1. ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT
ASSESSMENT

2. Introduction
For a nation to progress economically, socially as well as
politically development process in various field are
necessary. This has been true and super power could do
this at tremendous rate , the third world is in the process
of such development. This is one side of coin . Let us also
have to look another side of coin . What are the cost of
such development not in terms of money but equally or
rather more valuable in terms of its impact on
environment.
The two things i.e development and environment is linked
with each other. The process of development is bound to
have its impact on environment.
Agricultural, industry & mining have been very harmful
impact on our environment. Such impact led to degradation
of our land, forest, water, air and biological diversity and
releases noxious substance.

3.  In our country in the post independent period our ideas
were dominated by developmental growth and we did not
have a culture of pollution control. Even late Prime
minister. Jawahar Lal Nehru wrote in 1957
 “ We have large scale project which are carefully
examined by our engineer I wonder however, how much
thought is given before the project is launched to have an
ecological survey of the area and to find out what the
effect would be to the drainage system or to flora and
fauna of the area. It would be desirable to have an
ecological survey before project is launched thus avoid to
imbalance of nature.
 It is desirable to have an idea of possible impact of any
development plan on our environment. In order to have
sustainable development it is necessary that before we
embark on a project, we have to assess the effects of its
development on the environment . Such as assessment is
known as the Envir onmental Impact Assessment.

4. EIA is potentially one of the most valuable,
interdisciplinary and objective decision making tool with
respect to alternative route for development process,
technology and project site.
The objective of EIA is to ensure that development is
sustained with minimum environmental degradation.
 The ministry of Environment & Forest ( Government of
India) has been assigned the responsibility for appraisal
of project with regard to environment implication.

5. The ministry of Environment & Forest ( Government of
India) has been assigned the responsibility for appraisal of
project with regard to environment implication.
Three general criteria have been suggested to identify a
project that is likely to have “significant” effects. These
are:
Size of the Project : Whither it transcend the local
significance.
a) Location of the Project – distance from Biosphere
reserve, National Park, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Seashore,
site of scientific interest, human habitation, important
monument.
b) Adver se Impact : Pollutions and other adver se
impact on envir onment.


6. Defining EIA
 It means the identification or evaluation of any proposed
development project on our environment i,e air, water, soil
& living.
 The primary purpose of EIA is to encourage
consideration of the environment in planning and decision-
making and finally to arrive at actions that are more
environmentally compatible.
 It presents a clear & concise picture of all benefits & costs
associated with alternative courses of action & provides a
mechanism for merging the concerns for environment &
economics in the process of decision-making.

7. INDIAN SCENARIO:
Environmental clearance on the basis of Environmental Impact Assessment
is mandatory for various developments projects in most part of the world
today. In India, this was introduced as an administrative measures in 1978-
79, initially for river valley projects and extending later to industrial projects.
There are about 29 categories of projects (annexure-1) for which
Environmental Clearance was made mandatory by the Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA)
Notification issued in January 1994 under the Environment Protection Act,
1986(4). Certain activities permissible under the coastal regulation zone
Notification 1991 also require clearance.
Environmental Clearance is granted by the Impact Assessment in the
Ministry of Environment and Forest.
This power has been delegated to the State governments in the case of co-
generation power plants of any capacity, gas/ naphtha based and coal based
power plants with fluidized bed technology of up to 500 MW capacity and
conventional coal based power plants of up to 250 MW capacity except
when located within 25 Km. of the boundary of reserved forests, biosphere
reserves and critically polluted areas or within 50 km. of inter-state
boundary.

9. Types of EIA
 Classified under two categories:
• Rapid Assessment
&
• Comprehensive Assessment
o Rapid Assessment is the initial feasiility study carried out for a
minimum period of 3 months.
o After it gets appraisal from MOEF , the next phase, comprehensive
assessment is carried out.
o It is carried out for a period of 16 months.

10. RAPID ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT(REIA):
Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment can be defined as the study , which is
done for quick assessment of likely adverse impacts.
Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment studies will be conducted at the
initiation of the new activity. In some cases this study may be required for the
expansion of existing unit or change in the current manufacturing process( if the
pollution load is to exceed the existing one ).
Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment study covers one season baseline
data for various environmental components viz. Air , Noise, water, land,
Biological and Socio-economic including parameters of human interest.

11. Comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment
Comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment is basically a study which
includes collection of data for various components for four seasons i.e. Monsoon,
Post-monsoon, Winter and Summer. Comprehensive Environmental Impact
Assessment report has to be submitted after the evaluation of Rapid
Environmental Impact Assessment report, if so asked by the Impact Assessment
Agency.
The various methods used in the EIA are Adhoc Method, Overlays methods,
Checklists, Matrix , network and Integrated Method- combination of Matrix,
Network analysis model and a computer aided systematic approach. A typical EIA
study including an industry includes.
1.Field data collection for various Environmental parameters.
2.Assessment of various liquid, solid and gaseous pollutants generated from the
plant and existing pollution control devices.
3.Assessment of various impacts from these pollutants on Environment.
4.Consideration of various statutory guidelines and standards prescribed by
Central Pollution Control Board and Ministry of Environment and Forests.
5.Formulation of detailed Environment Management Plan (EMP) to mitigate /
control the various impacts and bring them within the standards limits.

