Environmental consulting firm especialized in environmental impact assessment (EIA) studies and reports.

1. Environmental Impact Assessment
The cost of carrying out an environmental impact assessment can be a significant
portion of the preparation and design cost of a development project. Notoriously, the
EIA prices are difficult to predict at the outset of the project.
This uncertainty is mainly due to an initial lack of understanding of the environmental
baseline requirements on the development website. As the job progresses, website
knowledge increases slowly and new costs may emerge while a few risks may reduce.
Particularly in the current economic climate, there's a requirement to have a very clear
comprehension of the costs and the risks of the ecological impact evaluation at an
early stage in the project.
The first step to effective cost management of an environmental impact assessment is
to perform a comprehensive EIA analysis analysis. The outcome of the EIA scoping
study must be a clear comprehension of the basic site features and the likely
environmental dangers and sensitivities. It should also provide a clear programme on
the best way best to address the issues which have been identified in the further
environmental impact evaluation.
Following a carefully undertaken EIA scoping study, doubts remain. These doubts are
however much more manageable. As an example, throughout the EIA scoping study it
was identified that no important archaeological features are recorded in the broader
area around a site. The following step that is suggested is to carry out a geophysical
site survey. Depending upon the outcome of the poll there may be a need to perform
an intrusive investigation in the kind of an excavation.
There are three uncertainties that will determine the final price for archaeological
work as part of their ecological impact evaluation. Primarily there's the uncertainty
about the exact price to carry out the geophysical survey. The error margin with this
should be relatively small as it's a reasonably defined action. The second uncertainty
relates to whether the results of the survey indicate that the need of further work. That
is a yes or no matter, where the uncertainty relates to the possibility that additional
work is required. Finally, the third parcel of uncertainty is related to the cost of this
intrusive investigation should that be required.
A system that's based on the Monte Carlo cost calling system is ideally suited to
manage these types of uncertainties. The outcome of the Monte Carlo cost forecasting
system is typically a string of prospective project costs together with the probability
that each of these costs won't be exceeded. Therefore, employing a mix of a rigorous

2. EIA scoping study and the use of the Monte Carlo cost forecasting methodology are
crucial tools in the effective cost management of ecological impact assessments.
In 1985 the EIA Directive (EU legislation) on Environmental Impact Assessment of
the effects of projects on the environment was introduced. It was amended in 1997.
The demands of the Directives are integrated inside UK law through "The Town and
Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (England and Wales)
Regulations 1999" and their equivalents for other areas of the country.
Not all development jobs are covered by regulations. In particular the regulations do
not apply to the majority of small scale development projects. I frequently get
questions from developers who wish to understand whether their project is covered by
the regulations and in this column I will describe the procedure to find out if the
regulations apply to a specific project.
As an example we consider a fresh fifteen storey office block on a 0.4 ha site that
currently comprises a non-listed Victorian four storey building and located in close
proximity to a number of grade II and grade II * listed buildings.
The 1999 EIA regulations differentiate between two different categories of
development which will require or possibly need in order to undergo an
environmental impact assessment. These improvements are described in schedule 1
and schedule 2 of the regulations. Development proposals that could fit any of the
descriptions in program 1 always need an environmental impact assessment. Schedule
1 developments are generally large infrastructure projects or growth that is usually
regarded as being a high potential for contamination. Cases of the latter growth types
include waste management sites and power stations. The proposed development in my
example doesn't match some of the development types described in schedule 1.
Development that is called 'schedule two growth' only needs an EIA to be carried out
when it's likely that a substantial environmental impact will occur because of the
development. To determine if or not a development is a schedule two development is
more complex than it is to ascertain a program 1 advancement. There are 3 facets that
require to be considered:
1. The descriptions of growth categories in schedule 2.
2. The threshold mentioned in schedule 2 for the growth category.
3. The existence of any sensitive areas as defined in regulations.

3. The evolution matches the description in Schedule 2, 10(b) Urban development
projects, including the construction of shopping centres and car parks, sports
stadiums, leisure centres and multiplex cinemas. This class covers a wide array of
development types such as office, residential and retail development projects.
For a development in this class to become a schedule 2 development its area should
exceed 0.5 ha, or it has to be located in a sensitive area. The footprint of this
development area in my creation, taken as the crimson line planning application
border, is significantly less than 0.5 ha. Therefore, according to this criterion, the
evolution would not be a schedule 2 development.
As I said the next test is whether the development is proposed to take place in a
sensitive site. The regulations define a sensitive site as any of the following sites:
* Sites of Specific Scientific Interest
* Land to which sub-section (3) of section 29 (nature conservation orders) of the
Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 applies
* Places to which paragraph (u)(ii) at the table in article 10 of the Town and Country
Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 1995 applies
* National Parks
* The Broads
* Properties appearing on the World Heritage List
* Scheduled Ancient Monuments
* Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
* European sites within the meaning of regulation 10 of the Conservation (Natural
Habitats etc) Regulations 1994
There are a range of people register available which may be employed to determine if
the place is a sensitive site. In my experience the "Multi-Agency Geographical
Information" database is a very useful starting point to launch this. It can be found
online and is commonly understand beneath its acronym Magic.
Assuming our research has demonstrated that development isn't proposed to take
place at a sensitive website, it follows that it is improbable that the proposed

