SUBMITTED BY,

S. INDRAKUMAR SINGH

M.SC ENV.SCIENCE

PANJAB UNIVERSITY,

CHANDIGARH

Methodology means the structural approaches for doing one or more activities of EIA.

There are some specific characteristic which an EIA methodology should depict.

These are:-(1)It should be appropriate to the necessary task of EIA process such as impact identification/comparison of alternatives.

(2)It should be significantly free from assessors bias

(3)It should be economical in terms of costs, and its requirement of data ,investigating time , personnel, equipment and facilities.

This stage of EIA identifies and predicts the likely Environmental and social impact of the proposed project and evaluates the significance

1. IMPACT IDENTIFICATION

2. IMPACT PREDICTION

3. IMPACT EVALUATION

*P ublic involvement typically occurs at t hese point s. It may also occur at any other st age of t he EIA Process

Information from this process cont ributes to effective EIA in the future

No EIA

Initial environmental

examination

EIA required

Approved

Not approved

Redesign

Resubmit

Proposal identificat ion

*P ublic involvement

Screening

Scoping

Impact analysis

Mitigation and impact

management

EIA report

Review

Decision-making

Implementation and post -EIA

monitoring

Impact Identification attempts to answer the question, “what will happen when a project enters its operational stage?”

A List of important impacts such as changes in ambient air quality, changes in water and soil qualities, noise levels, wildlife habitats, species diversity, social and cultural systems, employment levels etc may be prepared.

The important sources of impact like smoke emission, consumption of water, discharge of effluents etc are identified.

Ad hoc method

Checklists

Matrices

Overlays

Networks

Simple method based on subjective environment impacts on broad aspects.

Ad hoc method is useful when time constraints and lack of information require that the EIA must rely exclusively on expert opinion.

It provides minimal guidance for total impact assessment while suggesting the broad areas of possible impacts and the general nature of these possible impacts.

When more scientific methods are available, it is not recommended.

Opinion polls.

Experts opinion.

Delphi methods etc.

ADVANTAGE

Specialists on a particular area will provide guidance.

DISADVANTAGE

It require expert. Short/long term

impact are merely examined on guess basis.

Identification , prediction and interpretation of impacts are quite poor

Checklist means a listing of potential Environmental Impacts.

This method is done to assess the nature of the impacts i.e. its type such as adverse /beneficial , short term or long term , no effect or significant impact , reversible or irreversible etc

Simple Lists.

Descriptive Checklists.

Scaling Checklists.

Questionnaire Checklists.

ADVANTAGES

Simple to understand and use.

Good for site selection and priority setting.

DISADVANTAGES

Do not distinguish between direct and indirect impacts.

Do not link action and impact.

Sometime it is a cumbersome task.

Matrix and its variants provide us a framework of interaction of different actions /activities of a project with potential EI caused by them.

A simple interaction matrix is formed where project actions are listed along one axis i.e. vertically and EI are listed along the other side i.e. horizontally.

It was pioneer by Leopold et al(1971).

It lists about 100 project actions and about 88 environmental characteristic and condition.

Ports and Harbours

Airports

Rapid Transit

Highways

Oil/Gas Pipelines

DevelopmentProjects

Valued Env.Component

(VEC)

Insignificant ImpactSignificant Impact Moderate - Significant Impact

ADVANTAGES

Link action to impact

Good method for displaying EIA results

DISADVANTAGES

Difficult to distinguish direct and indirect impacts

Significant potential for double-counting of impacts

Qualitative

It uses the matrix approach by extending it take into account primary as well the secondary impacts.

Shown in the form of tree called as Relevance/Impact tree/Sequence diagram.

Identification of direct ,indirect /short and long term environment impact is a crucial and intact basic step of making Impact tree.

Used to identify cause-effect linkages

Visual description of linkages

Salmonoid populations

Fishing Spawning

Temperature Flow Water Quality (Suspended Matter)

Access Dredging Clearing

ADVANTAGES

Link action to impact

Useful in simplified form in checking for second order impacts

Handles direct and indirect impacts

DISADVANTAGES

Can become overly complex if used beyond simplified version

Qualitative

Rely on a set of maps of a project area’s environmental characteristics covering physical , social, ecological, aesthetic aspects.

