PRESENTED BY:SAYED

M.SOHAIL
Presented to:prof usman bin saad Al Nashwan
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA):

■ Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a process of evaluating the environmental impacts of

a proposed project or development, considering inter-related socio-economic, cultural, and
human-health impacts, both beneficial and adverse.
■ The term 'environmental impact assessment' (EIA) is usually used when applied to concrete
projects and the term 'strategic environmental assessment' applies to policies, plans, and
programs.
■ The purpose of the assessment is to ensure that decision makers consider the environmental
impacts when deciding whether to proceed with a project.
Project Cycle and Environmental Impact Assessment:

■ In planning and carrying out their disaster

response activities, many humanitarian
agencies follow a standard project
management cycle as depicted.
The Objectives of Environmental Impact Assessment:

■ The aim of Environmental Impact Assessment is to protect the environment by ensuring that a local
planning authority when deciding whether to grant planning permission for a project, which is likely to
have significant effects on the environment, does so in the full knowledge of the likely significant effects,
and takes this into account in the decision-making process.
■ The aim of Environmental Impact Assessment is also to ensure that the public are given early and
effective opportunities to participate in the decision-making procedures.
■ Environmental Impact Assessment should not be a barrier to growth and will only apply to a small
proportion of projects considered within the town and country planning regime. Local planning
authorities have a well-established general responsibility to consider the environmental implications of
developments which are subject to planning control.
■ EIA aims to predict environmental impacts at an early stage in project planning and design, find ways to
reduce adverse impacts, shape projects to suit the local environment, and present the predictions and
options to decision makers.
 The stages of Environmental Impact Assessment:
■ There are five broad stages to the process:

■ Screening: Determining whether a proposed project falls within the remit of the Regulations, whether it is likely to have a significant
effect on the environment and therefore requires an assessment.

■ Scoping: Determining the extent of issues to be considered in the assessment and reported in the Environmental Statement. The applicant
can ask the local planning authority for their opinion on what information needs to be included (which is called a ‘scoping opinion’).

■ Preparing an Environmental Statement: Where it is decided that an assessment is required, the applicant must compile the information
reasonably required to assess the likely significant environmental effects of the development. To help the applicant, public authorities
must make available any relevant environmental information in their possession. The information finally compiled by the applicant is
known as an Environmental Statement.

■ Making a planning application and consultation:

■ The Environmental Statement (and the application for development to which it relates) must be publicized. The statutory ‘Consultation
Bodies’ and the public must be given an opportunity to give their views about the proposed development and the Environmental
Statement.

■ Decision making:

■ The Environmental Statement, together with any other information which is relevant to the decision, comments and representations made
on it, must be considered by the local planning authority and the Secretary of State in deciding whether to give consent for the
development. The public must be informed of the decision and the main reasons for it.
Common Problems of
Environmental Impact Assessment:

■ While the EIA process is essential in designing projects with

minimal environmental effects, some challenges to this process
have been voiced an understanding of these challenges can help
the humanitarian community develop solutions.

■ Lack of awareness: Many humanitarian agencies are

increasingly becoming aware of the need to include
environmental management in their operations. There is,
however, an acknowledgment that available tools are not well-
promoted or understood. It is felt by some that these tools are
the domain of specialists and “too complicated” for a
humanitarian relief setting.
Lack of evidence of success:

■ Another reason for the nonuse of these tools is the lack of evidence confirming the actual value and
success of environmental impact assessments.
Integration:
■ Another topic of debate is whether environmental assessment should be applied in standalone assessments
or integrated with the variouss other assessments undertaken during relief and recovery operations.
■ Tools of Environmental impact Assessment:
■ Environmental Stewardship Review for Humanitarian Aid (ESR) as a tool for evaluating the environmental
impacts of humanitarian aid projects with a focus on the recovery and reconstruction phases after the
disaster. The ESR can, however, be used during the early relief phase as well as in longer-term
development phases as the EIA elements are standardized. The ESR is meant to be completed in about one
to three hours and typically includes a field visit to the proposed project site and consultation with project
planners and other.
 Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment in Disasters (REA)
for use in disasters and other crisis situations.

