NPTEL :: Architecture NOC:Environmental Impact Assessment

After considering all the facets of a projects, environmental clearance is accorded subject to implementation of the stipulated environmental safeguards. Apply consistently to all proposals with potential environmental impacts. Transboundary effects may arise when impacts from the Proposed Development within one EEA state affects the environment of another EEA state. The need to consider such transboundary effects has been embodied by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on EIA in a Transboundary Context (commonly referred to as the ‘Espoo Convention’).

Once key issues have been identified, the need for further in-depth studies can be clearly identified and any additional data collection initiated. The ICID Check-list will be found useful to define both coarse information required for scoping and further baseline studies required for prediction and monitoring. Specialists, preferably with local knowledge, will be needed in each key area identified.

A Cumulative Effect Assessment is a legal requirement under the EIA Regulations. A CEA provides consideration of the impacts arising from the Proposed Development alone and cumulatively with other relevant plans, projects and activities. Cumulative effects are therefore the combined effect of the Proposed Development in combination with the effects from a number of different projects, on the same receptor or resource. Appendix 4 Open), and presents the proposed methodology for the identification and evaluation of potential cumulative and inter-related impacts, which includes due consideration of potential transboundary effects. A systematic and auditable evidence-based approach will be followed to evaluate and interpret the potential effects on physical, biological and human receptors. 6. Impact Identification attempts to answer the question, “what will happen when a project enters its operational stage?

It must be quite clear exactly how management and mitigation methods are phased with project implementation and when costs will be incurred. Mitigation and management measures will not be adopted unless they can be shown to be practicable and good value for money. The plan should also stipulate that if, during project implementation, major changes are introduced, or if the project is aborted, the EIA procedures will be re-started to evaluate the effect of such actions. The length of the EIA will obviously depend on the programme, plan or project under review. However, the process usually lasts from between 6 and 18 months from preparation through to review. It will normally be approximately the same length as the feasibility study of which it should form an integral part.

By a mineral planning authority or the Secretary of State of details required by conditions determined following a review of a minerals permission (known as a ‘ROMP’) under Schedule 2 to the Planning and Compensation Act 1991 or Schedule 13 or Schedule 14 to the Environment Act 1995. The notification and publicity requirements for the Environmental Impact Assessment determination decision are set out in regulation 30. Where it is considered appropriate that monitoring measures are attached to a planning permission, this can be achieved through the use of existing mechanisms such as planning conditions and planning obligations. Regardless of the mechanism used, authorities should ensure that provisions are clear and precise, to ensure clarity for all parties concerned.

Relevant NGOs should be identified and their experience and technical capacity put to good use. For every project possible alternatives should be identified and environmental attributes should also be compared. Alternatives should cover both project location and process technologies. eia methodology Alternative should then be ranked for selection of the best environmental option for optimum economic benefits to the community at large. Determining the priority value of society with re­spect to the potential effects of a particular devel­opment proposal is a major concern.

There is a need to conduct policy-level and sector-wide EIAs in the form of strategic impact assessments . This is critical to judge the impacts of macro- economic, developmental and other policies, schemes and programmes. It acts as a detailed study of the potential impacts of proposed projects. To ensure involvement of stakeholders in the public consultation process through public hearing and to ascertain the views of the public on the proposed project or activity. Properly conducted EIA also lessens conflicts by promoting community participation, informing decision makers, and helping lay the base for environmentally sound projects.

However, unlike the EIA Notification of 1994, the new legislation has put the onus of clearing projects on the state government depending on the size/capacity of the project. Environment Impact Assessment in India is statutorily backed by the Environment Protection Act, 1986 which contains various provisions on EIA methodology and process. The process and timing of the assessment should be agreed by all participants in advance. All assessment decisions and their basis should be open and accessible.

The 2017 Regulations do not require an applicant to consider alternatives. An Environmental Impact Assessment is more likely to be required if the project affects the features for which the sensitive area was designated. However, it does not follow that every Schedule 2 development in these areas will automatically require an Environmental Impact Assessment.

The present executive committees should be replaced by experts from various stakeholder groups , who are reputed in environmental and other relevant fields. New approaches such as Environmental Risk Assessment which enable more flexible and dynamic assessments of direct and indirect impacts must be explored. Since all meetings and discussions are documented as electronic data, the officers should furnish this information regarding the status of clearance, with a record of the discussions in the Expert committee on the projects.

A Neighbourhood Development Order, which grants planning permission, may not be made by a local planning authority in respect of Schedule 1 development. An order proposal for a Schedule 2 development may be made provided the correct Environmental Impact Assessment procedures are followed, the basic conditions and other legal requirements are met and the order proposal achieves a majority at a referendum. For Schedule 2 development a local planning authority should not make a Local Development Order unless they have adopted a screening opinion or the Secretary of State has made a screening direction. Where a local planning authority makes an Environmental Impact Assessment application for planning permission or subsequent consent, the procedures set out in the 2017 Regulations apply as they do to any other Environmental Impact Assessment application. See also guidance on the separation of functions between the applicant and the decision-maker. Where it is decided that an assessment is required, the applicant must prepare and submit an Environmental Statement.

Environmental Impact Assessment Process (EIA process)

In this method, environmental factors are listed in a structured format by giving importance weightings for factors and application of scaling techniques for impacts of each alternative. These methods involve assembling a team of specialists who identify impacts in their area of expertise. Here, each parameter is considered separately and the nature of impacts are considered. An application to a relevant mineral planning authority to determine the conditions to which a planning permission is to be subject under Schedule 2 of the Planning and Compensation Act 1991 or Schedule 13 or Schedule 14 of the Environment Act 1995 is known as a ‘ROMP application’. The Environmental Statement must be placed on Part I of the planning register, as should any related screening or scoping opinion or direction as soon as possible after publication.

