Environmental Impact Assessment

Chapter 1

Introduction to EIA

Preamble

 Environment is composed of lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere &

biosphere which are the major constituents of earth

earth-containing
containing life sustaining

resources which support both living & non-living entity.

 Life sustaining resources such as food, air & water are withdrawn from this

source (i.e. environment) which is utilized by the society & disposes off the

waste back into the same environment. This environment has capacity to

restore the waste into usable form back to the same environment. However,

the increasedurbanization
urbanization & industrialization have increased the level of

pollution causing undesirable alteration in the environment, which is making

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the environment to lose its capacity to renew and restore wastes- causing

harmful effects to humans.

 Such environmental threats which effects the human society was quickly

realized & the EIA activity was introduced to minimize it.

Environmental Impact Assessment

 EIA is an activity designed to identify & predict the impacts of a project on

biological, geological, physical, chemical, environmental and on human

health, so as to recommend appropriate measures, programs & operational

procedures to minimize the impacts.

 EIA is an exercise to be carried out before any project or major activity is

undertaken to ensure that it will not in any way harm the environment on

short/ long term basis.

 Although the proposed project or plan has a good intention & might be

addressing an identified problem, but the consequence of the project may be

seriously impacting the environment. Hence any developmental activity not

only requires technical and cost-benefit analysis, but also most importantly

the assessment of effects of proposed development on the environment

When it was started

 EIA was first introduced in USA in 1969 through the National Environmental

Policy Act 1969. The policy was the result of wide spread recognition in the

1960s that some major environmental problems were created by the

government’s projects (power stations, dams and reservoirs, industrial

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complexes). The benefits associated with the process were quickly recognized

and within 20 years the EIA had become famous world wide as an important

decision making tool.

 EIA in India started with the impact assessment of river valley projects in

1978-79 and the scope has subsequently been enhanced to cover other

developmental sectors such as industries, thermal power projects, mining

schemes etc.

 EIA has now been made mandatory under the Environmental Protection Act,

1986 for 29 categories of developmental activities (with other amendments)

Typical Impacts from a Land Clearing Activity in Forest Area

 Physical resources: Hazard of soil erosion, impairment of water quality

problems in downstream, loss of rainwater infiltration normally occurring
under forest cover, micro effect on increasing temperature due to
deforestation.

 Ecological: loss of forest resources & consequent wildlife habitat,

encroachment hazards from agriculture, pesticides & other agricultural toxics
entering forest ecosystem.

 Human use: impairment of water quality problems in downstream,water

supply problem, fisheries, floods, sedimentation, etc

 Quality of life: Loss of forest tourism/aesthetical value, disruption of local

forest population & their socio-economics, disease hazards, increased
sanitation diseases due to increased population.

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Salient Features of EIA

 EIA identifies the possible +ve& - ve impacts to the environment resulting

from proposed project identified over both short and long term time frame

 EIA provides management plans (environmental protection measures) which

upon implementation will reduce –ve impacts of projects

 To measure the effectiveness of environmental protection plans, EIA provides

a monitoring programme (which records, compares, updates & alerts)

 In general, EIA is essentially a preventive process which seeks to avoid costly

mistakes in project planning & development because of environmental losses

that results from new project.

Need of EIA

 Every developmental activity has some or the other impact on the

environment.

 In today’s world, mankind cannot live without taking up developmental

activities for his food, security and other needs. Consequently, there is a need

to harmonise developmental activities with the environmental concerns.

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is one of the tools available with the

planners to achieve the above-mentioned goal.

 It is desirable to ensure that the development options under consideration are

sustainable.

 The environmental impacts must be characterized early in the project cycle

and accounted for in the project design. Hence EIA integrates the

environmental concerns in the developmental activities right at the time of

initial feasibility report. In doing so it can enable the integration of

environmental concerns and mitigation measures in project development.

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 EIA can often prevent future liabilities or expensive alterations in project

design.

Environmental Components/ Ecological factors

Components of natural environment affected by development activities consist of air,

water, land, flora & fauna, etc.

Components Important Consideration (specific to project area)

Air  Monitoring the existing status of ambient air quality;

 Type and extent of emissions released by the project affecting air
quality;
 Evaluation of other potential emissions (including vehicular traffic)
within the impact zone and estimation of cumulative of all the
emissions/impacts;
 Level of degradation and its effects on human health

Water  Study of existing ground and surface water resources;

 Impacts due to the proposed water use/pumping on account of the
project;
 Impacts of effluent discharge on the quality of the receiving water
body;
 Evaluation of the proposed pollution prevention-wastewater
treatment system, water recycling and reuse;
 Impacts on aquaculture and tourism potential of the ecosystem;
 Surface and Groundwater depletion

Noise  Monitoring the present status of noise levels within the impact zone,
 Prediction of future noise levels resulting from the proposed project
and related activities including increase in vehicular movement

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Biological  Assessment of flora and fauna present within the impact zone of the
project
 Assessment of potential damage to terrestrial and aquatic flora and
fauna due to air pollution, land-use changes, discharge of effluents
and gaseous emissions from the project
 Deforestation, changes in species diversity and hastening the
disappearance of important species, changes in biological
productivity.