Rapid
Environmental
Assessment in REA is designed to provide non specialists with the means to
quickly identify salient environmental issues.
Disasters:
It uses a subjective process, incorporating the perspectives of
organizations and communities on the most important
environmental issues related to the crisis. The REA process is
designed for use in the first 120 days after the crisis, after which
routine EIA procedures should be possible.
Ministry of Environment and Forest (MOEF):

■ The MOEF is the principal Government institution to deal with the environmental activities in
Bangladesh. It is the final body for all matters relating to National Environmental Policy and
regulatory issues. “It was created with the stated goal to play a key role in planning, reviewing,
monitoring and environmental initiatives and ensuring that environmental concerns are properly
integrated into the national development process.”
■ Department of Environment (DOE):
■ The DOE is the technical arm of the MOEF, and is the agency responsible for environmental
planning, management, and monitoring.
■ Under the provision of the Environment Conservation Act, 1995, DOE is authorized to issue
environmental clearance for all types of industrial units and projects and mandated to formulate
environmental guidelines and advise the Government to reject such manufacturing processes,
materials, and substances as are likely to cause environmental pollution.
 The Planning Commission of the Ministry
of Planning oversees preparation of the
Five-Year Plans.

Planning The Ministry also controls the funding

allocation of individual ministries

Commission: responsible for implementing specific

projects under the Five-Year Plan.

The Planning Commission has the authority

to supervise and coordinate cross-sectorial
and intermenstrual activities affecting the
use of natural resources and the
environment.
 a. “Declaration of ecologically
critical areas, and restriction on
The main components of the b. Regulation in respect of
the operation and process,
Environment Conservation Act, vehicle emitting smoke harmful
which can be carried or cannot
1995 are. for the environment.
be initiated in the ecologically
critical area.

EIA c. Environmental clearance for

d. Regulation on the industries e. Promulgation of standards

procedures
all industrial units and projects.
and other development for quality of air, water, noise,
activities — discharge permit. and soil for different purposes.

in
Bangladesh f. Promulgation of standard
limit for discharging and
emitting waste.
g. Formulation and declaration
of environmental guidelines. h.
Penal measures for non-
compliance.”
The major requirements of the
Environment Conservation
Rules are.

c. Requirement for Initial

a. “National Environmental Environmental Examination
Quality Standards for ambient b. Requirements and (IEE) and Environmental
air, various types of water, procedures to obtain Impact Assessment (EIA)
industrial effluent, emission, environmental clearance. according to categories of
noise, vehicular exhaust etc. industrial and other
development interventions.”
 Social impact assessment (SIA):
Social impact assessment (SIA) is a methodology to review the social effects of infrastructure projects and other development
interventions.

"SIA is typically applied to planned interventions, the techniques of SIA can also be used to consider the social impacts that derive
from other types of events, such as disasters, demographic change and epidemics."

According to the International Association for Impact Assessment, "Social impact assessment includes the processes of analyzing,
monitoring and managing the intended and unintended social consequences, both positive and negative, of planned interventions
(policies, programs, plans, projects) and any social change processes invoked by those interventions.

Its primary purpose is to bring about a more sustainable and equitable biophysical and human environment."

SIA overlaps with monitoring and evaluation (M&E). Evaluation is particularly important in the areas of:

• public policy,
• health and education initiatives, and
• international development projects more generally, whether conducted by governments, international donors, or NGOs.
The social impact assessment covers:

■ The social impact assessment identifies the social impacts directly related to the project and
proposes strategies to capitalize on social opportunities and to avoid, manage, mitigate, or offset
the predicted detrimental project impacts.

 community and stakeholder engagement

 workforce management

 housing and accommodation

 local business and industry content

 health and community wellbeing.

Principles for Social Impact Assessment:

In all planned interventions and

Planned interventions can be SIA should be an integral part of their assessments, avenues
Many of the social impacts of
modified to reduce their negative the development process, should be developed to build the
planned interventions can be
social impacts and enhance their involved in all stages from social and human capital of local
predicted.
positive impacts. inception to follow-up audit. communities and to strengthen
democratic processes.

In all planned interventions, but The SIA must give due There should be no use of
especially where there are consideration to the alternatives Local knowledge and experience violence, harassment,
unavoidable impacts, ways to of any planned intervention, but and acknowledgment of different intimidation, or undue force in
turn impacted peoples into especially in cases when there local cultural values should be connection with the assessment
beneficiaries should be are likely to be unavoidable incorporated in any assessment. or implementation of a planned
investigated. impacts. intervention.

