Environmental Impact Assessment and Importance of Effective Application in Bangladesh

1. North Western University, Khulna
Socioeconomic and Environmental
Aspects of Engineering Projects
Hum-3141
Presentation Topic :
Environmental Impact Assessment and Importance of
Effective Application in Bangladesh
Presented by
Md. Mozammel Haque

2. Contents
Introduction
Impacts
Evolutionof EIA
Benefitsof EIA
Processof EIA
Contentof EIA Report
EIARelatedStudies
List of Project Squaring An EIA
ExternalitiesofEIA
EIA Effectiveness Of Bangladesh
Bangladesh Perspective Legislative Context and EIA Process
Effectiveness of EIA Practice
Strategies for Improvement
Conclusion

3. INTRODUCTION
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) refers to the evaluation of the environmental
impacts likely to raise from a majorproject significantly affecting the environment.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a process which ensures that all
environmental matters are taken into account quite early in the project at
planning process itself. It takes into consideration not only technical and
economic considerations but also, traditional aspects like impact on local people,
biodiversity etc.
• Atool used to identify the environmental, social and economic impacts of a project
prior to decision-making.
• It aims to predict environmental impacts at an early stage in project planning and
design, find ways and means to reduce adverse impacts, shape projects to suit the
local environment and present the predictions and options to decision-makers.
• By using EIA both environmental and economic benefits can be achieved, such as
reduced cost and time of project implementation and design, avoided
treatment/clean-up costs and impacts of laws andregulations.

4. IMPACTS
• The impact of an activity is a deviation (a change) from
the baseline situation that is caused by theactivity.
• The baseline situation is the existing environmental
situation or condition in the absence of the activity.
TYPESOF IMPACTS
Ecological Impact
Fisheries, forests, plantation, eutrophication
Physico-chemical Impact
Erosion and Siltation, drainage congestion /water
logging, regional hydrology/flooding, obstruction
to waste water flow, dust /noisepollution
Impact on Human Interest
Loss of agricultural lands, generation of
employment opportunities, navigation and boat
communication, commercial and service
facilities, industrial activities, irrigation facilities
Environmental impacts:
1. Depletion of natural
resources.
2. Destruction of habitats.
3. Change in ph, oxygenlevel,
toxicity of water.
4. Increase in toxicity ofair.
5. Global warming.
6. Ozone depletion.

5. EIA is one of the successful policy innovations of the 20th Century for environmental
conservation. Thirty-seven years ago, there was no EIA but today, it is a formal process in
many countries and is currently practiced in more than 100 countries. EIAas a mandatory
regulatory procedure originated in the early 1970s, with the implementation of the
National Environment Policy Act (NEPA) 1969 in the US. A large part of the initial
development took place in a few high-income countries, like Canada, Australia, and New
Zealand (1973-74). However, there were some developing countries as well, which
introduced EIArelatively early - Columbia (1974), Philippines (1978).
The EIAprocess really took off after the mid-1980s. In 1989, the World Bank adopted EIA
for major development projects, in which a borrower country had to undertake an EIA
under the Bank's supervision
EVOLUTION OF EIA

6. BENEFITSOF EIA
Lower project costs in the long-term
Increased project acceptance
Improved project design
Informed decision making
Environmentally sensitive decisions
Increased accountability and transparency
Reduced environmental damage
Improved integration of projects into their environmental
and social settings

7. BENEFITSOF EIA

8. PROCESS OF EIA
EIAprocess includes following steps:
† Screening
† Scoping
† Impact analysis
† Impact mitigation
† Reporting
† Review
† Decision making
† Monitoring

9. PROCESSOF EIA
† Screening: to determine which
projects or developments require a full
or partial impact assessment study;
† Scoping: to identify which potential
impacts are relevant to assess (based
on legislative requirements,
international conventions, expert
knowledge and public involvement), to
identify alternative solutions that
avoid, mitigate or compensate adverse
impacts on biodiversity (including the
option of not proceeding with the
development, finding alternative
designs or sites which avoid the
impacts, incorporating safeguards in
the design of the project, or providing
compensation for adverse impacts),
and finally to derive terms of reference
for the impact assessment;

