What is EIA?

“An important procedure for ensuring that the likely

effects of new development on the environment are fully
understood and taken into account before the
development is allowed to go ahead”

The 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.

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Purpose Of EIA
 An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is an
assessment of the likely positive and/or negative influence a
project may have on the environment.

 The purpose of the assessment is to ensure that decision-

makers consider environmental impacts before deciding
whether to proceed with new projects.

 EIA is intended to identify the Environmental, Social and

Economic impacts of a proposed development prior to decision
making.

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Origins and history of EIA
First formal system of EIA established in the US
following the National Environmental Policy
Act (NEPA) of 1969

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 Environmental Impact Statement

The Environmental Statement must include:

A description of the project: location, design, size etc.

Description of significant effects.
Mitigating Measures
Assessment of no development conditions
Assessment of conditions with development
A Non-Technical summary.

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The EIA Process
There are two steps in EIA. The two stages are:

Preliminary Assessment: Carried out in the early stages of

planning

Detailed Assessment: Carried out during project planning

until the project plan is completed and are reported formally
as an Environmental Statement

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Steps Involved In EIA
1. Preliminary Activities and Decision of Terms of Reference
( TOR )
2. Scoping
3. Baseline Study
4. Environmental Impact Evaluation
5. Mitigation Measures
6. Assessment of Alternative Measures
7. Preparation of Final Document
8. Decision-making
9. Monitoring of Project Implementation and Its
Environmental Impacts

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Step 1: Preliminary Activities and Decision of Terms of
Reference ( TOR )

 Preliminary activities include the defining of the Terms of

Reference ( TOR ) for the project and also the determining of the
personnel required for the assessment. A brief summary of the
project is extremely helpful at this stage. The summary should be
clear and explicit.
 The existing laws and regulations that are applicable to the
project should also be reviewed along with the regulating
authorities.
 An EIA team might include an engineer, an economist, a physical
geographer and a sociologist, with a senior government official to
play the role of a coordinator. All these need to be identified and
declared before the actual EIA process may begin.

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 Step 2: Scoping
 Scoping is a process for identifying environmental impacts of the
project. At a very early stage in the preparation of an EIA, the impacts
of the project on the environment are identified.
 When the list of the impacts is very large, only the most significant
impacts are selected.
 This process, therefore, determines the limits and the scope of the
environmental degradation involved with the project.
 Scoping actually controls the cost and time of the assessment in
deciding the scope of the EIA and therefore is a very important step
both in identifying the impacts and controlling the size of the EIA.

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Step 3: Baseline Studies
 A baseline study is the study of the original status of the
environment in the area before the development work of the
project is started.
 This study serves the purpose of a base reference against which
the changes due to implementation of the project are measured.
Baseline studies are based on the experience with respect to
environmental aspects and cover everything important about the
environmental impacts of the project.
 On the other hand, a proper scoping highlights the significant
environmental issues of the project with respect to its locality and
regional environment. Hence, scoping and baseline studies often
run into each other.

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Step 4: Environment Impact Evaluation

 Environmental impact evaluation actually grows out of scoping and baseline

study of the project. In principle, EIA assigns various quantified values to
different levels of all the impacts affecting the project. This step is generally
considered as the most technical and controversial part of the EIA. It is
difficult because not every impact, especially natural and social impacts, can
be quantified. Occasionally, it is possible to use surrogate measures, such as
the amount of money required to mitigate the damage, or the amount of
money local inhabitants are willing to pay to clean up the river. However, the
accuracy and appropriateness of such techniques can be questioned.

 Impact evaluation actually calls for very careful considerations of the most
important impacts and their accurate numerical representation. This has to
be done not only for the proposed project but also for all possible
alternatives, so that a well-balanced final decision can be reached regarding
the fate of the project.

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 Step 5: Mitigation Measures

 Mitigation measures are taken after the impact evaluation.