Soil and  Studies on soil characteristics, existing land use and topography,
Local landscape and drainage patterns within the impact zone
Geology  Impacts of project on land use, landscape, topography, drainage and
hydrology
 Impacts on physio-chemical characteristics of soils, effects on stability
of soils

Energy &  Impacts on availability of energy sources in the area of thermal

Natural power generation and effect on local natural resources
Resources

Processes  Floods, erosion, earthquake, deposition, stability and air movements

Ecological  Food chain, diseases and its extent

relationship

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Apart from the natural environment, the impacts of project on man-made

environmental components consists of the following

Components Important Consideration (specific to project area)

Socio-  Collection of demographic and related socio-economic data

economic  Collection of epidemiological data, and morbidity rates among

and Health the population within the impact zone
Environment  Projection of anticipated changes in the socio-economic and
health due to the project and related activities including traffic
congestion & delineation of measures to minimize adverse
impacts

 Assessment of impact on significant historical, cultural and

archaeological sites

 Economic conditions, employment opportunities, property

value, resettlement, rural depopulation, social amenities (like
schools, hospitals, transport, etc), social relationship (like
language, community feelings), psychological features, personal
security, cultural aspects, political, legal, statutory laws, etc

Developmental Activities

The major development activities which require environmental clearance include:

Sector Projects

Natural Resource  Mining of minerals

Exploitation  Offshore & onshore oil & gas exploration &
development
 Hydroelectric power generation
 Thermal power plant (coal/lignite/gas based)
 Nuclear power plant

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Primary processing  Coal washeries

 Metallurgical industries
 Cement plants
 Petroleum refining industry
 Soda ash industry
 Leather/skin processing industry

Manufacturing/Fabrication  Chemical fertilizers

 Pesticide industries
 Petro-chemical based processing
 Synthetic organic chemistry industry (dyes)
 Distilleries
 Pulp & paper industries

Service sector  Oil & gas transportation pipleine passing through

national parks or sanctuaries
 Isolated storage & handling of hazardous
chemicals

Physical infrastructure  Airports, ship breaking yards, industrial estates,

SEZ, ports, harbours, highways, Sewage treatment
plants, CETP (Common Effluent Treatment Plant),
solidwaste management, building township area
development

Objective & Scope of EIA

The aim & objective of EIA can be divided into two categories

Immediate Objective

 To identify & predict significant environmental impacts & risks of proposed

project on humans, flora/fauna, air, water, soil and on other ecological factors

 To examine & select best/ sustainable project alternative available

 To identify & incorporate effective mitigation measures into project plan so as

to minimize pollution, environmental disturbance and nuisance during

construction & operation phase of the project

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 To design and specify the environmental monitoring and audit requirements;

and

 Facilitate informed decision making, including setting up of terms &

conditions for implementation of proposals

Long-term Objective

 To promote sustainable development and safeguard environment and socio-

economy

 Protect human health and safety;

 Avoid irreversible changes and serious damage to the environment;

 Safeguard valued resources, natural areas and ecosystem components; and

 Enhance the social aspects of the proposal.

EIA Procedure

EIA process involves a number of steps, the contents of which are dependent on the
purpose & nature of the study. There is no standardized procedure for EIA, however a
framework of principles to guide strategies, methods & techniques has been more or
less recognized by scientific community & included in legislation/directives of various
countries.

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Project Screening

The entire EIA can be divided into two complementary tasks

 The initial environmental examination(IEE)

 The full scale environmental impact assessment (EIA)

The initial environmental examination (IEE) is essentially a screening process to

determine which projects require full scale EIA.

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 Environmental Impact Assessment

- Screening or IEE involves assessing the potential/ significant environmental

effects of a proposed project that can be carried out within a limited budget and
based on available information, professional judgment of experts, past
experience, legislative requirement, stakeholder & community values.

- If screening results indicate that a full scale EIA is not required, then appropriate
environmental management measures or a monitoring programme can be
adapted to complete EIA for such a project.

- Screening consist a list of selection criteria that should be considered when

screening a development proposal for EIA. Some of these criteria may include:
o Development characteristics: Description of type of project, its operation/
functioning
o Characteristics of location: Proposed location, reason for selection,
sensitive areas nearby, etc
o Characteristics of potential effects: environmental stresses during its
construction & operational phase on ecology

Scoping

- Scoping is used to identify the key issues & concern at an early stage of project so
as to identify the main stakeholder concerns about the proposals (through
stakeholder consultation). The outcome of scoping also facilitate informed
decision making.