Separate mapping of critical environmental features at the same scale as project's site plane.g. wetlands, steep slopes, soils, floodplains, bedrock

outcrops, wildlife habitats, vegetative communities, and cultural resources...

Older Technique: environmental features are mapped on transparent plastic in different colors.

Newer Technique: Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

ADVANTAGES

Easy to understand and use

Good display method

Good for site selection setting

DISADVANTAGE

Address only direct impacts

Do not address impact duration or probability

A. Biological and Physio -chemical impacts.

B. Social impacts.

C. Health impacts.

D. Economic impacts.

It relate to effects on biological resources such as vegetation ,wildlife , crops and aquatic life.

Interaction with Physical elements like air ,water , soil, rocks and solar radiation.

Chemical impacts like chemical change in air , water , soil quality etc.

Demographic – Displacement and relocation effects and changes in population characteristics.

Cultural – Traditional patterns , family structure ,religious, archaeological features , social networks.

Gender – implication of projects on roles of women in society , employment opportunity and equity

Institutional – Housing , schools, Criminal justice , Health, welfare

Examples of health impacts by sector

Communicable disease

Non communicable

disease

Nutrition Injury Psychosocial disorder and loss of well-

being

Mining Tuberculosis Dust induced lung disease

Crushing Labour migration

Agriculture Parasitic infections

Pesticide poisoning

Loss of subsistence

Industry Poisoning by

pollutants

Occupational

injury

Disempowerment

Forestry Loss of food

production

Occupational

injury

Dams and irrigation

schemes

Water borne diseases

Poisoning by pollutants

Increased food production

Drowning Involuntary displacement

Transportation HIV/Aids Heart disease Traffic injury Noise and induced stress

Energy Indoor air pollution

Electromagnetic radiation

Community displacement

Duration of construction and operation

Workforce requirements for each period

Skill requirements (local availability)

Earning

Raw material and other input purchases

Capital investment

Outputs

The characteristics of the local economy

The accumulated knowledge of the findings of the environmental investigations form the basis for the prediction of impacts.

Once a potential impact has been determined during scoping process ,it is necessary to identify which project activity will cause impact , and its magnitude and extent.

Best estimate professional judgement .

Quantitative mathematical models .

Experiments and physical models .

Case studies as analogues or

references .

1. Baseline condition

2. Un certainty

3. Spatial limits

4. Temporary boundaries

5. Incremental condition

6. Quantitative and Qualitative methods

Its purpose is to assign relative significance to predicted impacts associated with the projects and to determine the order in which impacts are to be avoided , mitigated or compensated

Importance of affected resource

Magnitude and extent of disturbance

Duration and frequency

Risk/likelihood of occurrence

Reversibility

Contribution to cumulative impacts

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Be considered effective if

Information generated in the EIA contributed to decision making.

Predictions were accurate

Proposed mitigatory and compensatory measure achieved approved management objectives

Efficiency criteria are satisfied if

EIA decisions are timely relative to economic and other factors determine project decisions

Costs of conducting EIA can be determined and are reasonable.

The area in which the effects of the proposed

action will occur

The impacts that are expected in that area

from the proposed action

Other past, present, and reasonably

foreseeable actions that have or are expected

to have impacts in the area

The impacts or expected impacts from those

other actions

The overall impact that can be expected if the

individual impacts are allowed to accumulate

Evaluate Environmental

Impacts

Design Environmental Protection Measures

Review Applicable Standards

Develop Alternative Environmental Protection

Measures

Evaluate Implementation

Costs

Assess EnvironmentalEffectiveness

Select Final Environmental Protection Measures

The above simple techniques of EIA such as impact identification ,prediction ,evaluation are used for measuring environment variables and construction of a number of indices to describe the changes in environmental inventory.

http://www.unescap.org/drpad/vc/orientation/M8_4.htm

http://www.scopenvironment.org/downloadpubs/scope5/chapter04.html

Class notes

Wikipedia

EIA Books

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