Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) or simply Environmental Assessments (EAs) are required in many countries before any kind of development takes place for the purpose of determining:
the type and degree of impact (if any) on the environment of the development,
potential modifications to the developments design to reduce its impact,
the feasibility (and cost) of introducing these modifications and/or reclamation needed after the development has outlived its purpose (i.e. reclaiming the land a mine was using after the ore/material has been removed and operations have shut down).
This information is needed before governments (municipal, state and/or national) will approve that the development may go ahead. Types of developments that require EIAs are normally involved in
establishing industry (i.e. factories, processing plants, oil refineries)
urban development (i.e. buildings, subdivisions and their infrastructure such as electricity, water and sewer)
waste disposal
The complexity and cost of the study depends on a number of factors such as:
Its location relative to sensitive and rare species of flora and fauna.
The availability of the resource(s) affected by the development and the proximity/availability of suitable replacements for that resource.
Its need by and importance of the local community. Unfortunately, humans often over-ride even the most strictest of legislation. If the resource is vital for the community and other sources are too expensive, often the environment will be compromised.
The types and potency of the potential pollutants to be released either directly and indirectly into the environment.
The lifespan of the development. The longer the development is active, the greater its potential impact on the environment (i.e. nuclear generating stations).
The size of land the development will require and/or the area that will be impacted. A large city such will have a greater impact than a 10 house subdivision in the country with respect to waste production.
The number of people affected and the proximity to urban areas. Developments that impact the health of a large population (i.e. contaminating drinking water by petrol stations) will require greater research than if the same problem exists where fewer or no humans will be affected.
The investigation is conducted by government approved and independent environmental consulting firms that are hired normally by the company proposing the development. It is assumed that as these developers will at some point be making money from this development, they should also be responsible to prove to the general public that the environment will be minimally impacted.
It is possible that EIAs are rejected by governments and deemed not feasible, unable to meet the guidelines (set by government, World Health Organisation, UNESCO, International Standards Organisation (ISO - 14000) or other appropriate research and standard setting organisations), or incomplete. In many cases though, the developer has a number of opportunities to suggest modifications till the development is approved.
A significant problem with EIAs is that governments are responsible for their implementation, the issue may quickly become politically charged where human concerns and interests over-ride those of the environment. This makes the process open for corruption or even modification of the offending legislation exempting certain "important or sensitive" industries from the process. This has happened recently in the US where president Bush has modified the review process to make it easier for the oil industry to access its resources.
What is included in an EIA?
It is important to recognise that an EIA must establish the conditions of the environment before the development has a chance to change things. This is vital if you wish to identify a polluter in the future. You cannot accuse a factory for contaminating the groundwater if you cannot show that the water was cleaner before the factory began operations. It could be that the pollutant comes from another source. This is known as a baseline study and considered the most important part of an EIA.
Step 1: Baseline study establishes the natural conditions present in the ecosystem before the proposed development is constructed. It is important that the following variables and design techniques are established at this point.
all aspects of the biosphere (soil, groundwater, surface water, flora & fauna and atmosphere) that are thought to be affected by the new development need to be investigated.
Direct methods: known pollutants (i.e. nitrates from sewers or fertiliser, known gasses released into the atmosphere, noise from increased traffic, dust from construction, etc.) can often be measured directly.
Indirect methods: more importantly though are suitable indirect measurements such as diversity studies (random quadrats and transect surveys and BOD and other biotic indexes) as it is impossible to predict all possible pollutants generated from a development.
Sampling methodology: the frequency, number of samples, location and areal distribution of the sampling should be over a large enough area to establish a clear picture of initial conditions and show how the environment will change (if at all). It should also be able to show changes due to seasons if they will affect the pollutants impact.
Environmental Considerations: establish what kind of features will be incorporated into the development to minimise the impact of the of the development (i.e. tunnels or bridges over a highway to help bears and deer cross the road without being hit as in Banff national park, Alberta, Canada).
Waste disposal: How will waste generated during the construction and use phase of the project be disposed of?
The baseline study is normally the most intensive aspect of an EIA as its scope is larger in area and types of samples analysed than future sampling programs which are normally more specific as the known impact of the development is clearer. The baseline should establish which variables need to be investigated and which ones are less important.
Step 2: Ongoing monitoring during construction and use of the development planIn order to prove that the development is not impacting the environment, the sampling locations, frequency, sampling and analysis methodology should also remain the same as performed in the baseline study.
The EIA will propose the nature of the monitoring and analysis program that takes place during this time period. New pollutants can be added to the list as the impact of the development becomes clearer.
The priority of the variables investigated is proposed but can be modified with respect to sampling frequency in order to make sure that all potential changes can be characterised and recorded.
Monitor to show that the environmental considerations are working.