12. Annexture -1
LIST OF PROJECTS REQUIRING ENVIRONMENTAL CLEARANCE FROM
THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT:
•Nuclear power and related projects such as heavy water plants,
nuclear fuel complex, rare earth
•River valley projects including hydel power, major irrigation and their
combination including flood control
•Ports, harbours, airports (except minor ports and harbours)
•Petroleum refineries including crude and products pipelines
•Chemical fertilizers (nitrogenous and phosphatic other than single
superphosphate)
•Pesticides (technical)
•Petroleum complexes ( both olefinic and aromatic ) and
petrochemicals intermediates such as DMT, Caprolactam, LAB etc. and
production of basic plastic such as LDPE, HDPE, PP,PVC
•Bulk drugs and pharmaceuticals
•Exploration for oil and gas and their production , transportation and
storage

13. • 10. Synthetic rubber
• Asbestos and asbestos products
• Hydrocyanic acid and its derivatives
• Primary metallurgical industries ( such as production of iron and steel,
aluminum, copper, zinc, lead and ferro-alloys)Chlor alkali industry
• Integrated paint complex including manufacture of resins and basic raw
materials required in the manufacture of paints
• Viscose staple and filament yarn
• Storage batteries integrated with manufacture of oxides of lead
antimony alloy
• All tourism projects between 200m-500 meters of high water line and at
locations with an elevation of more than 1000 meters with investment of
more than 5 crore
• Thermal power plants
• Mining projects ( with lease more than 5 hectares )

14. •Highway projects except projects relating to improvement work
including widening and strengthening of roads with marginal land
acquisition along the existing alignment provided it does not pass
through ecologically sensitive areas such as National Parks,
Sanctuaries . Tiger Reserves, Reserve Forests
•Tarred roads in the Himalayas and forest areas
•Distilleries
•Raw skins and hides
•Pulp, paper and Newsprint
•Dyes
•Cement
•Foundries (individual )
•Electroplating

15. METHODOLOGY FOR EIA
 EIA involves three steps:
1. Identification of environmental impacts
2. Prediction of environmental impacts
3. Evaluation of environmental impacts
 Identification is carried out with the help of checklist, matrices &
networks.
oChecklists present a list of environmental parameters to be investigated
for possible impacts.
oMatrices are 2D checklists in which cause-effect relationship are
established.
o Networks illustrate cause-condition effect linkages & provide the most
comprehensive approach for impact identification.

16. Prediction
 Prediction of environmental impacts requires the greatest degree of
scientific application. It involves projecting the baseline environmental
setting into the future, with & without the project, and performing
necessary calculations for predicting real impacts of the proposed
development.
Evaluation:
 The evaluation step calls for conversion of predicted values for various
environmental parameters to a comparable set of units using some
system of normalisation. Ideally, the environmental impacts should be
expressed in monetary units for easy and objective comparasion with
other costs and benefits of the project.
 In practice, assigning monetary values to intangible parameters is quite
difficult. Therefore various methods involving numerical rating &
ranking and scaling of environmental impacts are used.

17. Component of EIA
The Following Impacts of the Project should be Assessed:
• Air:
- Changes in ambient levels and ground level concentrations
due to total emissions from point, line and area sources.
- Effects on soils, materials, vegetation, and human health.
• Noise:
- Changes in ambient levels due to noise generated from
equipment and movement of vehicles.
- Effect on fauna and human health.
• Water:
- Availability to competing users.
- Changes in quality.
- Sediment transport.
- Ingress of saline water.

18. • Land:
- Changes in land use and drainage pattern.
- Changes in land quality including effects of waste disposal.
- Changes in shoreline/riverbank and their stability .
•Biological:
- Deforestation /tree-cutting and shrinkage of animal habitat.
- Impact on fauna and flora (including aquatic species, and
migratory path/route of animals.
- Impact on breeding and nesting grounds.
• Socio-Economic:
- Impact on the local community including demographic changes.
- Impact on economic status.
- Impact on human health.
- Impact of increased traffic.

19. Risk Assessment
Hazard Identification
Maximum credible accident (MCA) analysis
Consequence analysis of failure and accidents
Hazard and operability studies
Environment Management Plan
- Delineation of mitigation measures including prevention and control of
each environmental component and rehabilitation & resettlement

20. Alternatives, Delineation of Mitigation Measures
and EIA Report
 For every project alternatives should be identified & Environmental
attributes compared.
 Alternatives should cover both project location & process
technologies.
 Once alternatives has been reviewed, a mitigation plan should be
drawn up and is supplemented with an Environmental Management
Plan to guide the proponent towards “Environmental Improvement”.
 An EIA report should provide clear information to the decision
maker on the different environmental scenarios without the project,
with the project.
 Uncertainties should be clearly reflected in the EIA report.

