Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Audit- Unit III

Environmental Impact Assessment
Assessment and Environmental Audit

Unit -III

Syllabus
• Introduction to Environmental Impact
Assessment and Environmental Audit.

„Environmental Impact Assessment‟

Introduction
• „Environmental Impact Assessment‟ (EIA)
can be defined as the systematic
identification and evaluation of the potential
impacts (effects) of proposed projects, plans,
program or legislative action of the physical,
chemical, biological, cultural, and socioeconomic
components
of
the
total
environment.

NEPA Process
(National Environmental Policy Act)

Introduction
• The primary purpose of the EIA process, also called
NEPA Process (National Environmental Policy Act) is
to encourage the consideration of the environment in
planning and decision making so as to ultimately arrive
at actions which are environment friendly.
• EIA is a planning tool which helps planners in
predicting future impacts of different development
activities.
• EIA provides information about adverse environment
effects, predicts, the overall risks arising from any
activity, helps in identifying areas where risks can
possibly be reduced.

Need of EIA
• Environment is composed of Biotic & Abiotic
components. There is a dynamic equilibrium between
these components. When a project is undertaken it
tends to disturb these components. To maintain the
quality of environment it is essential that the
perspective impacts of the project on natural
environment are studied on time and remedial
measures be taken so as to promote sustainable and
holistic development of the project. This is done
through EIA.

Need of EIA
• For Example, a forest ecosystem is a complete
ecosystem which provides food, shelter to a
wide variety of species. It provides firewood,
resins, timber, medicinal herbs, etc.. to us.
Therefore forests are our lifeline. Whenever a
project is undertaken which demands clearing
of the forest like construction of road or a dam,
then EIA helps us to access the impact of that
activity on this life line. It also suggests alternate
project sites and alternate process technologies.

Ideal EIA System
An Ideal EIA system Would be
• Apply to all project that are expected to have a
significant environmental effects and address all
impacts that are expected to occur due to that project.
• Compare alternatives to a proposed project,
management techniques and mitigation measures.
• Result in a clear EIS (Environmental Impact
Statement) which conveys the importance of the
likely and their specific characteristics to non experts in
the field.

Ideal EIA System
• Include broad public participation and stringent
administrative review procedures.
• Be timed so as to provide information for decision
making.
• Be enforceable.
• Include monitoring and feedback procedures.
• Therefore, the purpose of EIA is to help design
projects which enhance the quality of the
environment by examining alternative and remedial
measures throughout the entire course of planning and
designing of the development projects

Goals of Environment Impact
Assessment
The major aims of EIA are:
• Resources Conservation
• Waste minimization
• Recovery of by-product.
• Efficient use of equipment
• Sustainable Development

Methodology of Environment Impact
Assessment
• Human activities of urbanization and industrialization
have many undesirable environmental side effects.
Environmental Impact Assessment is a procedure
which ensures that developmental activities cause
minimal environmental side effects without reducing
the productivity of natural systems and without
destroying the ecological balance.
• EIA helps to identify the major areas of environmental
damage due to developmental activities in a systematic
and comprehensive manner and also suggests
remedial measures to minimize these negative impacts.

Methodology of Environment Impact
Assessment
• The EIA methodology consists of four phases,
namely:
• Organizing the Job
• Performing the assessment
• Writing the Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS)
• Review of the EIS.

Organizing the Job
• In this step an inter disciplinary (ID) team is
constituted to conduct analysis of the various
impacts of the proposed programme on the
environment. An ID team can be defined as a team
which has been organised to address a common
problem. It consists of a group of two or three
persons trained in different fields with the
knowledge of concepts, methods, data and terms
related to that subject.

Inter Disciplinary Team
In Conducting EIA analysis

Organizing the Job
• Thus the team includes geologists, agronomists,
chemists, agriculturists, ecologists, hydrologists,
meteorologists, engineers, scientists, biologists,
anthropologists, etc..
• The time schedule for the conduct of analysis is
fixed. The experts should have a knowledge of the
rules, regulations, and limitations on the part of the
government. Finally a format is prepared containing all
the particular about the projects, its sponsors,
participants of the ID team, time schedule, cost,
specific responsibilities. Etc. This format is
distributed to all the members of ID Team

Performance of the Assessment
This Phase of EIA consists of the following steps.
• (a) Site Visit: The members of the interdisciplinary
team visit the site to determine the possible
environmental impacts of the proposed project and
record of the description of the environment as it exists
prior to the implementation of the proposed project.
• (b) Identification and Evaluation: The adverse and
beneficial effects of the proposed projects on the
environment are evaluated.
• (c) Discussion of Alternatives: Various possible
alternatives are discussed i.e.