Developmental processes that

infringe the human rights of any
section of society should not be
accepted.
Social Impact Assessment
Variables:

■ Social impact assessment variables point to measurable change in human population,

communities, and social relationships resulting from a development project or policy
change.

■ 1. Population Characteristics: mean present population and expected change, ethnic

and racial diversity, and influxes and outflows of temporary residents as well as the
arrival of seasonal or leisure residents.
2. Community and Institutional Structure: mean the size, structure, and level of
organization of local government including linkages to the larger political systems.
3. Political and Social Resource: refer to the distribution of power authority, the
interested and affected publics, and the leadership capability and capacity within the
community or region.
4. Individual and Family Changes: refer to factors which influence the daily life of
the individuals and families, including attitudes, perceptions, family characteristics
and friend-ship networks.
5. Community Resources: Resources include patterns of natural resource and land
use; the availability of housing and community services to include health, police and
fire protection and sanitation facilities.
STAGES IN
THE SOCIAL
IMPACT
ASSESSMENT
PROCESS:
Public Involvement :

This requires identifying and working with all potentially affected groups starting at the very beginning of planning for the proposed action. Groups affected by proposed actions include those who live nearby; those who will
hear, smell, or see a development; those who are forced to relocate because of a project; and those who have interest in a new project or policy change but may not live in proximity

Identification of Alternatives :

 Locations

 Land requirements.

 Needs for ancillary facilities (roads, transmission lines, sewer, and water lines)

 Construction schedule

 Size of the work force (construction and operation, by year or month)

 Facility size and shape

 Need for a local work force.

■ Institutional resources
Baseline Conditions :

■ The baseline conditions are the existing conditions and past trends associated with the human
environment in which the proposed activity is to take place.
■ Scoping - After obtaining a technical under-standing of the proposal, identify the full range of
probable social impacts that will be addressed based on discussion or interviews with numbers of
all potentially affected.
After initial scoping, the social impact assessor selects the SIA variables for further assessment
situations. Consideration needs to be devoted both to the impacts perceived by the acting agency and to
those perceived by affected groups and communities.
■ Projection of Estimated Effects - Investigate the probable impacts.
The probable social impacts will be formulated in terms of predicted conditions without the actions
(baseline projection); predicted conditions with the actions; and predicted impacts which can be
interpreted as the differences between the future with and without the proposed action.
Predicting Responses to Impacts:

Determine the significance to the identified social impacts.

■ This is a difficult assessment task often avoided, but the responses of affected
parties frequently will have significant subsequent impacts. After direct
impacts have been estimated the assessor must next estimate how the affected
people will respond in terms of attitude and actions.
■ Indirect and Cumulative Impacts - Estimate subsequent impacts and
cumulative impacts.

■ Indirect impacts are those caused by the direct impacts; they often occur later
than the direct impact, or farther away. Cumulative impacts are those impacts
which result from the incremental impacts of an action added to other past,
present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions regard-less of which
agency or person undertakes them.
 Recommended new or changed alternatives and estimate
or project their consequences.
Each new alternative or recommended change should be
assessed separately. More innovative alternatives and
changes probable should be presented in an experimental
structure. Expert judgment and scenarios are helpful in
developing project and policy alternations.

Changes in
Mitigation - Develop a mitigation plan.
A social impact assessment not only forecasts impact, but it
should also identify means to mitigate adverse impacts.

Alternatives:
Mitigation includes avoiding the impact by not taking or
modifying an action; minimizing, rectifying, or reducing the
impacts through the design or operation of the project.

Monitoring – Develop a monitoring program.

Monitoring programs are particularly necessary for projects
and programs that lack detailed information or that have
high variability or uncertainty. It is important to recognize,
in advance, the potential for "surprises" that may lie
completely outside the range of options considered by the
SIA.
 In the UK, marine dredging is an activity which occurs within
individually licensed areas, contained within regional blocks, off
the coastlines of the Humber Estuary, East Anglia, the outer
Thames Estuary, the east English Channel, the South Coast and

Regional in the Bristol Channel. For uses in concrete products the ideal
aggregate blend consists of approximately 55 % gravel and 45 %
sand.
Environmental Naturally occurring resources rarely occur in exactly this ratio;

Assessment of therefore blending of cargoes from dif- ferent licence areas is

usually required to provide the necessary aggregate quality.

