Topic 6 Environmental Impact Assessments

1. Topic 6Environmental Impact Assessments

2. EIA – Introduction • The start • Effectiveness?

3. EIA • Prepare environmental impact statement (EIS) • Review of EIS by public and government • Produce an assessment report EIA = EIS + assessment report

4. So…why do it???

5. Issues for EIA • Forces environment into the policy process • Often considered an impediment to development • Can be use as a ploy • Lot of uncertainty surrounding • Bias • Timing • EIS typically dominates EIA process

6. What It Should and Should Not Be

7. Public Participation

8. Standard Steps in EIA • Determining need for • Scoping key issues • Describing alternatives • Describing baseline • Identifying key impacts • Evaluating their significance • Proposing mitigation measures • Obtaining public input • Submitting for review • Making final decisions • Monitoring and auditing final decisions

9. Standard Content of an EIS • Summary • Justification or rationale for proposed action • Alternatives to the proposed action • Description of the environment that is likely to be affected • Predicted environmental consequences of the proposed action • List of authors of the report

10. Things to Remember with EIAs • Need a central, conceptual or analytical theme or recognizable investigative design to guide the collection and interpretation of data • Need concrete predictions of value to project decision-making • Include significance levels and probabilities • Coordinate with/relate to the broader process of environmental decision-making