1 / 38

EIA

Environment Impact Assessment

Dr1540
Download Presentation

EIA

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. What is EIA? • For execution of any development project, an EIA is necessary in these days. • EIA is tool to predict the impacts or damages a project will have on the environment, when the project is executed.

  2. What is it really? Environmental Impact Assessment is a process, set down as a repeatable series of steps to be taken, to allow the environmental consequences of a proposed development to be assessed. The environmental consequences have to be those INCREMENTAL effects which are due to the proposed development, and not those which are due to the passage of time or other developments not included in the proposal.

  3. The EIA Directive • The EIA Directive defines a project as • the execution of construction works or of other installations or schemes, • other interventions in the natural surroundings and landscape including those involving the extraction of mineral resources

  4. The EIA Directive • The EIA should identify, describe and assess the direct and indirect effects of a project on the following factors: • human beings, fauna and flora • soil, water, air, climate and the landscape • material assets and cultural heritage • the interaction between the above factors • EIA should therefore have a strong socialdimension

  5. Points for carrying out EIA • Status of existing environmental conditions.

  6. Points for carrying out EIA • Study of project activities

  7. Points for carrying out EIA • Suggestions to minimize adverse effects

  8. Points for carrying out EIA • Pollution abatement

  9. Points for carrying out EIA • Identifying damages

  10. Importance in EIA • Limited environmental resources • Social welfare

  11. Screening(does the project require EIA?) Impact assessment(interpreting the impacts) Scoping(what issues and impacts should the EIA address?) Mitigation(what can be done to alleviate negative impacts?) Baseline studies (establish the environmental baseline) EIS preparation/review (document the EIA findings) Alternatives(consider the different approaches) Public consultation(consult general public and NGOs) Impact prediction(forecast the environmental impacts) Monitoring(monitor impacts of project)

  12. Screening • Is an EIA needed? • Many projects may have no significant environmental effects • A screening mechanism seeks to identify those projects with potentially significant adverse environmental effects

  13. Screening • Two principal approaches to screening: • the use of thresholds • case-by-case examination against criteria • Under the EIA Directive: • EIA is mandatory for projects listed in Annex I of the Directive • EIA is required subject to Member States’ thresholds and criteria for projects listed in Annex II of the Directive

  14. Scoping • The scope of an EIA is the issues and impacts it addresses • Scoping is the process of deciding which of a project’s possible alternatives and impacts should be addressed in the EIA • An EIA should focus only on the significant issues and impacts

  15. Scoping • Scoping is carried out in discussions between the developer, the competent authority, relevant agencies and, ideally, the public • Effective scoping enables limited resources to be allocated to best effect (i.e. through investigation of only the most significant impacts)

  16. Baseline studies • Following the scoping phase, it is essential to assemble all the relevant information on the current status of the environment • The baseline study should anticipate the future state of the environment assuming the project is not undertaken - the ‘no action alternative’ • This provides the ‘baseline’ against which future impacts can be assessed

  17. Baseline studies • Baseline studies should be undertaken for each alternative site so that the relative severity of the impacts for each alternative can be assessed • New field work may necessary (e.g. ecological survey) if relevant data is not already available

  18. Impact assessment • Impact assessment involves evaluating the significance of the impacts identified • Significance can be determined through professional judgement, reference to regulations etc. • Potential for bias in determining what is significant • The conclusions of the impact assessment can ultimately be used by decision-makers when determining the fate of the project application

  19. Mitigation • Negative impacts on the environment identified during the EIA can be alleviated through mitigation measures • The mitigation hierarchy: Avoid - Reduce - Remedy - Compensate - Enhance • Impacts remaining after mitigation are known as residual impacts • The legislation obstructs the proper process of design development

  20. Post-project monitoring • Monitoring should determine: • the accuracy of the original predictions • the degree of deviation from the predictions • the possible reasons for any deviations • the extent to which mitigation measures have achieved their objectives

  21. What is in an ES? • Non Technical Summary • Description of the proposals • Assessment of Baseline conditions • Assessment of no development conditions • Assessment of conditions with development • Mitigation proposals

  22. What is in an ES? All conditions assessed for • Construction phase • Operation phase

  23. Construction Phase • Temporary • Higher levels of impact usually deemed acceptable • Difficult to predict • VERY difficult to enforce conditions • Usually well influenced by effective consultation

  24. Operation Phase • Long Term • Much less room for compromise on standards • Relatively simpler to predict • Less difficult to enforce conditions, as the conditions are on the project owner • Usually less influenced by effective consultation at scheme level, more at detailed level

  25. Operation Phase • Can be several phases • Project itself may be developed in stages • Sometimes need to look at • Commissioning • Opening • Operation after period • Operation once landscaping mature • Operation at design capacity • Operation at ultimate capacity

  26. Consents Process • ES generally accompanies an application for permission to proceed • May be at Local, Regional, or National level • Local and regional levels usually can refer upwards • Application will be at outline or detailed stage; increasingly difficult to get approval on outline applications

  27. Air Quality • Looking for • Oxides of nitrogen (NOx) • Oxides of sulphur (SOx) • Ozone O3 • Particulates PM10 and now PM2.5 • Dioxins and Furans for Incinerators • Particulates (dust) • Odour

  28. Air Quality • No legal standards • Most projects have very limited impact • Dioxins and Furans have become significant concerns since the extremely low levels could be measured • Roads schemes always show improvement in air quality over next twenty years

  29. Forestry and Agriculture • Classification of land (Grade 1, 2, 3) • Severance and viability • Orphaning of land parcels • Isolating buildings from fields etc • Opportunities for landscaping on isolated pieces of land

  30. Water Quality • Aquifer protection zones • River designations • Ecology impacts • Hazard assessment from spills etc

  31. Landscape and Visual Amenity • Visual assessment • Site categorisation (AONB, Conservation area) • Inter visibility plots • Landscape description • Landscape value • Opportunities for landscaping

  32. Heritage and Archaeology • Site categorisation (SAM, Grade I, II*, II) (World Heritage Site, Conservation Area) • Locally important buildings without designation • English Heritage • National Trust • County Archaeologist

  33. Ecology • Assessment of ecological value • Site categorisation (SSSI,SNCI, SAC,SPA) • Inventory of flora and fauna • Rare species • Protected species (incl Red List) • Impact of severance, disruption etc • English Nature, RSPB, Wildlife Trusts etc

  34. Geology and Soils • Assessment of geological value • Pedology characterisation • Site protection (SSSI)

  35. Traffic Impact Assessment • Traffic flows generally on roads • Cars, taxis, trucks, buses, cycles • Pedestrian journeys • Public/private transport split • Congestion/traffic management • Proposed mitigation measures

  36. Construction Impacts • Traffic movements • Dust • Mud • Social impacts itinerant workers • Business generation • Spoil heaps • Contamination of rivers & streams

  37. Construction Impacts • Light pollution • Noise • Vibration of piling plant • Materials stockpiles • Construction sites

  38. THANK YOU !!!

More Related