Environmental Impact Assessment

1. UNIT – I
CONCEPTUAL FACTS OF
EIA

2. “Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
is 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”
 EIA as a Regulatory tool in integrating
Environmental concerns in economic
development process
 EIA was made mandatory as per MoEF notification
January-1994
 Revised notification: September 14th, 2006 with
structural changes under environmental
protection Act.(1986)

3. It is necessary to understand the links between
environments and development in order to make
development choices that will be
Economically efficient
Socially equitable and responsible and
Environmentally sound
Sustainable
Development
Social
Development
Economic
Development
Environmental
Development
EQUITABLE
BEARABLE
components of sustainable development

4. Therefore, there is a need to emphasize and to promote
the new paradigm of preventive environmental
management.
Various tools of preventive management may classified
into following three groups:
Management based tools Process based tools Product based
tools
Environmental Management system
Environmental Performance evaluation
Environmental Audits
Environmental reporting and
communication
Total cost accounting
Law and policy
Trade and environment
Environmental economics
Environmental technology assessment
Toxic use reduction
Best operating practices
Environmentally best practice
Best available technology
Waste minimization
Pollution prevention
Cleaner production
Cleaner technology
Eco - Efficiency
Industrial ecology
Extended producers
responsibility
Eco labeling
Design for environment
Life cycle assessment

5. OBJECTIVES OF EIA
(as per MoEF notification 2006)
 To ensure environmental considerations are explicitly
addressed and incorporated in to the development
decision-making process
 To anticipate and avoid, minimize or offset the adverse
significant biophysical, social and other relevant effects
of development proposals
To protect the productivity and capacity of natural systems and
the ecological processes which maintain their
functions; and
To promote development that is sustainable and optimize
resource use and management opportunities

6. Scope of EIA
• EIA should apply to all actions likely to have a significant
environmental effect.
• Potential scope of a comprehensive EIA system is
considerable and could include the appraisal of policies,
plans, programmes and specific projects.
• An EIA is assembled in a document known as an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) which looks at all
the positive and negative effects of a particular project on
the environment.
• EIA report is just one component of the information
required to aid decision makers in making their ultimate
choices about a project.

7. EIA as it has developed in many countries
involves a number of procedures and stages:
1. Identification of projects requiring EIA,
some times known as screening;
2. Identification of the key issues to be addressed in
an EIA, called scoping;
3. Impact assessment and evaluation;
4. Impact mitigation and monitoring;
5. Review of the completed EIS and;
6. Public participation

8. Principles of EIA
There are two types :
1. Basic and
2. Operating.
Basic :
“Basic Principles” apply to all stages of EIA; they also
apply to Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)
of policies, plans and programs
Operating:
Operating Principles” describe how the Basic Principles
should be applied to the main steps and specific
activities of the environmental impact assessment
process; eg:: screening; scoping; identification of
impacts; assessment of alternatives.

9. Basic Principles (14 types)
1. Purposive - the process should inform decision making and result
in appropriate levels of environmental protection and community
well-being.
2. Rigorous - the process should apply “best practicable” science,
employing methodologies and techniques appropriate to address
the problems being investigated.
3. Practical - the process should result in information and outputs
which assist with problem solving and are acceptable to and able
to be implemented by proponents.
4. Relevant - the process should provide sufficient, reliable and
usable information for development planning and decision
making.
5. Cost-effective - the process should achieve the objectives of EIA
within the limits of available information, time, resources and
methodology.

10. 6. Efficient - the process should impose the minimum cost burdens in
terms of time and finance on proponents and participants consistent
with meeting accepted requirements and objectives of EIA.
7. Focused - the process should concentrate on significant environmental
effects and key issues; i.e., the matters that need to be taken into account
in making decisions.
8. Adaptive - the process should be adjusted to the realities, issues and
circumstances of the proposals under review without compromising the
integrity of the process, and be iterative, incorporating lessons learned
throughout the proposal's life cycle.
9. Participative - the process should provide appropriate opportunities to
inform and involve the interested and affected publics, and their inputs
and concerns should be addressed explicitly in the documentation and
decision making.
10. Interdisciplinary - the process should ensure that the appropriate
techniques and experts in the relevant bio-physical and socio-economic
disciplines are employed, including use of traditional knowledge as
relevant.

11. 11. Credible - the process should be carried out with professionalism,
rigor, fairness, objectivity, impartiality and balance, and be subject to
independent checks and verification.
12. Integrated - the process should address the interrelationships of
social, economic and biophysical aspects.
13. Transparent - the process should have clear, easily understood
requirements for EIA content; ensure public access to information;
identify the factors that are to be taken into account in decision
making; and acknowledge limitations and difficulties.
14. Systematic - the process should result in full consideration of all
relevant information on the affected environment, of proposed
alternatives and their impacts, and of the measures necessary to
monitor and investigate residual effects.