- Scoping establishes the contents of EIA that lays the foundation of an effective
process, saves time and money (delays from oversights or unnecessary areas of
study), and reduces conflict

- The results of scoping will determine the scope, depth and terms of reference to
be addressed within the Environmental statement.
-
- Scoping is used to:
o Define the proposed actions

o Enlist the co-operation of agencies involved including the public

o Provide an opportunity for public involvement in determining the factors

to be assessed, and facilitate early agreement on controversial issues

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o Identify what’s important & what’s not

o Set time limits for study

o Determine requirements of the study team

o Determine the assessment methods to be used

o Determine the range of alterative and impacts to be considered at different

levels of analysis

o Identify required permits, other regulatory requirement

o Establish terms of reference (TOR) for EIA study

Impact Analysis

i. Baseline Information

o To enable identification & analysis of likely impacts, the baseline

environmental condition must be first established.

o Baseline refers to the collection of background information on the

biophysical, social and economic settings of proposed project area.
Normally, the information is obtained from secondary sources, or by
collecting new information through field samplings, interviews, surveys &
consultations with the stakeholders.

o Baseline data is collected to provide a description of the current status and

trends of environmental factors (e.g., air pollutant concentrations) of the
project area against which predicted changes can be compared and
evaluated in terms of significance.

o This information assist the reviewer for interpreting the report text
especially the conclusions & recommendations.

o EIA of any developmental project usually include the information about

demography, landuse, water, air, soil condition, infrastructure, other

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industries, ecological resources, cultural, archeological & tourist interest,

meteorological condition, etc

ii. Identification of Impacts

o It is the process of identifying the potential impacts on different ecological

factors from a proposed project.

o This early qualitative identification of anticipated impacts can help in

focusing subsequent steps: like it can aid in describing the affected
environment & subsequent impact calculation

o Different technique used for impact identification include:

 Checklists

 Matrices

 Networks

 Overlays And Geographical Information Systems (GIS)

 Expert Systems

 Professional Judgment

o The first step in EIS is a preliminary overview of the proposed project

alternatives & locations, which will help to identify the potential impacts
from initial alternatives.

o E.g. types of questions included in an initial assessment overview- in areas

of potential physical, biological, social & economic impacts area as
follows:

 Will the project either directly or indirectly?

 Modify a river or a stream

 Reduce the habitat of any unique, threatened or endangered

species

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 Disrupt an established community

 Displacement of business or farms

 What will happen if the project does not come into existence and
what if project comes-up.

Classification of Impacts

o Environmental impacts arising from any developmental activities fall into

three categories:

 Direct impacts

 Indirect impacts &

 Cummulative impacts

o Direct Impacts: Direct or primary effects of the project on the environment

occurring during the initial stage. e.g. Deforestation during road
construction

o Indirect Impacts: Secondary effects that may occur in remote as they are in
distance or include more time from the actual proposed project. e.g.
modification of water flow (drying/flooding) from township/industrial
project

Example: Construction of major employment center:

 Direct impact: aesthesis of area, traffic congestions, removal of

vegetation, etc

 Indirect impacts: employment opportunities, housing, commercial

uses, etc

o Cummulative Impacts: Situations where individual projects or actions

when combined with other projects, the individual project’s incremental
contribution of impacts may cause an overall adverse cummulative effect.

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 e.g. Industrial developmental activities may stimulate construction

of local housing, water supply, sewage supply & treatment, road
construction, business area, etc which all together have
cummulative impact on environment

o These three groups can further be categorized based on nature:

 +ve& -ve impacts

 Random & predictable impacts

 Local & widespread impacts

 Short & long term impacts

iii. Impact Prediction

o Quantification of the anticipated impacts & assessing the consequences of

proposed projects on various environmental factors.

o Methods used for impact prediction involve:

 Mathematical modeling

 Laboratory testing, e.g. leachate testing, solid waste material,

sludges

 Look alike information on actual impacts from similar types of

projects in diverse or similar geographical location.

 Professional judgment with adequate reasoning and supporting

data.

 Environmental indexing methods

o The prediction must be supported by documentation of process & data.

The prediction may also contain information on the probability of a
certain impact to occur & its uncertainty.

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o Intrinsic difficulty in predicting impacts (especially for large scale

proposals like hydroelectric projects). e.g. of such difficulty may include
unknown impacts, natural environmental variability & resiliency, lack of
data/ models

iv. Evaluation & Assessment of Significance of Impacts

Evaluation

o The purpose of EIA is to comparatively evaluate alternate course of

actions to establish the preferred or most environmentally sound,
financially feasible and beneficial option for achieving project objectives.

o The major steps of predicting, analyzing & judging the environmental

impacts are as follows:

 Identifying major activities

 Selecting environmental components

 Selecting types of impacts, its degree & time frame

 Assessing possibilities or probability of occurrence

 Determining trade-off among activities & impacts

o Example:

→ Type biophysical, social, health or economic

→ Nature direct or indirect, cumulative, etc.

