The document discusses Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs). It notes that EIAs examine the impacts of developments on the environment and produce reports on these examinations. The purpose of EIAs is to provide information to help decision making and promote sustainable development. EIAs follow a structured process involving scoping, impact prediction and mitigation.

1. Environmental Management
Group 7:
Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA)

3.  "Process for identifying the
likely consequences for the
biophysical environment &
for man's health & welfare of
implementing particular
activities & for conveying
information at every stage
where it can materially affect
the decision , to
those for sanctioning the
proposals".
[Wathern, 1992]

4.  Itis the process of
examining the
impacts of a
development on
the environment
 But it is also used
to mean the
document that is
the result of the
examination

5. The purpose of EIA is to:
 Help the decision making process by
providing information about the
consequences of development
 Promote sustainable development by
identifying environmentally sound
practice & mitigation measures for
developments

6.  In
1969 the US federal govt. passed the
National Environmental Policy
Act[NEPA]
 Federal agencies had to consider the
natural environment in any land use
planning.
 Thisgave the environment the same
status as economic priorities

7. Within 20 years, other countries had also
included EIA's as part of their planning
policy;
like:
 Canada (1973)
 Columbia (1974)
 Netherlands (1981)
 UK (1988)

8.  Oftenpart of a National
planning process for
large scale
developments
 Developments that
need an EIA differ from
country to country

9. Which Developments???
 Major new road
networks
 Airport & port
developments
 Building power
stations
 Building dams &
reservoirs
 Quarrying
 Large scale housing
projects

10.  The EIA needs to be structured with a
set of clear aims.
 It
has to occur during the planning,
design & authorisation stage of any
development.
 It
needs to be comprehensive,
addressing all potential impacts.

11. There needs to be focus on he potentially
significant issues.
There needs to be consultation & public
participation throughout the EIA process.
The findings of the EIA should be part of the
final decision process.
While it is often mainly concerned with the
natural environment the effect on man should be
considered

12.  Isan EIA needed & which impacts
need to be considered[SCREENING]
 Identifying impacts[SCOPING]
 Predicts the scale of potential impacts
 Limiting the effects of impacts to
acceptable limits[MITIGATION]

13. What do you need to
know???
 What are the conditions like now
 What effects do different phases of a
project cause
 Who or what is likely to be affected

14. Phases of an EIA
[this can be thought of as a project description]
 What are the conditions now
 What does the project plan to do
 Description of project
 Physical characteristics - land use
both during construction & operation
 Production process
 Waste products
 Alternatives
 What different approaches exist

15. Phases of an EIA
 Why to choose this one
 Impact identification[scoping &
screening]
 Consider all potential environmental
impacts whether good or bad
 Detail those impacts that are
potentially significant
 Comprehensive but focused
 Impact on ecosystems, people,
resources & their interactions

16. Evaluation technique compares
various possible scenarios &
analyse the consequences
 Magnitude: what scale will the
impact have?
 Extent: how big an area does
the impact affect: site only,
local or regional
 Duration: how long will the
impact be for: short, medium
or long term
Using magnitude, extent &
duration together it is possible
to analyse the impacts

17.  Systematic & comprehensive but also
flexible enough to respond to
changing conditions
 Be able to arrange large amounts of
data often from different sources in a
meaningful way
 Based on quantitative evaluation that
is both accurate & objective

18.  Checklist of impacts:
 General set of criteria
 Often designed for certain types of
project
 Can be very thorough if designed well
 Cost benefit analysis:
 This outline the value both positive &
negative of each impact
 Can be very difficult to add a "cost" value
to ecosystems

19. Impact matrices:
Combine a checklist of environmental
conditions & a list activities that may
have an effect
Cause & effect between the
environmental features & the activity can
be individually identified

20.  It is a systematic evaluation of all
significant environmental
consequences & action is likely to
happen upon the environment
 It is a structural, systematic &
comprehensive approach
 It is a process which forces
developers to reconsider proposals

21.  It is a systematic evaluation of all
significant environmental
consequences & action is likely to
happen upon the environment
 It is a structural, systematic &
comprehensive approach
 It is a process which forces
developers to reconsider proposals