21. Public Hearing
 Law requires that the public must be informed and
consulted on a proposed development after the completion of
EIA report.
 It includes:
1.Bonafiede local resident
2.Local associations
3.Environmental groups
4.Any other person located at te project site

22. Decision Making
 Decision making process involve consultation between the
project proponent and the impact assessment authority
(assisted by an expert group if necessary)
 The decision on environmental clearance is arrived at
through a number of steps including evaluation of EIA and
EMP

23. Monitoring the Clearance Conditions
 Monitoring should be done during both construction and
operation phase of a project.
 This is to observe whether the predictions made in the EIA
reports were correct or not.
 Monitoring will enable the regulatory agency to review the
validity of predictions and the conditions of implementation
of the Environmental Management Plan.

25. The EIA process
The environment impact assessment consists of eight steps with each step
equally important in determining the overall performance of the project
The eight steps of the EIA process are presented in brief below:
Screening: First stage of EIA, which determines whether the proposed project,
requires an EIA and if it does, then the level of assessment required.
Scoping: This stage identifies the key issues and impacts that should be
further investigated. This stage also defines the boundary and time limit of the
study.
Impact analysis: This stage of EIA identifies and predicts the likely
environmental and social impact of the proposed project and evaluates the
significance.
Mitigation: This step in EIA recommends the actions to reduce and avoid the
potential adverse environmental consequences of development activities.

26. Reporting: This stage presents the result of EIA in a form of a report to
the decision-making body and other interested parties.
Review of EIA: It examines the adequacy and effectiveness of the EIA
report and provides the information necessary for decision-making.
Decision-making: It decides whether the project is rejected, approved or
needs further change.
Post monitoring: This stage comes into play once the project is
commissioned. It checks to ensure that the impacts of the project do not
exceed the legal standards and implementation of the mitigation
measures are in the manner as described in the EIA report.
The overview of the EIA process is represented in figure

28. SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPEMENT

29. Sustainable development (SD) may be defined as the development
that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability
of the future generations to meet their needs.
For rich countries- SD may mean steady reductions in wasteful level
of consumption of energy and other natural resources through
improvements in efficiency and through changes in lifestyle.
For poorer countries- SD would mean the commitment of resources
towards continued improvement in living standards.
The Supreme Court of India, in the Narmada Case, observed,
“ Sustainable Development means what type of development can
take place, which can be sustained by nature/ecology with or
without mitigation”

30. Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD)
Was held in September 2002
Participation was from governments, NGO’s, Businesses, and other groups
Among many other things, the number of people living on less than one
dollar a day, the number of people suffering from hunger and the number of
people without sustainable access to drinking water and basic sanitation
are to be reduced by half by 2015.

31. Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD) cont…
Three priorities in WSSD implementation have been identified as:
•Improve policy coherence
•A sustainable management of natural resources; indicators to measure
biodiversity implementation are being developed, strategies to protect
essential sources of biodiversity, such as seas and soils, are being
designed; and
•The promotion of sustainable consumption and production; make a
decisive contribution towards meeting the WSSD goal to ensure the sound
management of chemicals.

32. LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA)
•LCA is defined as ‘an objective process to evaluate the environmental
burdens associated with a product, process or activity by identifying
energy and materials used and wastes released to the environment, and to
evaluate and implement opportunities to enhance environmental
improvements.’
•The standardization of these methods has been promoted by the ISO (the
International organization for standardization). ISO has published a
standard 14040 that gives the brad lines on how to perform LCA Studies.
•LCA can be used as a scientific tools for gathering quantitative data to
inventory, weigh and rank the environmental burden of products, processes
and services.
•It is the cradle to grave concept.

33. LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA) FRAMEWORK
METHODOLOGY
LCA Framework
Goal and scope
specification Direct Application
Interpretation
•Product Development
Inventory
•Strategic Planning
Analysis
•Public Policy making
•Marketing
•Others
Impact
Assessment

34. 3 R’s / 3 R Concept

35. Reduce/Reduction
Reduce/Reduction: to make something smaller or use less, resulting in a smaller
amount of waste.
"Source reduction" is reducing waste before you purchase it, or by purchasing
products that are not wasteful in their packaging or use.
A key part of waste "reduction" is "conservation"—using natural resources
wisely, and using less than usual in order avoid waste.
You can practice reduction by selecting products that do not have to be added to
landfills or the waste stream in general. This is really easy to do...
First and foremost, buy and use less
Start making wise "package" selections.
Refuse store bags!

36. REUSE
You can "reuse" materials in their original form instead of throwing
them away, or pass those materials on to others who could use them too!
Remember, one man's trash is another man's treasure!
Here are some examples of reuse...
•Take along washable cups or travel mugs instead of disposables; a lot of
restaurants and stores will be glad to fill or refill your own mug.
•When you do use disposables like plastic cups, plates, utensils, and plastic
food storage bags, don't throw them away! Wash and reuse them—most of
them will last for a long time with many uses. They may not cost much to
replace, but it doesn't make any more sense to throw away those things than it
does to throw away your bicycle after one use.

37. Recycle
Don’t just toss everything in the trash. Lots of things
(like cans, bottles, paper, and cardboard) can be
remade into either the same kind of thing or new
products. Making new items from recycled ones also
takes less energy and fewer resources than making
products from brand new materials.