Performance of the Assessment
(d) Preparation of Checklist: A checklist is
prepared to ensure complete coverage of all the
possible consequences of the proposed project, so
that it can be determined as to what administrative
actions should be taken.
(e) Measurement of Environment Impact, due to
the project: For Identifying the impact of the
project on the environment, a checklist of the
environmental attributes reflects the impact on
the environment resulting from a particular
action.

Criteria for Selecting EIA Methodology
• A large number of models and methodologies are
being practiced in EIA studies. Generally the
specialists on EIA make their own methodologies
for individual projects.

Preparation of EIS
• EIS is the conclusion of EIA. It is a written statement which
serves as a device to ensure that the policies and goals
defined by NEPA (National Environment policy Act) are
infused into the ongoing programmed. It must contain the
following items.
• Description of the site of the project or environment where
the proposed project is to take place.
• Description of the proposed project, purpose of action, its
goals and objectives, area, extent, equipments, manpower and
material requirement.
• The environmental impact of the proposed project.
• The unavoidable adverse effects resulting from the activity.

Preparation of EIS
• Alternatives of the activity.
• Relationship of the proposed activities to the existing land
use plans.
• Relationship between local short term uses and long term
productivity of the resources involved.
• Identifying the measures that can be taken in order to
minimize the adverse effects.
• Incorporating the modifications in the proposed projects.
• Finally the EIS, written in a clear and comprehensive
manner is presented to the public, competent authorities
and independent experts. It is reviewed carefully before
any decision is taken in favor or against the proposed
project.

Review of EIS
• After the completion of EIS report, the law requires
that the public must be informed and consulted on
the proposed project. The proposed project is
made available to the public through Press.
Anyone likely to be affected by the project is
entitled to have access to the executive summary of
the EIA.

Review of EIS
The affected person may include.
• Bonafide Local Residents
• Local Associations
• Environment Groups active in the area.
• Any other person located at the project site/ sites of
displacement.
• They are to be given an opportunity to make oral/
written suggestions
• At least one month period is given for public
inspection and submission of comments on the EIS
• After the final review of beneficial and adverse
environmental impacts and cost benefit analysis
etc.., a decision is ultimately taken to either approve
or reject the proposed project.

Limitations of EIA
EIA suffers from following limitations
• EIA should be undertaken at the policy and planning
level rather than at the project level.
• Range of Possible alternatives in the project EIA is often
small.
• There is no criteria to decide what type of project are to
undergo EIA. A lot of unnecessary expense and delay in
project clearance could be avoided as there are many
projects that do not require an in-depth EIA.
• Lack of comprehensive environment information base,
limitation of time, manpower and financial resources
make EIA very complicated and time consuming.

Limitations of EIA
• More research and development of improved
methodologies is required to overcome limitations relating
to the uncertainties in data.
• EIA, reports are too academic, bureaucratic and lengthy
containing too many tables of collected data without any
data analysis, interpretation and environmental
implications.
• In actual practice EIA ends immediately after project
clearance, no follow up action is taken.
• It does not incorporate the strategies of preventing
environmental intervention. The issue of resource
conservation, waste minimization, by product recovery
and improvement in efficiency of equipment, need to be
pursued as the explicit goal in EIA.

Role of EIA in Sustainable Development
• Sustainable development is essential for the
overall
socio-economic
development.
Sustainable development must meet the need
of the present generation without
compromising the ability of the future
generations to meet their own needs and
aspirations.

Role of EIA in Sustainable
Development
• It is possible to have development without
destroying the environment. This requires a
gradual shift from uncontrolled exploitation to
efficient management of natural resources. To
ensure sustainable development the depletion of
renewable resources should not take place at a
rate faster than their rate of generation.
• Only those technological developments with
minimum environmental hazards should be
adopted in order to sustain the environment for
future generations.