12. Operating Principles: (10 no’s)
1. Screening- to determine whether or not a proposal should be
subject to EIA and, if so, at what level of detail.
2. Scoping - to identify the issues and impacts that are likely to be
important and to establish terms of reference for EIA.
3. Examination of alternatives - to establish the preferred or most
environmentally sound and benign option for achieving proposal
objectives.
4. Impact analysis - to identify and predict the likely environmental,
social and other related effects of the proposal.
5. Mitigation and impact management - to establish the measures
that are necessary to avoid, minimize or offset predicted adverse
impacts and, where appropriate, to incorporate these into an
environmental management plan or system.

13. 6. Evaluation of significance - to determine the relative importance and
acceptability of residual impacts (i.e. impacts that cannot be mitigated).
7. Preparation of environmental impact statement (EIS) or report - to
document clearly and impartially impacts of the proposal, the proposed
measures for mitigation, the significance of effects, and the concerns of
the interested public and the communities affected by the proposal.
8. Review of the EIS - to determine whether the report meets its terms of
reference, provides a satisfactory assessment of the proposal(s) and
contains the information required for decision making.
9. Decision making - to approve or reject the proposal and to establish the
terms and conditions for its implementation.
10. Follow up - to ensure that the terms and condition of approval are met;
to monitor the impacts of development and the effectiveness of
mitigation measures;
To strengthen future EIA applications and mitigation measures; and,
where required, to undertake environmental audit and process evaluation
to optimize environmental management.

14. Classification of EIA
It is classified based on the
purpose and theme of development.
like.. climate impact assessment,
demographic impact assessment,
development impact assessment,
ecological impact assessment,
economic assessment and
fiscal impact assessment,
health impact assessment,
risk assessment,
social impact assessment,
strategic impact assessment,
technology assessment.

15. All these are mainly divided in to 4 groups
1. Strategic EIA,
2. Regional EIA,
3. Sectoral EIA,
4. Project level EIA and
5. life cycle assessment.

16. Strategic EIA :
• Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment (SEIA) is
defined as systematic, transparent process instrument for
decision-making addresses environmental effects of strategic
proposals includes policy, plans and programme decisions
undertaken when alternatives are still open applies EIA aims
and principles flexible, diversified process.
Aims and Objectives of SEIA are :
• facilitate informed decision-making
• contribute to environmentally sound and
sustainable development
• identify and address cumulative effects
• supplement and reinforce project-level EIA by:
– clarification of scope and context
– reducing the time and effort for review

17. Regional EIA
• Regional Environmental Assessments are intended
to apply to investment programmes for a particular
region.
eg ..watershed or coastal zone.
• This approach is used where a number of
development activities with potentially significant
cumulative effects are planned for the same area
(normally defined by physical or ecological
boundaries).

18. Sectoral EIA :
Most EIA agencies in developing countries have recognized
the importance of producing country and sector specific
guidelines for EIA.
These guidelines normally contain a comprehensive listing of
1. Project types covered by the guidelines
2. Activities that fall within each project type
3. Environmental components that may possibly be affected
by the project activities
4. Significant issues that must be addressed in project
planning
5. Suggested mitigation measures that might be
incorporated into the project; and
6. Recommended monitoring requirements.

19. In practice, sectoral guidelines:
1. Sectoral EIA is most useful in the early stages of
an environmental assessment when ToR for the
EIA are unavailable or are being prepared;
2. Help with impact identification and in the
development of detailed ToR for conducting an
EIA;
3. Provide guidance on how to present information
in the proper format to aid in review; and
4. Provide useful information against which to
evaluate the actual results of the EIA.

20. Project level EIA :
• 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. From the
above discussion, it is clear that the EIA shall be
integrated at all levels i.e., strategic, regional,
sectoral and project level.
• Whereas,
– strategic EIA is a structural change in the way the things
are evaluated for decision-making,
– the regional EIA refers to substantial information
processing and drawing complex inferences.
– The project-level EIA is relatively simple and reaches to
meaningful conclusions.

21. LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT :
• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool for the systematic evaluation of
the environmental aspects of a product or service system
through all stages of its life cycle.
– LCA provides an adequate instrument for environmental decision support.
Reliable LCA performance is crucial to achieve a life-cycle economy.
• Goal and Scope the product(s) or service(s) to be assessed are defined,
a functional basis for comparison is chosen and the required level of
detail is defined;
• Inventory Analysis of extractions and emissions, the energy and raw
materials used, and emissions to the atmosphere, water and land, are
quantified for each process, then combined in the process flow chart
and related to the functional basis;
• Impact Assessment, the effects of the resource use and emissions
generated are grouped and quantified into a limited number of impact
categories which may then be weighted for importance;
• Interpretation, the results are reported in the most informative way
possible and the need and opportunities to reduce the impact of the
product(s) or service(s) on the environment are systematically
evaluated.