10. †Assessment and evaluation of impacts and development of alternatives, to predict and identify
the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project or development, including the
detailed elaboration of alternatives;
† Reporting the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or EIA report, including an
environmental management plan (EMP), and a non-technical summary for the general
audience.
†Review of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS),based on the terms of reference
(scoping) and public (including authority) participation.
†Decision-making on whether to approve the project or not, and under what conditions; and
† Monitoring, compliance, enforcement and environmental auditing. Monitor whether the
predicted impacts and proposed mitigation measures occur as defined in the EMP. Verify the
compliance of proponent with the EMP, to ensure that unpredicted impacts or failed
mitigation measures are identified and addressed in a timelyfashion.

11. CONTENT OF EIA REPORT
Adescription of the project
An outline of the main alternatives studied by the developer, and anindication
of the main reasons for thischoice
Adescription of the aspects of the environment likely to be significantlyaffected
by the proposed project
Adescription of the likely significant environmental effects of the proposed
project
Measures to prevent, reduce and possibly offsetadverse
environmental effects
Anon-technical summary
An indication of any difficulties (technical deficiencies or
lack of know-how) encountered while compiling the requiredinformation

12. MOST DEFINITIONS RECOGNIZE THE FOLLOWING FOUR
BASIC PRINCIPLES
I. Procedural principle; EIAestablishes a systematic methodfor
incorporating environmental considerations intodecision-making;
II. Informational principle; EIAprovides the necessary elements to make
an informed decision;
III. Preventive principle; EIAshould be applied at the earliest opportunity
within the decision-making process to allow the anticipation and
avoidance of environmental impacts wherever possible;and
IV. Iterative principle; the information generated by EIAis made available
to interested parties to elicit a response which in turn should be fed
back into EIAprocess.

13. DATA REQUIREMENTS
• PROJECT
Type
Size
Location
• AREAOFPOTENTIALIMPACT
Physical resources
Biological resources
Economic development resources
Quality of life
Other existing and plannedprojects

14. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)should be prepared on the basis of the existing
background pollution levels vis-a-vis contributions of pollutants from the proposed plant.
TheEIAshould address some of the basic factors listed below:
• Meteorology and air quality
Ambient levels of pollutants such as Sulphur Dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, carbon
monoxide, suspended particulate matters, should be determined at the center and at 3
other locations on a radius of 10 km with 120degrees angle between stations. Additional
contribution of pollutants at the locations are required to be predicted after taking into
account the emission rates of the pollutants from the stacks of the proposed plant, under
different meteorological conditions prevailing in the area.
• Hydrology and water quality
• Site and its surroundings
• Occupational safety and health
• Details of the treatment and disposal of effluentS(liquid,air and solid) and the methods of
alternative uses
• Transportation of raw material and details of material handling
• Control equipment and measures proposed to be adopted

15. SOCIALIMPACTASSESSMENT(SIA)
• Social Impact Assessment (SIA)includes the processes of analysing, monitoring and
managing the intended and unintended social consequences, both positive andnegative, of
planned interventions and any social change processes invoked by those interventions
(Vanclay, 1999).
• The analysis should include the use of land, culture, the main economic activitiese.g.
tourism, agriculture, employment levels and impact on service provision e.g. education,
water use, traffic, energy use etc.
• Its primary purpose is to bring about a more sustainable and equitable biophysicaland
human environment.
• Social Impact Assessment assumes that social, economic and biophysical impacts are
interconnected.
• Social Impact Assessment (SIA)is therefore done to ensure that there is no mismatch
between the development and socio-cultural and economic of the projectarea.
EIA RELATED STUDIES

16. HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENT(HIA)
• Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely absence
of disease or infirmity (WHO, 1946).
• In most EIAs, HIA is usually included under SIA. HIA is now emerging as a key component
of EIA because health is determined by a multiplicity of factors including socio-economic
and environmental factors.
• There is no clear definition about where health concerns end and where environmental or
social concerns begin.
• HIA is a broad concept that may be interpreted in different ways by a range of different
users but all imply an interest in the safeguarding and enhancement of human health and
a concern that human activities and decisions, in the form of development projects, plans,
programs and policies can affect human health in both positive andnegative ways.
STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT(SEA)
SEAis undertaken much earlier in the decision-making process than EIA- it is therefore seen
as a key tool for sustainable development. „Strategic Environmental Assessment aims to
incorporate environmental and sustainability considerations into strategic decision making
processes, such as the formulation of policies, plans and programs.‟
EIA RELATED STUDIES

17. List of Project Squaring An EIA
(A) Energy
1. Hydroelectric power generation over 50 MW.
2. Thermal power generation over 200 MW.
3. Transmission lines (11 KVand above) and grid stations.
4. Nuclear Power plants.
5. Petroleum refineries.
(B) Manufacturing and Processing
1. Cement Plants.
2. Chemicals projects.
3. Fertilizers plants.
4. Food processing industries including sugar mills, beverages, milk and dairy products
with total cost of Rs.100 Million and above.
5. Industrial Estates (including export processing zones)

18. 6. Man-made fibers and resin projects with total cost of Rs.100 Million and above.
7. Pesticides (manufacture or formulation).
8. Petrochemicals complex.
9.Synthetic resins, plastic and man-made fibers, paper and paperboard, paper pulping,
plastic products, textile (except apparel), printing and publishing, paints and dyes, oils
and fats and vegetable ghee projects with a total cost more than Rs.10 Million.
10. Tanning and lather finishing projects.
(C) Mining and Mineral Processing.
1. Mining and processing of coal, gold, copper, sulphur and precious stones.
2. Mining and processing of major non-ferrous metals, iron and steel rolling.
3. Smelting plants with total cost of Rs.50 Million and above.

19. (D)Transport
1. Airports.
2. Federal or provincial highways (except maintenance, rebuilding or reconstruction
of existing roads) with total cost of Rs.50 million and above.
3. Ports and harbors development for ships 500 gross tons and above.
4. Railway works.
(E)Water Management, Dams, Irrigation and Flood Protection..
1. Dams and reservoirs with storage volume 50 million cubic meters andabove or
surface area of 08 square kilometers and above.
2. Irrigation and drainage projects serving 15,000 hectares andabove.
(F)Watersupply schemes and treatment.
Water supply schemes and treatment plants with total cost of Rs.25 million and above

20. (G)Waste Disposal
1.Waste disposal and / or storage of hazardous or toxic wastes (including land fill
sites incineration of hospital toxic waste).
2. Waste disposal facility for domestic or industrial waste with annual capacity more
than 10,000 cubic meters.
(H)Urban development and tourism.
1. Land use studies and urban plans (large cities).
2. Large scale tourism development projects with total cost more than Rs.50million.
(I)Environmentally Sensitive Areas.
1. All projects situated in environmentally sensitive areas.

21. EXTERNALITIES OF EIA
POSITIVEEXTERNALITIES:
1. New jobs generated, economic growth stimulated.
2. Growth of local business enterprises supported.
3. Development of supporting and complementary industries.
4. Influx of capital and disposable income.
water supply )
 NEGATIVEEXTERNALITIES:
• Social impacts:
1. Impacts on health of local population.
2. Increase in crime and deviant behavior.
3. Additional pressure on the existing physical infrastructure (sewage,
4. Decline in community cohesion.
5. Changed cultural values

23. EIA Effectiveness Of Bangladesh
†Characterization :
‘The evaluation of EIA effectiveness is intended to determine how much difference
EIA is making. Ideally, this question should be addressed with reference to the
purposes underlying EIA, such as “restoring and maintaining environmental
quality”’ (NEPA, Section 101 (a) cited in Jay et al. 2007, p.290). On the other hand
Cashmore et al. (2010) emphasised that the ‘complex dynamic’ of ‘politics and
power’ should be a key focus when building a theory for measuring effectiveness.
In contrast, Retief (2010) identifies three broad themes based on a review of the
international literature on environmental assessment:
1. Theoretical Grounding – do we have a clear sense of the purpose of EA, and
what it comprises?
2. Quality – what is good practice, how do we judge quality, and what guidance do
we provide?
3. Effectiveness – what are we achieving through this process?
Criteria:
“In the environmental assessment field, Sadler (1996) defined effectiveness as ‘how
well something works or whether it works as intended and meets the purposes for
which it is designed” (p.37).