• Sustainable development is closely linked to
the carrying Capacity of an ecosystem as the
latter determines the limits to economic
development. Carrying capacity of a specific
ecosystem is the maximum rate of resource
consumption that can be sustained definitely
in that specific area and overexploitation of
natural resources above this maximum will
lead
to
depletion
and
ecological
degradation.

Role of EIA in Sustainable
Development
• Carrying capacity based planning ensures
sustainable
development,
Environment
Impact Assessment (EIA) could form a
major instrument in decision making and for
measurement of sustainability in the context of
regional carrying capacity, provided the
conceptual framework is extended to
cumulative assessment of developmental
policies, plans and projects on a regional basis.

Guidelines for Project Proponents
• The MOEF has prepared environmental
guidelines, to help the project proponents to
work out an EIA, Guidelines have been prepared
to bring out specific information required for
environmental clearance.
• These guidelines basically consists of aspect
regarding planning and implementation of
development projects. The majority of projects
in India which requires EIA, are large
developmental projects like nuclear power,
river valley, thermal power plants, etc.. Where
government play an important role.

• The critical Issues
guidelines are:

focused

in

these

• Can the local environment cope with the additional
waste and pollution that the project will produce?
• Will the project location conflict with the nearby
land use or preclude later developments in
surrounding areas?
• Can the project operate safely without serious risk
of accidents or long term health hazards?

• How will the project affect economic activities that
are based on natural resources?
• Is there sufficient infrastructure to support the
project?
• How mush the resources will the project consume and
are adequate supplies of these resources available?
• What kind of human resources will it require or
replace and what will be its social impacts in the
short/long run?
• What damages will it inadvertently cause to the
national/ regional assets such as natural resources,
tourists areas or historic or cultural sites etc.?

Environmental Audits
• Environmental Audits are intended to quantify
environmental
performance
and
environmental position of an industry/
organization. In this way they perform a function
similar to financial audits.
• An environmental audit report ideally contains
a statement of environmental performance and
environmental position, and may also aim to
define what needs to be done to sustain or
improve on indicators. Of such performance and
position. It can as one of the tool for achieving
the goal of sustainable development.

Environmental Audits
• Environmental auditing is mandatory only
in cases stipulated by law.
• The aim of the audit is to facilitate
management control of environmental
practices and to enable the company to
assess compliance with it‟s policies including
meeting regulatory requirements.

Definition of Environmental Audit
• According to United States Environmental
Protection Agency (USEPA), Environmental
Audit (EA) is a systematic documented,
periodic and objective review by a regulated
entity of facility operations and practices
related
to
meeting
environmental
requirements .

• The concept of environmental auditing in
industrial units in India was formally
introduced in March 1992 with an over all
objective of minimizing consumption of
resources and promoting use of clean
technologies in industrial production to
minimize generation of wastes. India was the
first country in the world to make
environmental audits compulsory.

• The government of India, by its gazette notification
[No. GSR 329 (E) ] of March 13, 1992 made it
mandatory for all the industries to provide annual
environmental audit reports of their operations,
beginning with 1992-93. This required industries to
provide details of water, raw material and energy
resources used, and the products and waste
generated by them. These audit reports has to be
submitted to the concerned state pollution control
boards on or before 30th September every year.

Environmental Audits should provide
answer to the following Questions
• What are we doing ? In particular, are we in
compliance with government regulations, guidelines,
codes of practices, permit conditions?
• Can we do it better? In particular, are there nonregulated areas where operations can be improved to
minimize the impact on the environment?
• Can we do it more cheaply? What more should we do ?

Components of Environmental Audit
Assessment
• An assessment provides expert judgment/ opinion on
hazards, associated risks and management and
control measures. It also identifies knowable hazards
and estimates the significance of risks. The process
assesses current practices and capabilities and
provide the basis for recommendations to improve
the organization‟s management system and
environmental performance.

Components of Environmental Audit
Verification
• Verification determines and documents
performance by evaluating the application of,
and adherence to, policies and procedures. It
certifies the validity of data and reports and
evaluates the effectiveness of management
systems. It also ensures that regulations and
policies are being adhered to and assists in
identifying gaps in organizational policies and
standards.