Magnitude or severity high, moderate, low

→ Extent local, regional, trans-boundary or global

→ Timing immediate/long term

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→ Duration temporary/permanent

→ Uncertainty low likelihood/high probability

→ Reversibility reversible/irreversible

→ Significance unimportant/important

Assessment of Significance of Impacts

o Significance of impacts is defined as the value or amount of impact. It is

defined in terms of context (geographical setting of proposed project) &
intensity (severity of impact). Significance must be evaluated using an
appropriate choice of criteria like

 Degree to which proposed actions affects health or safety or

endangered species.

 Whether proposed actions conflicts with other central, state or local

laws or requirements

 Degree of reversibility of impacts or probability of occurrence

 Public views and complaints

 Geographical extent of the impact e.g. Trans-boundary

implications.

 Cost of mitigation

 Duration (time period over which they will occur)

 Number (and characteristics) of people likely to be affected and

their locations

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Mitigation

- Mitigation measures are proposed to avoid, reduce & if possible remedy the
significant environmental impacts arising from proposed project.

- Mitigation measures is a part of environmental plan which recommend

appropriate technological measures, programs & other legislative measures to
minimize the level of environmental degradation.

Approach Example
Avoid Change of route or site details, to avoid important ecological or
archaeological features
Replace Regenerate similar habitat of equivalent ecological value in
different location.
Reduce Filters, precipitators, noise barriers, dust-enclosures, visual
screening, wildlife corridors, and changed time of activities
Restore Site restoration after construction
Compensate Relocation of displaced communities, facilities for the affected
communities, financial compensation for the affected individuals
etc.

Environmental Impact Statement

- Different name of EIA reports

 Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIA Report)

 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

 Environmental Statement (ES)

 Environmental Assessment Report (EA Report)

 Environmental Effects Statement (EES)

- EIS is a summary of final results & findings obtained by EIA, which are made
available for public & agency for review & improvement.

- Initial EIS is called Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), which acts as a
tool through which stakeholder input is incorporated into decision making.

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- DEIS not only contains the highlights of environmental consequences but also
provides information about description of each project alternative, including
physical characteristics, operation, costs, schedule, construction process and all
other relevant features of proposed actions.

- Ideally, the content of an EIS should have the following:

 Executive Summary

 Policy, Legal and Administrative Framework

 Description of theenvironment (Baseline Information)

 Description of the Proposed Project in detail

 Significant Environmental Impacts

 Socio-economic analysis of Project Impacts

 Identification and Analysis of Alternatives

 Mitigation Action/Mitigation Management Plan

 Monitoring Program

 Knowledge gaps(difficulty/technical deficiency during study))

 Public Involvement

 List of References

 Appendices including

- Reference documents, photographs, unpublished data

- Terms of Reference

- Consulting team composition

- Notes of Public Consultation sessions

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Decision making

- Decisions are taken in almost all stages during EIA process and these decisions
influence final decisions made about the EIA.

- Once DEIS is submitted, the designated authority, together with technical review
panel determines the quality of EIS & gives the public further opportunity to
comment. Based on the outcome of the review, the final decision is taken for
selecting the preferred alternative and indicating that no further investigation of
an impact is required.

- If accepted, an EIA license is issued. Otherwise, additional studies or

recommendations are made

Final Environmental Impact Statement

- FEIS document is the preferred alternative consisting of DEIS with modification

- Stakeholder comments are evaluated & a required additional analysis is

conducted. Along with revision of mitigation measures. This facilitates
sponsoring agency to select preferred alternative and the process then continues
for preparation of final EIS.

Environmental Monitoring

- An EMP should consist of a set of mitigation, monitoring and institutional

measures to be taken during the implementation and operation of the proposed
project to eliminate adverse environmental impacts, offset them or reduce them
to acceptable levels.

- An appropriate environmental monitoring programme must be developed to

ascertain & tract the implementation of mitigation/management measures so that
project implementation has the least possible negative environmental impacts on
the people and environment

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Public Involvement

- EIA is carried out for the benefit of human survival, hence public view, concerns
& issues or another relevant inputs/ suggestions must be considered in EIA
process through public hearing at appropriate stages of EIA process.

- The importance of early communication with the public is essential to the success
of EIA & to the outcome of proposed project

Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI)

 A FONSI is issued when environmental analysis & review during EIA process
finds a project to have no significant impacts on the quality of the environment &
therefore why an EIS is not prepared.

 FONSI must include, summarize or attach references/supporting document

stating the reasons or deciding FONSI

 If relevant must show which factors were weighted most heavily in the
determination.