22. • The Phases of Life Cycle Assessment

23. ACTUAL IMPACTS
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
EVALUATION OF
ACTUAL IMPACTS
DETECTION OF CHANGES IN
THE ENVIRONMENT
MONITORING
ACTUAL CHANGES IN
THE ENVIRONMENT
PROJECT ACTIVITIES
(INCLUDING MITIGATION)
PLANNED MITIGATIVE MEASURES A ND
PLANNED MONITORING & ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES
POTENTIAL IMPACTS ON
HUMAN HEALTH ,WELFARE AND ECOSYSTEMS
PREDICTED CHANGES IN ENVIRONMENT
PLANNED PROJECT ACTIVITIES
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
PROJECT CYCLE

24. GROUPING OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
• Based on the characteristics of impacts, they are
broadly divided in to 4 groups
– Direct, Indirect, Cumulative and Induced impacts
• The Experts does not recommend a single method
to assess the types of impacts, but suggests a
practical framework/approach that can be
adapted and combined to suit a particular project
and the nature of impacts.

25. 1. Direct impacts:
• Direct impacts occur through direct interaction of
an activity with an environmental, social, or
economic component.
• The direct impacts are also known as primary
level impacts
Eg.. a discharge of Thermal Power Plant or effluent
from the Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) into a
river may lead to a decline in water quality in
terms of high biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)
or dissolved oxygen (DO) or rise of water toxins.

26. 2. Indirect impacts
• Those which are not a direct result of the
project, often produced away from or as a result
of a complex impact pathway.
• The indirect impacts are also known as
secondary or even tertiary level impacts.
– Eg.. ambient air SO2 rise due to stack emissions may
deposit on land as SO4 and cause acidic soils.

27. 3. Cumulative impacts
• Consists of an impact that is created as a result
of the combination of the project evaluated in
the EIA together with other projects in the
same vicinity causing related impacts.
• These impacts occur when the incremental
impact of the project is combined with the
cumulative effects of other past, present and
reasonably foreseeable future projects.

28. 4. Induced impacts
• The cumulative impacts can be due to induced
actions of projects and activities that may occur
if the action under assessment is implemented
such as growth-inducing impacts and other
effects related to induced changes to the pattern
of future land use or additional road network,
population density or growth rate.

29. SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACTS
Every ecosystem has a threshold for absorbing deterioration
and a certain capacity for self regeneration.
These thresholds based on concept of carrying capacity are
as follows:
• Waste emissions from a project should be within the
assimilative capacity of the local environment to absorb
without unacceptable degradation of its future waste
absorptive capacity or other important services.
• Harvest rates of renewable resource inputs should be
within the regenerative capacity of the natural system
that generates them; depletion rates of non-renewable
inputs should be equal to the rate at which renewable
substitutes are developed by human invention and
investment.

30. • First, an impact is qualified as being either negative
or positive.
• Second, the nature of impacts such as direct, indirect,
or cumulative is determined using the impact
network.
• Third, a scale is used to determine the severity of the
effect; for example, an impact is of low, medium, or
high significance.
It is not sufficient to simply state the significance of
the effect.
This determination must be justified, coherent and
documented, notably by a determination
methodology, which must be described in the
methodology section of the report.
There are many recognized methodologies to
determine the significance of effects.

31. Criteria/methodology to determine the
significance of the identified impacts
• The criteria can be determined by answering
some questions regarding the factors affecting the
significance.
• This will help the EIA stakeholders, the
practitioner in particular, to determine the
significance of the identified impacts eventually.

32. • Exceeding of threshold limit: Significance may increase if
the threshold is exceeded.
e.g., Emissions of particulate matter exceed the
permissible threshold.
• Effectiveness of mitigation: Significance may increase as
the effectiveness of mitigation measures decreases. e.g.,
control technologies, which may not assure consistent
compliance to the requirements.
• Size of study area: Significance may increase as the zone
of effects increases.
• Incremental Contribution of Effects from Action under
Review: Significance may increase as the relative
contribution of an action increases.
• Relative contribution of effects of other actions:
Significance may decrease as the significance of nearby
larger actions increase.

33. • Relative rarity of species: Significance may increase
as species becomes increasingly rare or
threatened.
• Significance of Local Effects: Significance may
increase as the significance of local effects is high.
• Magnitude of change relative to natural
background variability: Significance may decrease
if effects are within natural assimilative capacity or
variability.
• Creation of induced actions: Significance may
increase activities also highly significant.
• Degree of existing disturbance: Significance may
increase if the surrounding environment is pristine.