Basic Steps in the Typical Audit
Process
• Pre-audit activities: These comprise scheduling;
team selection; logistical arrangement; gathering
background information and developing the audit
plan.
• Selection of the Team for the Environmental
Audit:
• Although environmental audit is similar to other
form of audit, the selection of the audit team
requires careful consideration. The following
attributes are expected of environmental auditors:
• Adequate knowledge in all aspects of EIA

Basic Steps in the Typical Audit
Process
• Comprehensive Knowledge of Environmental and
climate change issues.
• Adequate knowledge of environmental auditing
acquired through training followed by practical
experience.
• An independent and unbiased approach, with
aptitude for research.
• Being an emerging and expanding field of audit,
inclination to develop and apply new techniques and
methodologies to assess the environmental related
performance of the entity, by drawing experience
from elsewhere.
• Good human relations and communication skills.

Audit Process
• The key activities include understanding management
system; assessing the strengths and weakness;
gathering audit evidences, evaluating audit finding
and reporting audit finding to management.
Post Audit Activities:
• Post audit activities are to ensure the audit results are
clearly communicated to the appropriate level of
management and to evaluate effectiveness of audit and
provide suggestions for improving future audit; share
lessons learned during the audit. It also includes
preparation of a draft report; issue a final report to
legal counsel and develop a develop action plans and
follow up.

Types of Environmental Audits
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Compliance Audits
Environmental Management Audit
Liability Definition or due Diligence Audits.
Supplier Audits.
Programme Audits
Single Issue Audits.
Risk Definition or Hazard Identification
Where international audits need to be carried out
by a central team, there can be good reasons for
covering more than one area while onsite to
minimize costs.

Types of Environmental Audits

Compliance Audits

Environmental Management Audit

Liability Definition or due Diligence Audits

Supplier Audits.

The Benefits of Auditing
• While environmental audits are designed to
identify environmental problems, there may be
widely differing reasons for undertaking them:
Compliance with legislation, pressure from
suppliers and customers, requirements from
insurers or for capital projects, or to demonstrate
environmental activities to the public. The benefits
of environmental audit include:
• Ensuring compliance, not only with laws,
regulations and standards, but also with laws,
regulation and standards, but also with company
policies.

The Benefits of Auditing
• Enabling environmental problems and risks to be
anticipated and responses planned.
• To demonstrate that an organization is aware of its
impact upon the environment through providing
feedback.
• Increases management and employee awareness of
environmental issues.
• More efficient resources use and finance savings.
• Promotes “Good Practices”
• Providing better private and Public Image and
“Security” to Top Management.

ISO 14000 and Environmental
Management System
• The International environmental Standards are
intended to provide organizations with the
elements of an effective environmental
management system, which can be integrated of
an effective environment management system,
which can be integrated with other management
requirements to assist organizations to achieve
environmental and financial goals.

Management System
• The
Current
International
Standards
Environmental Management System cover
following major areas:
• Environment Management System
• Environmental Auditing
• Environmental Labeling
• Environmental Performance Evaluation
• Life Cycle Assessment and terms of definition

on
the

Management System
• ISO 14000 builds a single global management
System that allows effective management of
environmental responsibilities, liabilities, costs,
document commitment to government, and
promotes concern for the society.

Management System
• ISO 14000 is a way of empowering businesses
to take control of environmental responsibility
and encouraging government departments to
approach the challenges with far greater
flexibility.

Management System
• ISO 14000 does not only relate entirely to massive
global companies. The standard states that” It has
been written to applicable to all types and sizes of
organization and to accommodate diverse
geographical, cultural and social condition.”
• ISO 14001 Certification is an initiative to bring
about uniformity in environmental compliance
standard to reduce impediment to trade among
countries.

To Whom does the Standard Apply?
• The Standards apply to all type and sizes of
organizations and the design to encompass
diverse, Cultural and Social Conditions. For
ISO 14001, except for committing to continual
improvement and compliance with applicable
legislation and regulations, the standard does
not establish absolute requirement for
environmental performance.

To Whom does the Standard Apply?
• ISO 14000 is a group of standards encompassing
the following areas:
• Environmental Management Systems (14001,
14002, 14004)
• Environmental Auditing (14010, 14011, 14012)
• Evaluation of Environmental Performance (14031)
• Environmental Labeling (14020, 14021, 14022,
14023, 14025)
• Life Cycle Assessment

Any Questions
• Write a Short Note on Environmental
Audit.
• Write short notes on EIA

References
Water Supply Engineering : By Prof S.K. Garg
Khanna Publishers
Internet Websites

Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Audit- Unit III

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