CE 474 ENVIRONMETAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Impact Assessment

CHANDER PRAKASH CED, NIT HAMIRPUR

CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Impact Identification

Impact identification methods

Ad hoc methods
CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Checklists
Matrices

Networks
Overlays and geographical information systems (GIS)

Expert systems
Professional judgement

Objective criteria for selecting an EIA method.

Key Area of Assessment Process
CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Criteria

Criteria Description

To allow with the available manpower and background Expertise Requirements knowledge to grasp and apply the method without difficulty. Does not require primary data collection and can be Data Requirements used with readily available data.

Cost /Time Effectiveness Time

Requirement Flexibility

Can be completed well within the time requirements for the EIA review. Flexible enough to allow for modifications and changes during the course of the study, especially if more detailed study is required. Can be performed with limited manpower and budgets.

Level of Effort

Objective criteria for selecting an EIA method

Key Area of Assessment Process Criteria Criteria Description

CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Comprehensiveness Comprehensive enough to contain all possible

options and alternatives;
Able to give sufficient information about the impacts to enable effective decision-making.

Indicator-based Impact Identification Discriminative

Able to identify specific parameters with which to measure significant impacts. Requires and suggests methods for identifying project impacts as distinguished from future environmental changes produced by other causes. Can identify impacts on a temporal scale. Can identify impacts on spatial scales.

Time Dimension Spatial Dimension

Objective criteria for selecting an EIA method

Key Area of Assessment Process Criteria Criteria Description

CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Commensurate

Uses a commensurate set of units so that comparison can be made between alternatives. Suggests specific and measurable indicators to be used to quantify relevant impacts.

Quantitative

Impact Measurement

Measures Changes

Provides for the measurement of impact magnitude as distinct from impact significance.
Is based on explicitly stated objective criteria.

Objective

Objective criteria for selecting an EIA method

Key Area of Assessment Process Criteria Criteria Description

CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Credibility

Provides sufficient depth of analysis and builds confidence into the users and the general public. Analysis can be replicated by other EIA practitioners. Can explicitly assess the significance of measured impacts on a local, regional, and national scale. Explicitly states criteria and assumptions employed to determine impact significance. Aggregates the vast amounts of information and raw data. Accommodates a degree of uncertainty.

Impact Assessment

Replicability Significance based

Aggregation Uncertainty

Alternative Comparison

Provides for a comparison of impacts of project alternatives. Clearly portrays the impacts on the environment with and without the project.

Objective criteria for selecting an EIA method

Key Area of Assessment Process Criteria Criteria Description

CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Communicability Provides a sufficiently detailed and complete

comparison of the various project alternatives available. Requires and suggests a mechanism for public involvement in interpreting the impacts and their significance. Provides a mechanism for linking and assessing impacts on affected geographical or social groups. Provides a description of the project setting to help users adequately understand the whole picture.

Communication

Summary Format

Summarizes the results of the impact analysis in a format that will give the users, who range from the public to the decision-makers, sufficient detail to understand and develop confidence in the assessment. Provides a format for highlighting the key issues and impacts identified in the assessment.

Ad Hoc Method
CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Indicates broad areas of possible impacts and are used for rough assessment.

It A team of specialists is assembled to identify impacts in their area of expertise.

Each environmental area i.e. Air, water, soil etc are taken separately. This method is very easy to use can be performed without any training. Provides a Qualitative assessment of impacts

Example
Items
CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Alternatives A B C

Number of reservoirs on river system

Combined surface area, ha` Total reservoir shoreline, km New irrigation areas, ha

4
8500 190 4000

1
1300 65 1200 2000 3 1x 1x Yes 1x 200

0
Nil Nil No Nil -

Reduced open space because of project and associated 10000 population increases, ha Inundated archaeological sites, nos. Reduced soil erosion, relative magnitude Enhanced fisheries, relative magnitude Provision of flood control measures New potential malarial areas, relative magnitude Additional employment potential, number of persons 11 4x 4x Yes 4x 1000

Ad Hoc Method
Drawbacks:
CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

It may not encompass all the relevant impacts;

As the criteria used to evaluate impacts are not comparable, the relative weights of various impacts cannot be compared; It is inherently inefficient as it requires a considerable effort to identify and assemble an appropriate panel of experts for each assessment; and It provides minimal guidance for impact analysis while suggesting broad areas of possible impacts.

Checklists
CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Checklists are standard lists of the types of impacts associated with a particular type of project Specific areas of impact are listed and instructions are supplied for impact identification and evaluation.

