Planning and environmental impact assessment (EIA). Towards efficient and effective EIAs and how GIS can help. Janet Burns RSK Principal Environmental Consultant

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Planning and environmental impact
assessment (EIA)
Towards efficient and effective EIAs and how GIS can help
14 November 2014 1
Janet Burns
Principal Environmental Consultant

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Introduction

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Introduction – EIA quality
What makes a good EIA and, consequently, a good environmental
statement (ES)?
What are the challenges that the EIA practitioner faces in meeting
expectations and delivering quality?
What can we do to help improve quality?
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What makes good quality EIA ES?
 Early engagement
 Thorough scoping
 Good background research
 A sound and up-to-date EIA
 A focus on the important issues
 Cohesion through good conclusions
 Concise – matters of significance
 Useable as a balanced guide for those who know as well as those who do not
 Clarity for decision makers, especially on key issues that could decide a case
 Well laid out – chapters all edited by the same person to make navigation
around the document easier rather than having lots of different authors with
different styles
 Transparency, especially in explaining uncertainty and providing confidence in
predictions
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However…
Many EIA ESs have become large, cumbersome and
unwieldy documents. Feedback from stakeholders reveals
that this often makes them inaccessible.
Scottish Natural Heritage recently reviewed 12 EIAs and
concluded that 11 were of poor quality.
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Why?
 Insufficient resources
 Unreasonable timescales set by the developer
 The changing nature of a development
 Lack of an available baseline and/or unknown likely impacts
 Lack of a clear steer at the screening and scoping stages
 Assessment of impacts is poor, in particular, cumulative impacts, relationships
between topics and the lack of an overall summary of impacts
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Planning Advice Note (PAN) 1/2013
The Scottish government has prepared PAN 1/2013 on EIA to provide guidance
on how practitioners should be encouraging proportionate and efficient EIAs by
focusing resources on the significant issues and how the project proposes to
mitigate adverse effects.
EIAs should be
 Clear and concise
 Consistent
 Proportionate
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IEMA EIA Quality Mark
RSK Environment Ltd (RSK) is one of
only 49 IEMA EIA Quality Mark
registrants across the UK.
RSK has made a voluntary
commitment to excellence in its EIA
activities ranging from managing the
process and maintaining staff
capabilities to effective presentation of
assessments findings and taking
action to improve practice.
Under the EIA Quality Mark scheme,
RSK is audited annually by IEMA to
confirm that its ESs and EIA processes
fully satisfy IEMA’s requirements.
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Solutions
How can consultants improve the quality of the iterative
EIA process?

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Integrating spatial data across the project
Project development can take years from feasibility through to application
submission. This can lead to the accumulation of hundreds, if not thousands, of
requirements arising from government and client targets and objectors.
Question
How can quality be maintained through the life cycle of a project?
Solution
Bring ESs into the 21st century using GIS and integrating spatial data across the
life cycle of the project, thereby minimising the risks and providing spatial project
information to decision makers and key stakeholders
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Key project stages and the project team
 Feasibility
 Design and planning approval
 Detailed design
 Construction
 Operation
 Decommissioning
 Clients
 Engineers
 Environmental consultants
 Contractors
 Operators
 Health and safety personnel
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Project life cycle
 The development of a GIS-
based data management
tool will provide return on
investment throughout a
project’s life cycle.
 The same tool can be
expanded to include
functionality specific to a
particular stage in the life
cycle.
 A strong foundation of
robust data management
processes and data
standards is essential for
making the system work.
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Spatial data management system evolution
Site
survey
tool
EIA
Environmental
management
system
Decommissioning
(permit to
work tool)
Project
planning
Construction Operation
Decom-
missioning
Project stage
Spatial data management core elements
Data management plan and data standards document
Central project data store

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Spatial data management system
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Case study

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Web-mapping via ArcGIS Online
Data sharing: ArcGIS Online is used to share geospatial information with
extended project teams (RSK staff, client engineers, planners, project managers,
joint-venture members, etc.)
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16. Copyright of RSKEast-West Rail – Full extent of scheme showing haul routes

17. Copyright of RSKEast-West Rail – Langford Lane overbridge

18. Copyright of RSKEast-West Rail – Langford Lane overbridge (flood zone 3 + watercourses)

19. Copyright of RSKEast-West Rail – Langford Lane overbridge (sheet piling)

20. Copyright of RSKEast-West Rail – Langford Lane overbridge (ground investigation locations)

21. Copyright of RSKEast-West Rail – Holts Farm overbridge (SSSI and local nature reserve)

22. Copyright of RSKEast-West Rail – Hyperlinks to third-party information (from mapped features)

23. Copyright of RSKEast-West Rail – Holts Farm overbridge (showing extents of aerial photo frames)

24. Copyright of RSKEast-West Rail – Holts Farm overbridge (hyperlinks to aerial frames stored online)

25. Copyright of RSKEast-West Rail – Existing level crossing at Holts Farm (August 2013)

26. Copyright of RSKEast-West Rail – Spatial analysis possible in ArcGIS Online

27. Copyright of RSKEast-West Rail – ArcGIS Desktop still used to deliver cartographic quality

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Diagrams and nomenclature
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Summary
Key benefits
 All parties working with the most up-to-date information, design and collected
data
 Reduces risk of unknown historical project information (all centrally stored)
 Accessible to all key stakeholders, but with different levels of security to ensure
only relevant information is given to each interest group
 Location specific, focuses on the important issues
 Provides links to relevant documents supporting information
 Reduces waffle, as it is map based and concentrates on the important issues
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Q&A

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