ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

To incorporate into development a planning tool which identifies a plan for environmental protection and enhancement on a project-byproject basis.

EIA: HOW IS IT ACCOMPLISHED?

Identify possible positive and negative impacts to the environment - Include NATURAL & HUMAN environments - Identify over SHORT TERM & LONG TERM time frames

EIA: HOW IS IT ACCOMPLISHED?

Provide for a plan to reduce or offset negative impacts - Should result in minimum environmental degradation
(i) Adopt alternative project (ii) Project modification (iii) Environmental protection measures (iv) utilization of positive impacts

EIA: HOW IS IT ACCOMPLISHED?

Measure the level of plan implementation & degree of effectiveness - provides a monitoring program - identify parameters of uncertainty - measure the related impacts

IEE: INITIAL ENVIRONMENTAL EXAMINATION

Review the environmental integrity of projects & determine whether EIA level studies must be performed Screen the projects to see which projects require a full-scale EIA Used for (i) Ensuring project-oriented environmental management (ii) Minimizing effort, expense and delay in carrying out such planning

IEE: INITIAL ENVIRONMENTAL EXAMINATION

Assesses:
Potential Environmental effects of a proposed project

Carried out:
Within a limited budget

Based on:
(i) Limited budget (ii) Readily available information (iii) Professional judgment

IEE: INITIAL ENVIRONMENTAL EXAMINATION

IEE ---- Full scale EIA is not required - Prescribe Environmental protection measures - Prescribe Environmental Monitoring Program IEE ---- Full scale EIA is required - helps in identifying key issues that merit EIA - designate those that require only cursory dis. -- Provides most efficient & feasible preparation of adequate Environmental Management

CRITICAL ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

For ensuring attention to certain criteria concerned with utilization of precious and / or irreplaceble resources
It asks following questions !! (i) will the project result in loss of irreplaceble natural sources? If so, how is this justified? (ii) will the project sacrifice long term ERVs in favor of immediate gains?

CRITICAL ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

(iii) will the project create environmental issues which are likely to be controversial? If so, hows this managed? (iv) will the project endanger species survival? If so, hows this justified? (v) will the project establish a precedent? (vi) will the project be related to other actions, where accumulated total effects could be serious?

CRITICAL ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

(vii) is the project consistent with national energy policies? (viii) is the project consistent with national foreign exchange policies? (ix) whether due consideration has been given, in the feasibility studies, to alternative projects?

EIA Process: Fundamental Approach

Should be based on beneficial-use analysis Must include definition of area of influence Must present findings on an environmental base map

EIA Process: Fundamental Approach

Beneficial uses
Evaluate the impacts of the proposed WRD project on the significant beneficial uses of the water bodies affected

EIA Process: Fundamental Approach

(i) Water supply (iii) Irrigation (v) Recreation (vii) Sanitation (ix) Flood control (ii) Power generation (iv) Fisheries & aquatic wildlife (vi) Navigation (viii) Watershed management (x) Waste disposal

Alteration in such beneficial uses may result in impacts on other human use and quality - of -life values

 STEPS
(i) Description of study area (including description of all ERVs) (ii) Description of the project (project per se & operations involved) (iii) Quantification of effects of project on ERVs (legal implications, field investigations, sampling & analysis) (iv) Development of concl. & recomm. (feasible measures which should be considered)

EIA Process: Fundamental Approach

Project Development Cycle
EIA should be considered with all phases of project development Planning Design / Construction / Start-up Operation

Initial Project Proposal

Prefeasibility

Feasibility

Rapid EIA

Detailed EIA

Alterna tive Selecti on

Design Construction

Operation

Env. Monitoring

ENVIRONMENTAL BASE MAP

EBM : Shows information from steps (i) and (ii) Schematic map of study area & environs Presents ERVs of the region canals, rivers, drainage, roads, railways, industries, commercial areas, farmlands, ecological resources, wildlife areas, areas of cultural interest etc. Background information on Env. Situation Should be as simple as possible

IDENTIFICATION OF STUDY AREA

Should include the water bodies whose beneficial uses are significantly affected & adjacent land areas - dam / reservoir vicinity - upstream watershed - downstream reverine zone (estuaries also!)

- area of strata from which water is pumped - recharge area - areas where water is used & routes of transmission

ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS

Natural Physical Resources Natural Ecological Resources Human Use Values Quality-of-life-values

DAM / RESERVOIR PROJECT

Physical Resources
(i) Adequacy of data (ii) Surface water quantities (iii) Surface water quality (iv) Groundwater (v) Soils (soil erosion) (vi) Geology / Seismology (vii) Watershed erosion & sediments (viii) Downstream erosion & siltation (ix) Changes in microclimate

DAM / RESERVOIR PROJECT

Ecological Resources
(i) Fisheries (ii) Aquatic biology (iii) Wildlife (terrestrial fauna) (iv) Forests & watershed management (v) Reservoir ecology

DAM / RESERVOIR PROJECT

Human Use Values

(a) Water supply (b) Aquaculture (c) Navigation (d) Flood control (e) Mineral Development (f) Agro-industries (g) Highways / Railways (h) Land Uses

DAM / RESERVOIR PROJECT

Quality-of-life values
(i) Socio-economics Assess social / economic situation of the rural population in the region affected by the project Improvement of the welfare of the affected people Project should not tend to impose very unequal effects depending upon where the families happen to be located Ensure some level of equity in distribution of benefits to accrue from the project

DAM / RESERVOIR PROJECT

Quality-of-life values
(ii) Resettlement (iii) Public health -- expected impact of the project in altering hazards of water-oriented diseases (iv) Vector-borne diseases (v) Nutrition (vi) Recreation & aesthetics (vii) Archeological & Historical resources

 FORMATION OF EIA STUDY TEAM PREPARATION OF TORs

 PREPARATION OF AN EIA REPORT

-- Introduction -- Description of the Project -- Description of the existing environment -- Anticipated Environmental Impacts & plans for protection (i) Item-by item review (ii) Mitigating & offsetting adverse effects (iii) Irreversible Impacts (iv) Identification of impacts during construction & protection measures -- Consideration of alternatives -- Monitoring program -- Summary & conclusions

SELECTION OF METHODOLOGIES
Systematic in approach Able to organize a large mass of heterogeneous data Able to quantify, relatively accurately, the impacts Capable of summarizing such data Able to aggregate the data into sets with least loss of information Should have good predictive capability Should extract the salient features Should be able to display the raw data and the derived information in a meaningful manner

General Methodologies
Ad hoc Checklists Matrices Networks Overlays Environmental index using factor analysis Cost / Benefit analysis Simulation modeling workshops