 These measures are taken to reduce the magnitude or intensity of the
impacts affecting the environment.
 This of course will incur some costs, but it is expected that such
measures will, in the long run, mitigate the impacts so as to make the
project both economically and environmentally viable.
 The EIA team has to decide between two alternatives, either having a
high cost and low pollution program or having a low cost but a high
pollution situation.

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Step 6: Assessment of alternative measures
 The proposed project and all other relevant versions have been examined for
environmental impacts by now.
 They have also been corrected by applying the mitigation measures to minimize
the adverse effects on the environment.
 The next step is to assess the alternative measures by measuring environmental
degradation and improvement in terms of economic losses and gains.
 In standard EIAs, a summary for each version of the project is given together
with the comparative assessment using benefit-cost analysis (BCA); a method
for evaluating development projects.
 However, there is a difficulty in the assessment as not everything is quantifiable.
Although attempts have been made to describe such situations numerically.
 Therefore, not all assessments use net benefit criteria. The benefit-cost analysis,
when used, is equally applied to all options to make the comparative
assessment easy. For instance, it is more desirable to put up with limited
pollution at a lower cost of mitigation than to remove the pollution completely
at a much higher cost.

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Step 7: Preparation of the final document
Preparation of the final document should meet the following two objectives:

The detailed document is usually called as the reference document. This

document is used by the technical personnel that is associated with the
project. It is also referred for preparing future EIAs in the same geographical
area, or for the same type of project in a different area. The referred part
usually contains the technical calculations, graphs, and the results of field
and laboratory measurements.

The summarized non-technical account is usually called as the working

document, which is written clearly without using technical language to
communicate to the decision-maker the findings of the EIA team. Main
objective of this document is that the non-technical decision-makers must
properly understand the findings and recommendations of the EIA team so
that they can take a well-informed and correct decision promptly

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 Step 8: Decision Making
 Decision-making is the process which starts after the above-
mentioned steps of EIA are completed.
 Usually, the decision is taken by a manager or a committee, or
personnel from the concerned ministry who had not been associated
with the EIA during its preparation.
 Technical and economic aspects of project alternatives are thoroughly
considered. In general, a decision-maker has three choices:
 i) accepting one of the project alternatives,
 ii) returning the EIA with a request for further study in certain specific
areas,
 iii) totally rejecting the proposed project along with alternative
versions.

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 Step 9: Monitoring
 Monitoring of project implementation and its environmental impacts
is usually carried out while the selected project is under actual
implementation.
 The monitoring is basically the process of inspection to make sure
that the proper guidelines and recommendations stated in the EIA are
faithfully followed.
 Such inspections may also be carried out after the completion of the
project to determine as to what accuracy the environmental impacts
have been predicted by the EIA.
 This could be a very valuable exercise for the environmental impact
assessors.

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Impacts studied under EIA
Development

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 Air Quality Impacts
Discuss the types, sources and rates of emissions expected for
construction and operation of the project. This may include:

 Emissions, road and construction dust, as well as: Visible and smelly
substances from the project
 Greenhouse gases (GHG) expected from the project (include all
stages).
 Determine the nature and quantity of Criteria Air Contaminants
(which cause health hazards, smog or acid rain) to be released.
 How much acidifying substances will be emitted?
 What technologies will be used to control air emissions?
 How will leaks be detected, measured and repaired? These leaks can
lead to significant odors if left unchecked.

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 Air Quality Impact
Looking for
Oxides of nitrogen (NOx)
Oxides of sulphur (SOx)
Ozone O3
Particulates PM10 and
PM2.5
Odour

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Water Quality Impact
 Contamination of rivers & streams

 Hazard assessment from spills etc

 During the course of the construction works, monitoring shall be

undertaken of the following parameters, their frequencies, and

duration
 DO/pH/Temperature/Turbidity/SS/ pollution causing chemical

compounds

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Heritage and construction
Impact

 Improperly designed development

projects can damage cultural heritage

and diminish its value.
 Traffic movements

 Dust

 Spoil heaps

 Noise

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 Geology and Soils Impact
Assessment of geological value

 Soil characterisation

Site protection

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