Types of checklists
There are four general types of checklists:

1. Simple Checklist: a list of environmental parameters with no guidelines on how they are to be measured and interpreted. 2. Descriptive Checklist: includes an identification of environmental parameters and guidelines on how to measure data on particular parameters. 3. Scaling Checklist: similar to a descriptive checklist, but with additional information on subjective scaling of the parameters. 4. Scaling Weighting Checklist: similar to a scaling checklist, with additional information for the subjective evaluation of each parameter with respect to all the other parameters and are capable of quantifying the impacts

CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Simple Check list

Nature of Likely Impacts Items
CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Adverse
ST LT R
X X X X X X X

Beneficial
L
X X X

IR
X X X X X X

ST

LT

SI

Aquatic Ecosystems Fisheries Forests Terrestrial Wildlife Rare & Endangered Species Surface Water Hydrology Surface Water Quality Groundwater Soils Air Quality Agriculture Socioeconomic Aesthetic X

*
X

X X X X

X X

CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Descriptive Check Lists

CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Important characteristics of simple and descriptive checklist

There are several major reasons for using checklists:
CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Useful in summarizing information to make it accessible to specialists from other fields, or to decision makers who may have a limited amount of technical knowledge; These have professional credibility and usability
Provide a structured approach Can be used to facilitate interdisciplinary team discussions Documentation of the rationale / basis to identify key factors or impacts can be accomplished.

Important weight could be assigned to key environmental factors.

Key Impacts, which should be mitigated can be identified

Scaling and Weighting Checklists

CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Simple and descriptive checklists merely identify the possible potential impacts without any sort of rating as to their relative magnitude As a result these are applicable at the IEE stage of an assessment Scaling checklist methods go a step further and provide an idea of the nature of the impact. This approach is not suitable for impact measurement and does not aid much in decision making. It identifies the impacts its nature and leaves the interpretation to the decision makers. Scaling and weighing checklists apart from identifying the impacts also incorporate the function of impact measurement and evaluation. Scaling and weighing checklists are capable of quantifying impacts.

Scaling and Weighting Checklists Methods

Various methods were developed based on the following criteria Determine an appropriate set of environmental factors to be considered (for example, wildlife habitat);. Define the units of measurement for each environmental factor Collect the data on the environmental factor on a fixed unit (100 or 500 ha) Convert the data for the environmental factor to environmental factor index (this is usually done by normalizing all values over a maximum or minimum. Determine a weight for each environmental factor Decide on the method of aggregation across all factors (usually additive).
CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Two alternative examples

Factors
CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Weight
Raw Data

Alternative One
Scaled
Weighted

Alternative Two
Raw Data 10000 Scaled Weig hted

Wildlife Habitat Preserved (ha.) Employment Increase (jobs)

5000 5000

3000

Wildlife Habitat Index

Employment Increase Index Wildlife Habitat Weighted Index Employment Increase Weighted Index Grand Index

1
1 0.2 0.8 n/a

0.5
1 0.1 0.8 1.5 0.9 n/a

1
0.6 0.2 0.48 1.6 0.68

CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Threshold of Concern Checklists

CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Questionnaire Checklists

Matrices
CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Two-dimensional tables used to identify impacts arising from the interaction between project activities and specific environmental components. A matrix serves as a checklist and a summary of the impact assessment. The matrices are very suitable for EIAs as they link a particular environmental aspect to a specific action of the development project and in a way explain the nature of the impact. The entries in the cell of the matrix can be either qualitative or quantitative estimates of impact.

Simple Matrix Leopold matrix

CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Table: Simple environmental impact matrix for the Phoenix Pulp Mill (source: Lohani and Halim, 1983).

CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Environmental Components Plant Construction Surface Water Quality Surface Water Hydrology Farming of Kenaf Use of Pesticide Fertilizer

Project Activities
Transport of Raw Materials Water Intake Solid Waste Effluent Discharge Emissions Employment

X X X

Air Quality

Fisheries
Terrestrial Wildlife Habitat Terrestrial Wildlife Land Use Pattern Highways/Railw ays

X
X X X X

Leopold Matrix
CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

The interactionmatrix method developed by Leopold et al. (1971) The matrix lists approx. 100 specified actions and 90 environmental items.

CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Stepped Matrix
CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

1. A stepped matrix is also called crossimpact matrix can be used to address secondary and tertiary impacts of initiating actions. 2. A stepped matrix is one in which environmental factors are displaced against other environmental factors.

3. The consequences of initial changes in some factors on other factors can be displayed

CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Networks
CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Networks are those methodologies which integrate impact causes and consequences through identifying interrelationships between casual actions and the impacted environmental factors, including those representing secondary and tertiary effects. Matrices are limited to identifying cause-effect linkages (direct impact). Network diagram visually describes these linkages, providing some indication of how an ecosystem operates.

CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

To develop a network, a series of questions related to each project activity must be answered. Data represented with the help of network diagrams which provides a means for displaying first, secondary, tertiary, and higher order impacts. In developing a network diagram, the first step is to identify the first order changes in environmental components.

CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

Network

Map Overlay Method

CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

A series of maps (transparencies) is used to

identify, predict, assign relative significance to, and communicate impacts

of the project. It is geographically referenced. GIS system is normally used these days.

Map Overlay Method

CE 474: ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

An effective visual aid,

Useful as documentation of environmental conditions existing before project implementation

May describe both biophysical and social aspects of area under