Benefits of EIA

 Facilitate informed decision making by providing clear analysis of effect &

consequences of proposed projects

 Assist in selection of alternatives (best practicable & most environmental friendly

option)

 Influences both project selection & design by screening out environment

unsound projects and mitigate negative environment & social impacts

 Guides formal approval, including the establishment of terms & conditions of

project implementation & follow-up

 Serves as an adaptive, organizational learning process, which also helps in

forming better policy, institutional & project design-enhancements of positive
aspects

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 Incorporate stakeholder/public analysis, suggestion making it socially acceptable

Other benefits include:

 Reduced cost & time of implementation

 Increased project acceptance

 Avoiding impacts & violation of laws and regulations

 Improved project performance

 Avoiding waste treatment and clean up expenses

 A healthier local environment (forest, water sources, recreational potential,

aesthetical values & clean living in urban areas)

 Improved human health

 Fewer conflicts over natural resource use

 Increased community skills, knowledge and pride

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Chapter 2

Impact Assessment Procedure

EIA in Developing Countries

Developmental activities in one or other way pose an impact on natural environment. Apart

from developmental activities, today there are number of other issues including water scarcity,

land degradation, forest clearance, species losses & climate warming affecting all the

countries.A brief detail of major environmental issues in some of the developing countries are:

 Africa: Apart from being world’s poorest and most resource dependent

population, the region also has highest health burden due to severe

environmental problems. These include desertification, soil degradation,

declining food security, increasing water scarcity, etc

 Asia & the Pacific: Though rapid economic growth, urbanization and

industrialization have reduced poverty, but in turn these activities have

increased pressure on land and water resources, widespread environmental

degradation and high pollution levels.

 Latin America & the Caribbean: Here three-quarters of the population resides in

urban areas. Many cities are poor, overcrowded, polluted and lack basic

infrastructure. Major environmental issues include the destruction of tropical

forest and loss of bio-diversity especially in Amazon basin.

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EIA Methodologies or Techniques

EIA methodologies are approaches developed to identify and predict the changes of proposed
actions on environment. The qualities & characteristics of an EIA technique/methodology:

 It should be systematic in approach

 Able to organize a large mass of heterogeneous data

 Should be able to aggregate the data into sets & summarize the data

 It should be able to quantify the impacts & have good predictive capability

 Finally be able to display both raw & derived information in a meaning fashion

List of EIA technique/methodology:

 Ad hoc method

 Checklist method

 Matrices method

 Networks method

 Overlays method

 Environmental Index method

 Cost/benefit analysis

 Simulation models

Ad-Hoc Method

Ad-hoc method is a rough (approximate) assessment of total impacts giving the broad areas of

possible impacts. In this method, the assessor relies on intuitive approach (spontaneous without

conscious understanding)& makes a broad based qualitative assessment of ecological & social

aspects.

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Drawbacks:

 Does not present pertinent information of a project’s effect on environment

without any sort of relative weighting of importance

 May not encompass all relevant impacts

 Inherently inefficient as it requires sizeable effort to identify & assemble

appropriate panel for each impact assessment

 Provides minimal guidance for impact analysis & prediction

Because of the above drawback, this method is generally not recommended for impact analysis.

It is only used when other methods cannot be used for lack of expertise, resources & other

necessities

Checklist Method

They are more formalized version of Ad-Hoc method, where environmental components are

listed & instructions are supplied for impact identification & prediction. There are four general

types of checklist

 Simple checklist
 Descriptive checklist
 Scaling checklist
 Scaling weighing checklist

Simple checklist

This type of checklist represents lists of environmental factors, which should be

addressed. However, no information is provided on specific data needs, methods for

measurements or impact prediction. E.g. Simple checklist for construction and

operation phase of road construction.

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Descriptive checklist

Include lists of environmental factors along with the information on measurement, impact

prediction & data interpretation.

E.g. Descriptive checklist of a distillery plant

Factors Bases for estimate

(a) Air quality - Current ambient concentrations
- Current & expected emission
- Change in air pollution concentration by frequency
- Dispersion models
of occurrence & number of people at risk - Population maps
(b) Water Quality - Current & expected effluents
- Water Quality models
- Change in permissible or tolerable water use &
number of people affected
(c) Noise - Change in nearby traffic or noise source
- Noise propagation model
- Change in noise level & frequency of occurrence &
- Baseline citizen survey
number of people bothered

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Note: Important characteristics of Simple/ Descriptive checklist

 Can be easily modified (items can be added or deleted) to make them more pertinent

 Facilitate interdisciplinary team discussion during planning & conduction of EIA

 Key impacts can be identified and aid in mitigation

Scaling Checklist

 Scaling checklist is a modified version of simple & descriptive checklist

 It provides an idea of nature of the impact by means of assigning a textural

rating of impact like- long term, direct, min- max, minor-major, worst-best, and

so on.

 Nevertheless this approach is not suitable for impact measurement & does not

aid much in decision-making process. Rather it identifies the impacts & leaves

the interpretation to decision makers.

Scaling & Weighting Checklist

 This type of checklist are not only capable of identifying impact, but also incorporate the

functions of impact measurements & to a certain degree of interpretation and

evaluation- which are helpful for decision-making analysis.