24. Sadler (1996) tended to pay attention to the process and outcomes to ascertain whether the
results of the process met the expected purposes, based on three categories of the
effectiveness of environmental assessment: procedural, substantive and transactive. He
suggested that procedural effectiveness means that the assessment complies with acceptable
standards and principles, substantive effectiveness shows the achievement of expected
objectives and transactive effectiveness is achieved where the outcomes are obtained with
least cost in the minimum time frame. Baker and McLelland (2003) added normative
effectiveness to the suite of categories developed by (Sadler, 1996). Bond and Morrison-
Saunders (2013, p.45) argued that normative effectiveness reflected the extent to which
normative goals, defined as a ‘combination of social and individual norms’, were achieved”.
Deficiencies:
Ortolano and Shepherd (1995, p.3) stated that EIAs have had ‘far less influence than their
original supporters had hoped they would’ in influencing project and plan decision-making
and identify a number of broad areas of concern: the different views about the nature and
purpose of EIA and especially its relationship to decision making processes; institutional
implementation issues; problems associated with practice, including limited or no public
participation; and the limited substantive effect of EIA as a process.

25. WayForward:
Sadler (1996) refers to the influence that EIA process has upon decision making as the
‘litmus test’ of EIA effectiveness. In other words, we must turn to EIA's proximate, rather
than substantive, aim to find measurable criteria of effectiveness. Additionally, clearer
limits could be set for proposed developments according to the resilience or regenerative
ability of the environments affected (Sadler, 1996). Additionally, ‘capacity building’ has
been seen for some years as an important strategy for the dissemination and improved
practice of EIA. Training activities for practitioners, guidance on good EIA practice, and
continuing research have been counted upon as means of establishing EIA and extending
its influence.

28. Bangladesh Perspective Legislative Context and EIA Process
EIA process was formally included in legislation of Bangladesh through incorporation inthe
National Environmental Policy, 1EE (1992 GoB, MoEF), which has been finally endorsed
through Environmental Conservation Act )ECA(, 1EE5 )5oEF, ooB 1EE5( and
Environmental Conservation Rules )ECR(, 1EE7 (MoEF, GoB 1997). This act and rule sets
the detail context, procedures, standards and conflict resolution mechanism for EIA.
Department of Environment (DoE) under the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF)
is the responsible authority for EIA process and providing environmental clearance. DoE
developed a guideline for EIA process (DoE, MoEF, GoB 1997) which acts as the basis for
Environmental Statement Preparation (ES) in Bangladesh in all aspects. Proponents are
responsible for preparing the ES. DoE is responsible for review and providing clearance. To
optimize the resource use EIA process has been fragmented in three tiers (ibid. p.3):
Screening, Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) and Detailed EIA (Figure 1). Projects
are categorized into four classes (Green, Amber-A, Amber-B and Red) according to their
potential threat and impact (Figure 2). For donor funded projects ES is prepared according to
their prescribed guidelines (Momtaz, 2002).