Marine
Aggregate
Marine aggregates are usually delivered to wharves that are close
to construction markets and are commonly integrated with
existing ready-mix concrete and con- crete block plants.

Dredging
Effects: The Dredging in England and Wales requires a marine licence
(environmental con- sent) to be issued by Government
regulators, and a commercial agreement with The Crown Estate
UK Approach: before dredging is allowed to begin.

The Crown Estate (governed by a UK Act of Parliament) acts as

the property manager for Her Majesty the Queen and works
supportively with Government and at a local level regarding
leasing the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) to allow business
development.
The MAREA Process:

EMU Ltd (2012a) summarised the five

broad aims of the MAREA process as:
• To provide a context for site-specific EIAs within the
relevant MAREA region and to identify site-specific
issues that individual EIAs may need to focus more
Whilst the MAREAs were undertaken as a specifically;
voluntary approach by the UK aggregate • To provide a robust assessment of cumulative and in-
industry, the assessment methodology was combination impacts at the regional level using
consistent definitions and interpretations of such
Defining the MAREA Approach not developed by the industry in isolation impacts, and thus contribute towards assessments of
but was based on collaborative process magnitude and scale of such impacts in individual
between the industry and a Regulatory EIAs;
• To provide an assessment of future development
Advisory Group (RAG). planned by the aggregate extrac- tion industry, based
on using projections, and taking account of other
human activities and natural variability; and
• To make recommendations for a regional monitoring
programme to be addressed at the MAREA level.
The MAREA The MAREA methodology was designed to identify and assess

Methodology: potential regional cumulative and in-combination impacts of

future marine dredging activities within four regions (see Fig.
10.1). The MAREA definitions of cumulative and in-
combination impacts are as follows:
• Cumulative: Impacts that arise from multiple marine aggregate dredging activi-
ties within a region and/or sub-region; and
• In-combination: The total impacts of all industrial sectors operating within the
same region in the context of natural variability or trends.

Scoping, Baseline Data Collection and Source-Effect-

Receptor Conceptualisation :

Each MAREA began with a scoping process, which was

designed to identify exist- ing regional information. Where data
gaps existed, additional baseline surveys and specialist desk-
based studies were defined and commissioned. Additional
studies carried out included:
Continuee:
Additional geophysical surveying across currently
licensed and proposed future marine dredging areas.
• A detailed coastal characterisation, including data on coastal
defence, geology, morphology and physical processes; nearshore
bathymetry and sediment distri- bution; present day
hydrodynamics and sediment transport;
• A desk-based navigation study, assessing shipping densities and
activity within the region; and Archaeological studies,
characterising the known and potential wreck resource within the
region, and assessing the palaeo-landscape and prehistoric
archaeo- logical potential.
• Modelling :
• An important stage in each MAREA was the undertaking of a
detailed numerical modelling exercise for each MAREA region.
The aim of the modelling was to cal- culate the scale of
cumulative effects of proposed future dredging activities; to dif-
ferentiate these from naturally-induced changes and to assess the
significance of the effects over time.
 MAREA
Assessment Each MAREA assesses the cumulative and in-combination effects of dredging
using a multi-stage process that is common across all four regions:

Methodology: 1. Identification of potentially sensitive receptors – for each region, the outputs
of the specialist desk studies and the new baseline datasets are combined and
anal- ysed in order to characterise and identify the physical, human and
biological

receptors potentially sensitive to the future effects of dredging (e.g. benthic and
fish ecology, birds, marine mammals, fisheries, archaeology etc.). This is done
on an individual MAREA basis, as potentially sensitive receptors are not
neces- sarily common across all regions.

2.Conceptualisation of effects – often the terms ‘effect’ and ‘impact’ are used
inter- changeably, however for the MAREAs they are separately defined. An
effect is defined as a physical change in the environment that occurs as a
consequence of the dredging process.