Environmental modeling, data access, analysis of observations during the draft review, and adaptation of 3-D and motion visualization can effectuate key transformations in the field. The real physical and socio-economic outcome as a result of the EIA process is insufficiently understood. Most program assessments put emphasis upon document outputs, like the EIA contents, instead of studying the real short- and long-term environment. The results of the EIA should indicate the level of uncertainty with the use of confidence limits and probability analyses wherever possible. Sensitivity analysis similar to that used in economic evaluation, could be used if adequate quantifiable data are available.

Second, to ensure that detailed prediction work is only carried out for important issues. It is not the purpose of an EIA to carry out exhaustive studies on all environmental impacts for all projects. If key issues are identified and a full scale EIA considered necessary then the scoping should include terms of reference for these further studies. The term ‘consultation bodies’ can also include other bodies designated by statutory provision as having specific environmental responsibilities and which the relevant local planning authority or the Secretary of State considers are likely to have an interest in the application. Where necessary the Secretary of State will make a screening direction.

If the project does not involve diversion of forestland, the case is processed only for environmental clearance. Once alternatives have been reviewed, a mitigation plan should be drawn up for the selected option and is supplemented with an Environmental Management Plan to guide the proponent towards environmental improvements. Thus, to assess the environmental impacts, the mechanism of EIA was introduced. A fundamental requirement of undertaking the CEA is to identify those foreseeable developments or activities with which the Project may interact to have the potential to result in a cumulative impact. All phases of the Proposed Development may have the potential to lead to cumulative impact. Following this iterative approach ensures that the significance of effect presented for each identified impact may be presumed to be representative of the maximum residual adverse effect the Proposed Development may have on the receiving environment.

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Alternatives must be covering both project location and process technologies. If other solutions have been checked, a mitigation plan must be drawn up for the selected option and is supplemented with an Environment Management Plan to guide the proponent towards environmental improvements. EIA is the method of evaluating environmental consequences such as environmental changes, construction of dams, reservoirs, roads, rails, bridges, industrial locations, urban expansion, etc. and the maximum possible adverse effects of these environmental changes due to human activities. Category A projects require mandatory environmental clearance and thus they do not undergo the screening process.

The composition of the NGT needs to be changed to include more judicial persons from the field of environment. Often, and more so for strategic industries such as nuclear energy projects, the EMPs are kept confidential for political and administrative reasons. Thus, Category A projects and Category B, projects undergo the complete EIA process whereas Category B2 projects are excluded from complete EIA process. Category A projects are appraised at national level by Impact Assessment Agency and the Expert Appraisal Committee and Category B projects are apprised at state level. Here you can learn about the key steps of the EIA process, bolstered by summaries of approaches used by international development banks and Central American countries, with special focus on Honduras.

• The criteria and thresholds in column 2 represent the ‘exclusion thresholds’ in Schedule 2 of the Regulations, below which Environmental Impact Assessment does not need to be considered .
• More significantly, the EIA also needs the technical issues to be handled in a single assessment process.
• Later the EIA legislation was enhanced to include other developmental sections.
• Impact identification, prediction, in­terpretation and communication and in devising post-project monitoring schemes.

If the project is listed in Schedule 2, the local planning authority should consider whether it is likely to have significant effects on the environment. The local planning authority will determine whether Environmental Impact Assessment is needed and if necessary serve a “regulation 37 notice” with the enforcement notice, stating that Environmental Impact Assessment is required. Schedule 3 of the Neighbourhood Planning Regulations 2012 prescribes a basic condition that must be met where the development described in an order proposal is Environmental Impact Assessment development.

EIA Methods

Clearly the aim will be to introduce measures which minimize any identified adverse impacts and enhance positive impacts. Formal and informal communication links need to be established with teams carrying out feasibility studies so that their work can take proposals into account. Similarly, feasibility studies may indicate that some options are technically or economically unacceptable and thus environmental prediction work for these options will not be required. SEA is methodical to systematic approach analysis of the environmental hazard & effects of development policies, plans, programmed, and other proposed strategic actions. SEA gives a proactive approach to integrating environmental considerations into the higher levels of decision-making–beyond the project level when major alternatives are still open.

2.        Basis of Assessment

Local planning authorities and developers should carefully consider if a project should be subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment. If required, they should limit the scope of assessment to those aspects of the environment that are likely to be significantly affected. Pre-application engagement can also play a role in identifying when a proposal should be subject to environmental impact assessment. The regulations set out a procedure for identifying those projects which should be subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment, and for assessing, consulting and coming to a decision on those projects which are likely to have significant environmental effects. Under section 97, section 102 and paragraph 1 of schedule 9 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 a local planning authority or mineral planning authority may make an order modifying or granting planning permission. These orders may in themselves have the potential to cause significant environmental effects; the method by which they should be screened and, if determined to be EIA orders, made subject to the EIA process is set out in regulation 33A of the 2017 regulations, as amended in 2018.

The purpose of the Environmental Impact Assessment Directive is to assess the significant effects of a development on the environment. Consequently, it is necessary for the Environmental Statement to include the information specified in regulation 18 and any additional information specified in Schedule 4 which is relevant to the specific characteristics of the development and to the environmental features likely to be affected. The Environmental Statement may, of necessity, contain complex scientific data and analysis in a form which is not readily understandable by the lay person.