29. Effectiveness of EIA Practice
Procedural:
Momtaz (2002) pioneered the EIA effectiveness research of Bangladesh. He observed lack of skilled
professional in DoE for judging ES and implementing mitigation measures. Presence of dual
standards (i.e. donor and DoE) and lack of unified approach for ES preparation among the
consultants were also identified. Moreover, there is no mechanism in place to ensure monitoring of
project impacts to identify and rectify impacts that were not picked up by the EIA. Ahammed and
Harvey (2004) also pointed out this absence of EIA compliance and monitoring within the
legislation. According to Environmental conservation Rules, 1997 (MoEF, GoB 1997) project
proponents are only responsible to submit the monitoring and environmental management plan. But
there is no provision or legal binding either on DoE or the proponents to follow-up the approved plan
or implementation of mitigation measures (Kabir, 2012; Momtaz and Kabir, 2013).
Substantive:
Momtaz (2002) observed proponents hire consultants to conduct EIA. Their intention is to get an EIA
done that would highlight the benefits and justify the proposal in order to obtain environmental
clearance from the DoE or from the donor agencies for the purpose of fund clearance. It is therefore
the job of the consultants to satisfy the proponent’s requirements rather than carrying out EIA’s
objective to ensure environmental and social soundness of projects. In addition, there are no codes of
conduct by which the activities of the consultants are governed.

30. Transactive:
According to Momtaz (2002) EIA practice in Bangladesh is resource intensive (i.e. time and
money).
Because most of the EIA is donor funded. He suggested the need to develop simplified EIA
procedures that would be consistent with the availability of resources within the country.
Dependence
on donor agencies to meet the cost of EIA undermines the whole idea of using EIA as a tool for
sustainable development.
Normative:
Adequate study to assess this criteria of effectiveness for Bangladesh is still absent. Through the
analysis section titled ‘policy initiative towards EIA’ by Alshuwaikhat et al. (2007, pp.233–235)it
can be found that wider practice of EIA through ECR, 1997 acted as a catalyst behind the
inclusion of EIA guideline for water resource management project (WARPO, MoWR, GoB,
2005)under National Water Management Plan. Additionally, recent mass protest against the ‘poor
and intentional’ EIA of ‘Coal Based Thermal Power Plant at Sundarban’ (the largest mangrove
forest of the world and an UNESCO heritage site), Bangladesh(Muhammad, 2013) is a sign of
people’s awareness about EIA. The wide practice of EIA and its significance within the decision
making system, brought this change in people’s value system about environment and sustainability
definition as a whole .

31. Strategies for Improvement
According to Kabir (2012) and Momtaz and Kabir (2013) the EIA legislation (ECA, 1995 and
ECR, 1997) should be amended to include the stages of the EIA process (scoping, analysis of
alternatives evaluation of impacts and contents of an ES) and other requirements such as provision
of EIAs for the extension of project and the review process of EIA reports. Momtaz (2002) exerted
the need of coordination among the concerned agencies and put forward a unified guideline for EIA
sensitive to the socio, economic and political context of Bangladesh. He also identified the need to
judge the ES by independent reviewer bodies to achieve the inherent goal of EIA, which is to
influence the decision in a true sense. He explained his proposition due to the presence of high rate
of corruption and rigid administrative mechanism of government. In contrast capacity building at
various levels both within and outside the government has been suggested by
Ahammed and Harvey (2004). Furthermore, Alshuwaikhat et al. (2007)proposed the introduction of
Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in Bangladesh where major development programs are
being implemented by a number of local and international agencies. This will provide the decision
makers with more time to consider environmental consequences at an early stage. SEA would also
allow the consideration of cumulative impacts of various projects.

32. CONCLUSION
†Environment Impact Assessment is a very beneficial step to check, whether theproject is
environment friendly or not.
†Since economic development is result of interaction between natural resources and technology
supported by designed for people, so all human activity should be economic, social and
environment friendly.
†EIAcertainly has a crucial role to play in addressing environmental issues surrounding project
development and especially power projects.
†The integration of environment into development planning is the most important toolin
achieving sustainable development.
†Environmental protection and economic development must thus be dealt with in anintegrated
manner.
†EIAprocess is necessary in providing an anticipatory and preventive mechanism for
environmental management and protection in any development.
†Several developing countries are still at the infancy stage of operationalization of their EIA
processes.
†The need for capacity building for quality EIAis also eminent in these countries.
†Despite these small setbacks, environmental impact assessment has become an integral part of
project planning one, which is continually being improved for posterity.