Prediction of effect magnitude – the magnitude of each predicted dredging

effect is assessed based upon three variables, namely the extent, duration, and
frequency of the effect; and by comparing the predicted changes with the
baseline conditions.
 
The duration
Temporary – an effect that only occurs during dredging,
or for a few hours or days after dredging stops;

of an effect is a  Short-term – an effect that is no longer visible after up to

1 year following cessa- tion of dredging;

measure of its  Medium-term – an effect that lasts between 1 and 10

years following cessation of dredging; and

temporal  Long term – an effect that lasts for more than 10 years
after dredging.

persistence, ■ The frequency of an effect is a measure of how often

it occurs, and the agreed frequency definitions are:

and the levels  Routine – occurs during all normal dredging activities
(95–100 %);

defined are:  Intermittent – occurs often, but not during all dredging
activity (25–95 %);
 Occasional – only occurs during a small proportion of
operations (<25 %); and
 Rarely – effect only occurs as an unplanned event e.g.
oil spills.
The recoverability of a receptor is a measure of its ability
to return to a state similar its state before any changes
occurred.
 The agreed recoverability categories are:
 Low – the receptor is unable to recover, resulting in permanent or long term changes (>10 years);
 Medium – the receptor recovers to an acceptable status over the short to medium term (1–10 years); and
 High – Receptor recovers fully within 1 year.
■ The overall impact significance criteria for the MAREA process are defined as:
 Not significant – impacts that after assessment are not significant in the context of the MAREA objectives;
 Minor significance – impacts that warrant the attention of particular stakeholders but no action is required if impacts
can be controlled by adopting normal good working practices;
 Moderate significance – regional impacts that should be recognised and addressed in consultation with particular
stakeholders; and
 Major significance – regional impacts that are not environmentally sustainable and compromise the continuation of
extraction activity in the region.
Easing Consenting Using the MAREAs:

■ Identification of Strategic Issues Using the MAREAs :

■ Ahead of a large-scale marine aggregate licence renewal programme in English territorial waters, the
consistency of application advice provided to marine aggregate operators by the Regulator and its advisors
has been assessed by reviewing responses to the four recently conducted MAREAs (Humber, Anglian,
Outer Thames and South Coast) .
■ Reduction in Site-Specific EIA Burden:
■ To further illustrate how the MAREAs can reduce the burden of site-specific EIAs the example of Coastal
Impact Studies (CISs) in the UK can be examined. Under the current system it has previously been a
requirement for Applicants to conduct site-specific CISs to demonstrate that dredging at the Application
Area will not sig- nificantly impact coastal processes. CISs have typically comprised a coastal
characterisation; wave modelling evaluating how the proposed lowering of the seabed will alter waves at
the coastline; tidal flow modelling simulating and identifying the effects of aggregate dredging on tidal
currents; and a sediment transport assessment evaluating the influence of dredging on local sediment
transport, and the potential consequences for sediment transport pathways in the region.
Conculsion:
■ The MAREAs establish, for the first time, the context of each study region in terms
of its physical, biological, and human (heritage and socio-economic) value; and the
interaction with future aggregate extraction activities. They deliver a range of
regional datasets, modelling outputs and regional cumulative and in-combination
assessments which will aid the progression of site-specific licence renewals and
applications, reduce the site-specific application costs and Regulatory burden.
■ The MAREA methodology links the outputs of regional hydrodynamic and sedi-
ment transport models with the identification of potentially sensitive receptors from
specialist desk-based studies and baseline data collection and analysis. The model
outputs and receptor locations are compared through a GIS-based ‘effect-receptor
overlap’ mapping approach. Where there is no overlap of effect with receptor then the
receptor can be scoped out of the impact assessment. The impact assessment
integrates a prediction of effect magnitude (based upon extent, duration, frequency,
and elevation above baseline) with a determination of receptor value and sensitivity
(based upon its tolerance, adaptability and recoverability to a particular effect) to
evaluate the impact significance. While the MAREA methodology was developed for
the UK offshore aggregate dredging industry this Chapter shows that the ‘effect-
receptor overlap’ methodology can be successfully applied to datasets from world-
wide regions where multiple dredging operations occur and a similar approach could
be adopted by other countries or developers where regional cumulative and in-
combination impacts of those developments may occur.
.

Thank You