measures and relevant mitigation steps that can be taken to reduce or avoid negative effects. Case Studies are presented, providing guidance professionals can use to better understand, plan and prepare environmental impact assessments. - Presents detailed methodologies for air pollution control, waste treatment schemes, phytoremediation, bioremediation, hazardous waste, green belt development and rainwater harvesting - Highlights concepts and important definitions of EIA and the planning and management of EIA study - Discusses the impacts on valued environmental components, like air, water, soils, land, noise, and biological and socioeconomic environments in a systematic manner

1

Conceptual facets of EIA

Abstract

The definition of environmental impact assessment and various types of EIAs are given in the first chapter, namely, conceptual facts of EIA. In this chapter, the EIA principles and its process are discussed along with grouping of environmental impacts. Very important concepts, namely, environmental due diligence and significant environmental impact analysis, and the guiding principles of environmental sustainability are presented in this chapter. The climate change and the linkage with EIA are presented in this chapter.

Keywords

Environmental indicators; Life cycle assessment; EIA types

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a study of the probable environmental impacts of a development project or any activity or any legislative action. Environment (Protection) Act requires such studies prior to proceeding with any project located anywhere across the globe as per the environmental laws of respective country. The purpose of EIA is to identify potential environmental impacts of projects, programs, and legislative actions and to propose means to avoid or reduce the significant impacts. EIA was developed formally in the 1970s and has been incorporated in the procedures of governments worldwide in the process of decision-making. As a result, it is important that people, who have associated with the design and planning of projects, should be aware of EIA and how it operates in their local area for decision-making process.

Environmental impact assessment is a systematic process used to help make the decisions that takes into account the environmental impact assessment of human activities on the environment. The process helps to include the environmental factors into the project proposal. The EIA involves an assessment of the potential impacts of the project on the ecosystem. In EIA, existing data related to the environment are collected based on which the predictions are made about the emissions and pollution levels, from the proposed projects and activity of development. These predicted values are superimposed on the existing values using different models to predict the level of pollution after the project commences. Thus, the future values help to make the decision whether the proposed project would be environmentally sustainable in the region or not. Since other sustainable factors are also considered in EIA, it gives a complete picture of a region after the implementation of the project.

1.1 Definition of EIA

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) can be defined as the systematic identification and evaluation of the potential impacts (effects) of proposed projects, plans, programs, or legislative actions relative to the physical, chemical, biological, cultural, and socioeconomic components of the total environment. The primary purpose of the EIA process is to encourage the consideration of the environmental issues in planning and decision-making and to ultimately arrive at actions that are more environmentally compatible (Canter, 1986). There are many definitions of EIA. United Nations define EIA as an assessment of impacts of a planned activity on the environment. According to International Association of Impact Assessment (IAIA), EIA is the systematic process to identify the future consequences of a current or proposed action. Department of Environment, the United Kingdom, defined EIA as a technique and a process by which information about 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 the judgment on whether the development should proceed. US Environmental Protection Agency termed EIA as a systematic, reproducible, and interdisciplinary evaluation of potential effects of proposed action and its practical alternatives on the physical, biological, cultural, and socioeconomic attributes of a particular geographic area. Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India, defined EIA as a process of identifying, predicting, evaluating and mitigating the biophysical, social and other relevant effects of development proposals prior to major decisions being taken and commitments made. These studies integrate the environmental concerns of development activities into the decision-making process.

1.1.1 Environmental concerns

All of these definitions share the basic concepts of EIA process, EIA as a part of project planning and EIA as a proactive way of addressing environmental concerns. EIA has been developed as a result of the failure of the traditional project appraisal techniques to account for the environmental impacts. Many development projects in the past were designed and constructed in isolation from any consideration of their impacts on the environment, resulting in higher costs, failure of projects, significant environmental change, and negative social effects despite differences in individual EIA systems throughout the world. The EIA process shares certain aims like provision of information on critical analysis of the total environment, so that decisions can be made based on as nearly complete and balanced information as possible. It also provides present intangible/unquantifiable effects to assess and adequately addressed by cost/benefit analysis and other technical reports, to provide information to the public on a proposal to formalize the consideration of alternatives to a proposal being considered, so that the least environmentally harmful means of achieving the given objective can be chosen, and to improve the design of new developments and safeguard the environment through the application of mitigation and avoidance measures.

The introduction of EIA has encountered resistance on the part of many planners and engineers, who have seen it as an unneeded change to traditional practices, in spite of its intended role in improving the project planning process. EIA has been severely criticized in some parts of the developing world as being inappropriate for application there. Some of these criticisms include the following: EIA is too complex, EIA is too expensive, EIA delays projects, EIA will be misused to stop development, EIA is just an add-on and occurs too late to do any good, we are too poor to afford EIA, and EIA does not produce useful results.

The potential scope of a comprehensive EIA system is considerable and could include the appraisal of policies, plans, program, and specific projects. EIA, as it has developed in many countries, involves a number of procedures and stages like identification of projects requiring EIA, identification of the key issues to be addressed in an EIA, impact assessment and evaluation, impact mitigation and monitoring, review of the completed environmental impact statement, and public participation in issuing the environmental clearance.

The result of an EIA is assembled in a document known as environmental impact statement (EIS) that looks at all the positive and negative effects of a particular project on the environment. This report is just one component of the information required to aid decision-makers in making their ultimate decision about a project. EIA can be considered as a mechanism that maximizes the efficient use of natural and human resources. It can also reduce costs and time taken to reach a decision and assist in the primary and secondary consequences, which might require the introduction of expensive pollution control equipment.

There is a need to emphasize and promote the new paradigm of preventive management to protect the environment in the process of development of the nation. Various tools of preventive management be classified into three groups (Table 1.1), namely, management-based tools, process-based tools, and product-based tools.

Table 1.1

Tools of preventive management

Management-based tools	Process-based tools	Product-based tools
Environmental management system	Environmental technology assessment	Industrial ecology
Environmental performance evaluation	Toxic use reduction	Extended producers responsibility
Environmental audits	Best operating practices	Eco-labeling
Environmental reporting and communication	Environmentally best practice	Design for environment
Total cost accounting	Best available technology	Life cycle assessment
Law and policy	Pollution prevention
Trade and environment	Cleaner production
Environmental economics	Clear technology
	Eco-ef...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Preface
• About the author
• 1: Conceptual facets of EIA
• 2: EIA study planning and management
• 3: Baseline data and environmental setting
• 4: Impact identification methods
• 5: Impacts on air environment
• 6: Impacts on water environment
• 7: Impacts on soils and land environment
• 8: Impacts on the noise environment
• 9: Impacts on the biological environment
• 10: Impacts on the socioeconomic environment
• 11: Mitigation and impact management
• 12: Technology in EIA
• 13: EIA practice in India
• 14: Public involvement in EIA
• References
• Index