 Although this method is capable of quantifying impacts reasonably well using subjective

estimates, but has no provision for assessing probabilistic trends, interaction with other

environment factors in identifying higher order effects & in selecting the best alternative

 Methods developed for selecting alternative using following criteria:

i. Appropriate set of environmental factors likely to be affected

ii. Determine environmental impact index

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 Define units of measurements for each environmental factors (e.g.

hectares preserved)

 Collect data on environmental factors (e.g. 1000 hectares preserved)

 Decide common interval scale for each environmental factor (e.g. 0 to 1

where 0= worst and 1= best)

 Convert data for raw data into environmental index by normalizing the
scale values over a maximum and minimum values

 Determine weights of each environmental factors

iii. Decide the alternative method by adding across all the factors

Example: Two alternative examples to illustrate weighting and scaling technique

Hence if all factors are equally weighted then alternative two is preferred. If weights 0.2 for

wild life and 0.8 for water is employed then alternative one is preferred.

Note: Each weighting and scaling checklist technique will differ from others in terms of the

assumptions it makes with respect to:

1) Environmental factors to be considered;

2) Techniques for constructing the index;

3) Methods for determining weights on each factor; and

4) Methods used to aggregate across all factors.

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Use: Checklists are mainly useful for

 Summarizing information to make it accessible to specialists from other fields or

decision makers who may have limited technical knowledge

 Scaling checklists provide preliminary level of analysis

 Weighting method helps in cooperating information about ecosystem functions

Drawbacks: of checklist method

 Do not show interaction between effects

 Number of categories to be reviewed can be immense, thus distracting from most

significant impact

 Impact identification is based on qualitative and subjective terms

 Assignment of weights & the subsequent quantification is an arbitrary assignment of

scale based on value judgment of experts

Matrix Method

Matrices are strong in indentifying impacts & unlike checklists, can also represent higher order

effects & interaction between various activities & environmental parameters.It is a generalized

from of checklist where one dimension of matrix contains list of environmental factors likely to

be impacted by project & other dimension contains list of actions/activities associated with

project

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e.g. Simple environmental impact matrix for pulp industry

This method can also provide the functions of impact measurement, interpretation & evaluation

and can communicate results in an easily understandable format to their audience.There are

two general types of matrices

o Simple interaction matrices: which simply identify the potential for interaction

o Significance or importance rated matrices: Values assigned to each cell in the

matrix are based on assigned rating and not on measurement and experiment.

E.g. 0= no impact ad 100= max impact, etc.

Leopold Matrix

 Leopold et al. (1971) designed a matrix with a hundred specified actions and 88
environmental components. In Leopold matrix, each action and its potential for creating
an impact on each environmental item will be considered. The identified impact in
matrix is marked with a diagonal line in the appropriate interaction box.

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 Environmental Impact Assessment

 The magnitude of the interaction is described by assigning a value ranging from 1 (for

small) to 10 (for large magnitudes). The assignment of numerical values is based on an

evaluation of available facts and data.

 Similarly, the scale of importance also ranges from 1 (very low) to 10 (very important

interaction). Assignment is based on the subjective judgment of the interdisciplinary

team working on the EIA study.

 The Leopold
pold matrix can also be utilized to identify beneficial as well as detrimental

impacts using designators like plus and minus sign.

The matrix approach is reasonably flexible as the number of actions & environmental items

may increase or decrease depending on nature and scope of study.

 Leopold matrix method is very useful as a gross screening tool for impact identification

& provides a valuable means for impact communication by providing a visual display of

impacted items & their causes

 Summing the rows & columns

lumns that are designated as having interactions can provide

deeper insight & aid further interpretation of the impacts

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 Environmental Impact Assessment

Network Method

Networks are capable of identifying direct & indirect impacts, higher order & interaction

between impacts.. Hence this method is able to identify and incorporate mitigation and

management measures into planning stages of a project. Development of network diagram

present the potential impact pathways to display first, secondary, tertiary and higher order

impacts.

 In a network
work diagram, the first step is to identify the first order changes in

environmental components. The secondary changes in other environmental components

that will result from the first order changes are then identified. In turn, third order

charges resulting
ng from secondary changes are ide
identified and this
his process is continued

until the network diagram is completed to the practitioner’s satisfaction

satisfaction..

 Network analyses are useful for understanding the relationship between environmental

components that produce h

higher
igher order impacts which are often overlooked in some

project.

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 Environmental Impact Assessment

Example of Paper and Pulp industry

 Network overcome the limitation of matrices by accommodating higher order impacts.

They are also better at identifying interaction between number of activities and

environmental components.

 As a assessment tool, they are capable of making qualitative predictions of cumulative

impacts of the proposed project

Drawbacks of Network Method:

 Minimal information provided on the technical aspects of impact identification,

predication & the means for comparatively evaluating the alternative

 Network sometimes becomes visually complicated in case of large networks

 Temporal considerations are not properly accounted for long / short term impacts

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 Environmental Impact Assessment

Cost-Benefit Analysis

 Cost-benefit analysis provides the nature of expenses &benefits incurred from a project

in terms of cost and also a common method for feasibility studies enabling easy

understanding and aids in decision making.