Step 3: Site remediation
Often forgotten when designing a new development is what will happen to the site once the development has outlived its use. This become particularly important if the development site will contain many toxic pollutants (i.e. a nuclear generating station and its old radioactive waste fuel rods).
Some EIAs will be required to suggest how the development will be reclaimed and returned to its natural habitat. To do this it is very important to establish in the baseline study the initial conditions so that the land can be reclaimed and returned as close to how it was found.
For example, when drilling for oil or gas has been completed, oil companies are required to seal the hole, remove any potential contamination, return the soil profile as initially found during excavation and replant the original vegetation found at that location.
If this step does not meet the government requirements, the project may still be refused even though steps 1 and 2 have been met.
EIAs - Environmental Impact Assessments
Hyperlinks to some EIA case studies: 1. Building a second airport in Sydney, 2. Building a dam in a river basin, 3. Development of a highway in Finland, 4. 2 Harbours
Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) or simply Environmental Assessments (EAs) are required in many countries before any kind of development takes place for the purpose of determining:
This information is needed before governments (municipal, state and/or national) will approve that the development may go ahead. Types of developments that require EIAs are normally involved in
The complexity and cost of the study depends on a number of factors such as:
The investigation is conducted by government approved and independent environmental consulting firms that are hired normally by the company proposing the development. It is assumed that as these developers will at some point be making money from this development, they should also be responsible to prove to the general public that the environment will be minimally impacted.
It is possible that EIAs are rejected by governments and deemed not feasible, unable to meet the guidelines (set by government, World Health Organisation, UNESCO, International Standards Organisation (ISO - 14000) or other appropriate research and standard setting organisations), or incomplete. In many cases though, the developer has a number of opportunities to suggest modifications till the development is approved.
A significant problem with EIAs is that governments are responsible for their implementation, the issue may quickly become politically charged where human concerns and interests over-ride those of the environment. This makes the process open for corruption or even modification of the offending legislation exempting certain "important or sensitive" industries from the process. This has happened recently in the US where president Bush has modified the review process to make it easier for the oil industry to access its resources.
What is included in an EIA?
It is important to recognise that an EIA must establish the conditions of the environment before the development has a chance to change things. This is vital if you wish to identify a polluter in the future. You cannot accuse a factory for contaminating the groundwater if you cannot show that the water was cleaner before the factory began operations. It could be that the pollutant comes from another source. This is known as a baseline study and considered the most important part of an EIA.
Step 1: Baseline study establishes the natural conditions present in the ecosystem before the proposed development is constructed. It is important that the following variables and design techniques are established at this point.
- all aspects of the biosphere (soil, groundwater, surface water, flora & fauna and atmosphere) that are thought to be affected by the new development need to be investigated.
- Direct methods: known pollutants (i.e. nitrates from sewers or fertiliser, known gasses released into the atmosphere, noise from increased traffic, dust from construction, etc.) can often be measured directly.
- Indirect methods: more importantly though are suitable indirect measurements such as diversity studies (random quadrats and transect surveys and BOD and other biotic indexes) as it is impossible to predict all possible pollutants generated from a development.
- Sampling methodology: the frequency, number of samples, location and areal distribution of the sampling should be over a large enough area to establish a clear picture of initial conditions and show how the environment will change (if at all). It should also be able to show changes due to seasons if they will affect the pollutants impact.
- Environmental Considerations: establish what kind of features will be incorporated into the development to minimise the impact of the of the development (i.e. tunnels or bridges over a highway to help bears and deer cross the road without being hit as in Banff national park, Alberta, Canada).
- Waste disposal: How will waste generated during the construction and use phase of the project be disposed of?
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The baseline study is normally the most intensive aspect of an EIA as its scope is larger in area and types of samples analysed than future sampling programs which are normally more specific as the known impact of the development is clearer. The baseline should establish which variables need to be investigated and which ones are less important.Step 2: Ongoing monitoring during construction and use of the development planIn order to prove that the development is not impacting the environment, the sampling locations, frequency, sampling and analysis methodology should also remain the same as performed in the baseline study.
Step 3: Site remediation
Often forgotten when designing a new development is what will happen to the site once the development has outlived its use. This become particularly important if the development site will contain many toxic pollutants (i.e. a nuclear generating station and its old radioactive waste fuel rods).
Some EIAs will be required to suggest how the development will be reclaimed and returned to its natural habitat. To do this it is very important to establish in the baseline study the initial conditions so that the land can be reclaimed and returned as close to how it was found.
For example, when drilling for oil or gas has been completed, oil companies are required to seal the hole, remove any potential contamination, return the soil profile as initially found during excavation and replant the original vegetation found at that location.
If this step does not meet the government requirements, the project may still be refused even though steps 1 and 2 have been met.