4. development is a program 2 development and for that reason it isn't likely that an EIA
is required.
There are two further issues that I need to tackle here. Firstly, certain activities that
are proposed on a specific development have much lower thresholds in schedule 2. I
have assumed that these actions don't form part of the example development.
It's particularly worth to verify that no fuel is kept in a structure exceeding a place of
0.05ha.
Secondly, in extraordinary situations the Secretary of State has the ability to direct a
growth requires undergoing EIA even if the threshold is not exceeded and the site
doesn't lie at a sensitive area. An instance of this was the maturation of the London
Eye.
The elevation, its prominent place within London and the potential to attract large
numbers of visitors were all elements that were believed to probably lead to a
substantial environment impact and so an EIA was required, even if the footprint of
this development didn't exceed the threshold and it is not situated in a sensitive
website. This is an uncommon event, but it should be taken into account nevertheless.
Even if the development would be a schedule two development it wouldn't be required
that an EIA be completed. The development would then be screened to determine if a
substantial environmental impact would probably occur. I won't consider this further
here.
Even though it appears that the proposed development does not require an EIA and
ecological statement, there are other bits Of laws which may require the entry of
adequate environmental advice prior to a planning decision is made. In particular the
laws around species which are protected at European level, like bats and great crested
newts, can be onerous. This may for example become an issue where demolition of
existing buildings forms part of the development proposals.
Finally the local planning authority has a duty to take into account many other
ecological and sustainability difficulties. The authority may therefore
require Environmental Impact Assessment a number of studies, reports or
statements. These may include a flood risk assessment, a power statement,
overshadowing studies and a wind strength appraisal.
The way to conduct an environmental impact assessment (EIA).
Introduction.

5. The production of products and services to fulfill our needs have contributed to
actions which deplete our global organic resources. These activities intended to boost
our economic, social and political wellbeing is the underlying cause of environmental
degradation, pollution, reduction of species and a threat to our own existence. In a
search to maintain the earth's capacity to sustain such rapid expansion and the related
environmental issues, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in 1987,
adopted a law and set down aims to access the impact of human activities on the
environment. Among the numerous tools discussed, the environmental impact
assessment, is broadly used to access and is incorporated in many development
projects.
What's EIA?
It's the study of the effects of a proposed project or activity on the environment. It
judges the ecological, cost, and economic consequences of different possibilities for a
particular job and indicates the alternative with the least harm to the environment and
many affordable financially. EIA is a multidisciplinary instrument where decisions are
based on assumptions and predictions. A complete environmental assessment is made
up of five steps.
Measure one.
Write a brief but comprehensive problem picture of this job, the objectives of the
project, the intended advantage and state your reason for running EIA
Step two.
List all of the choices or options to this project to the best of your knowledge
including the zero choice (no actions). It is a good idea to work in small committee of
two or three associates to avoid missing out a few choices.
Step three.
Under every listed alternative, predict, analyse and say the possible effects to the
environment. It's recommended to do some reading on every choice in order to get all
the possible ecological outcomes. Mind you, no environmental impact is small, so do
not leave out any tiny bit of information because this counts towards your decision for
the proposed choice.
Step Four.
Public Involvement.

6. The whole essence of the EIA is the shield the environment and give us better future
wellbeing. This step is meant to figure out how this jobs affects the current and future
of the populace. Individuals can be selected randomly and their opinion with respect
to these project analysed and introduced.
Step Five.
This is the toughest stage of an EIA. Here the assessor has to weigh various choices
from their economic feasibility and benefit to the environment. It should be a bias-free
evaluation of how each choice satisfy the demands of this job.
The last step is to prepare a record of this EIA. The report is generally in three parts,
one report is ready for the decision makers, yet another one goes to the technicians of
the undertaking and the third is put to the interest of the public. The categorization
determines the type of information sent out to your audience. The decision makers
will be concerned with the choices looked at, the criteria used to analyse these choices
and the reasons supporting the suggested choice. The technicians will wish to be
familiar with safety measures to be put in place when implementing the preferred
choice, so as to decrease the impact in the present the future of this undertaking. The
general public will be surperfical in understanding the reasoning for this kind of
option and they will be interested in understanding how the project will be benefit
them at the present and future.