 Cost-benefit analysis or Economic analysis of environmental impacts is important in

project preparation & selection of best alternative. Project alternative often vary in their

economic investment & environmental impacts, hence economic evaluation of such

different alternatives in early stages of project planning improves the quality of decision

making.

 The Role of environmental economics in EIA:

o Use of cost-benefit analysis as an integral part of project selection: economic

analysis of the project taking into account the environmental component

eventually leads to a project selection process.

o Use of economics in the assessment of activities suggested by the EIA: Include

the summary of the project costs and how such cost estimates would change due

to the activities (mitigation measures) suggested under EIA

o Economics assessments of impacts of projects- which are neither mitigated not

taken into account in project cost.

Note:

 For proposed project, the assessor has to predict the possible impacts and should consider the

cost to the community of any mitigation or abatement measures and their alternative before

adopting them into project plan. Preferably such cost should be minimum.

 Economic analysis in EIA should document all impacts providing sufficient quantitative and

qualitative descriptions.

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 Environmental Impact Assessment

Drawback of cost-benefit analysis method:

 Difficulty in conversion and stating the impacts in terms of costs

 Not possible to define intangible factors like health impacts, wild life, etc

 Although it is not possible to place economic values on environmental losses or gains

resulting from a project, but the decision makers should provide the implied values of
environment in their decision-making.

Predictive or Simulation Methods

Simulation Modeling Workshops

 Experts have developed an approach to EIA & management commonly referred to as

Adaptive Environmental Assessment & Management (AEAM), which combines various
simulation models to predict impact. The AEAM approach uses small interdisciplinary
teams interacting through modeling workshops over a relatively short time to preduct
impacts and evaluate alternatives.

 AEAM techniques largely overcomes the short comings of most other methods & can
handle higher order impacts & interaction between impacts.

Predictive Models

Require collection of environmental information to establish the initial condition for the model
variable & to predict/determine the changes in environment using simulation technique. The
three common types of models used in EIA are:

 Physical Model: are small scale models of environmental system under investigation
on which experiments can be carried out to predict future changes. e.g. visual
models using pictorial images or illustrative models using reduced scale models

 Experimental Model: Scientific information obtained from laboratory or field

experiments provide basic relationships between environmental components &
human activities. Examples of experiments test in lab- toxicological tests on living
organism using polluted air, water, food, etc.,Examples of experiments test in field-
in-situ tracer experiment, noise tests, pumping test on groundwater etc.

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 Environmental Impact Assessment

 Mathematical Model: To develop a quantitative prediction model, one must first

represent the conceptual model as mathematical equations which are then ready for
computation/ computerization. In general, sets of equations are combined to
simulate the behaviour of environmental systems.

e.g. mathematical model of simple water quality mixing model: used to predict
changes in downstream effluent concentration

Q0C0  QeCe
C1 
Q0  Qe

Where: C1= D/s Concentration of pollutant

C0= U/s Concentration of pollutant

Ce= Effluent Concentration of pollutant

Qo= U/s discharge

Qe= Effluent discharge

Drawback of Predictive and Simulation Method:

 Techniques does not incorporate public participation

 It can be time-consuming and hence may increase the cost of environmental assessment

 Simulation models are still evolving & their accuracy & predictive capacity is yet to be
proved

 Need highly skilled expertise in proportions to other technique

 Models cannot satisfactorily model all real life situations, faults may occasionally arise
due to scaling process.

 Models require varying amount of input information. In some cases data need to be
collected to construct a prototype model (flows, density, waves, sediment movements,
morphology, etc)

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 Environmental Impact Assessment

Environmental Quality Index Method

Environmental indicator:

This refers to single measurements of environmental factors or biological species, with the
assumption being that these measurements are indicative of the bio-physical or socio-economic
system. For example: BOD level can be used as indicator of water quality, CO2 can be used for
air quality, etc. Indicators enable the measurement of environmental performance with respect
to the level of environmental quality, which can help in integrating such environmental
concerns in sectoral policies/regulations.

Environmental Quality Index

A numerical or descriptive categorization of a large quantity of environmental data or

information with the primary purpose being to simplify such data and information so as to
make it useful to decision makers and various publics.

In terms of EIS, the environmental indices can be useful in accomplishing the following
objective:

 To summarize existing environmental data.

 To communicate information on the quality of the affected environment.

 To evaluate the vulnerability or susceptibility of an environment category to pollution.

 To focus attention on key environmental factors.

 Comparing the pertinent index with the project and the same index without the project.

Environmental indices are fairly complicated from a mathematical perspective, hence simple
comparison of data can be useful. The following ratios yield relative indices that can be useful
in EIS.

(i) EXISTING QUALITY

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY STANDARD

(ii) EMISSION QUANTITY or QUALITY

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY STANDARD

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 Environmental Impact Assessment

EXISTING QUALITY
(iii)
TEMPORAL AVERAGE

EXISTING QUALITY
(IV)
SPATIAL(GEOGRAPHICAL) AVERAGE

Several generic steps associated with development of indices include:

 Factor identification (indicator of environmental quality)

 Assignment of importance weights (ranking of factors in order of importance)

 Establishment of scaling sections (techniques of scaling or evaluation include- linear

scaling, letter/number assignment, notional curves, etc)

 Implementation of appropriate aggregation approach

 Application of field verification

Air Pollution Index (API) Method

In most situations, the effect of air pollution are due to the combined effect of different
pollutants rather the only one pollutant. Hence it is difficult to assess the concentration of
pollutant on the basis of single pollutant, but the goal can be achieved by applying certain
indices. The kind and number of pollutant for calculating the indices can be selected depending
upon their predominance in the ambient air. There are number of methods for calculating air
pollution indices. Some of these are:

(i) Important individual pollutants are compared with their ambient air quality
standards in terms of percentage

1 3
API   Ai …….. If only three pollutants
3 i 1

Ci
Where Ai  x100
Si
Here Ci= concentration of pollutant and Si is ambient air quality standards

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 Environmental Impact Assessment

(ii) Ratio of three important air pollutants to their air quality standards and their sum is
multiplied with 100

Example: C C C 
API   PM  SO  CO  x100
 S PM S SO SCO 

Where Cpm, Cso, Cco= concentration of particulate matter, sulphur di-oxide, carbon
monoxide.

Spm, Sso, Sco= Ambient air quality standards of particulate matter, sulphur di-oxide,
carbon monoxide

(iii) Analysis of single predominant air pollutant

C SO
Example: API  x100
S SO

Note:

 The above three methods, calculates indices on percent basis, hence a common
rating scale can be used to indicate air quality
Index Range Quality of Air

0-25 Clean Air

26-50 Light Air Pollution

51-75 Moderate Air Pollution

76-100 Heavy Air Pollution

Above 100 Severe Air Pollution

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 Environmental Impact Assessment

Pollution Standard Index (SPI) Method

Because of the wide diversity in the methods of indices calculation, a common pollutant
standard Index (PSI) was developed for use in United States (1976).These index were developed
based on some standard criteria and five pollutants (total suspended particulates, sulphur
dioxide, carbon monoxide, oxidants and nitrogen dioxide) are considered individually in the
PSI. The PSI is formulated by defining an index value of 100 as equivalent short term primary
ambient air quality standards.

Any index value below 100 suggests relatively clear air with minimal health effects. However if
it is above 100, their air is progressively more polluted and health effects correspondingly
severe.

The sub-index is calculated as follows:

Concentration of pollutants
Sub  index  x100
Short term primary standards

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Water Quality Index (WQI) Method

There are various water quality indices which have been developed over last 20 years. One
example simply known by the name Water Quality Index was developed by the U. S. National
Sanitation Foundation. This approach has been developed by expert panel of 142 persons from
various sectors of water quality management.

Based on the detailed investigation of water quality parameters from such a large panel of
experts- totally nine individual variables of greatest importance were identified for calculating
the WQI. The resultant importance weights based on the rating of each variable is given in
Table below. The weights have a public health focus based on using water for human
consumption.

Variable DO Fecal pH BOD5 NO3 PO4 Temperature Turbidity Total

Coliforms deviation solids
Weights 0.17 0.15 0.12 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.08 0.08

Based on inputs given by expert panel, water rating curve for each parameters were developed
with 0-100 sub index rating on y-axis and actual level of concentration of parameters on x-axis.
The solid line indicates the arithmetic mean of the curve (developed based on many inputs)
where dotted line indicates 80% confidence limit of occurrence.

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 Environmental Impact Assessment

To calculate aggregate WQI, either a weighted linear sum of sub-indices (WQIa) or a weighted
product-aggregation function (WQIm) can be used.

n
WQI a   Wi I i
i 1

𝑊𝑄𝐼 = 𝐼

Where, wi is the weighting factor of parameter iand n is the number of parameters

Ii= Index value of the ith parameter obtained from water rating curve

The interpretation of resultant index could be based on the descriptors suggestions.

Water rating curves:

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Example: Calculation for water quality index

VARIABLE MEASUREMENT Ii Wi IiWi Iiwi

DO 60% 60 0.17 10.2 2.01

FECAL 1003 20 0.15 3.0 1.57

COLIFORMS
pH 7 90 0.12 10.8 1.72

BOD5 10 30 0.10 3.0 1.41

NO3 10 50 0.10 5.0 1.48
PO4 5 10 0.10 1.0 1.26

TEMPERATURE 5 40 0.10 4.0 1.45

TURBIDITY 40 JTU 44 0.08 3.5 1.35

TOTAL SOLIDS 300 60 0.08 4.8 1.39

WQIa = 45.3 WQIm = 38.8

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