CEV 314-Part 3

CEV 314 Environmental
Impact Assessment
Prof.Dr. Gülen Güllü
What are the aims and objectives of EIA?
Immediate objectives of EIA are to:
• improve the environmental design of the proposal;
• ensure that resources are used appropriately and efficiently;
• identify appropriate measures for mitigating the potential impacts of the proposal; and
• facilitate informed decision making, including setting the environmental terms and
conditions for implementing the proposal.
Long term objectives of EIA are to:

• 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.
Limitations and strenghts of EIA
• only a very small fraction of proposals are halted, permanently or
temporarily, as a direct result of EIA at the end of the review process;
• preemption or early withdrawal of unsound proposals has been reported
though it has proved difficult to document;
• EIA has been useful in developing support for and confirmation of positive
environmentally sound proposals;
• the greening or environmental improvement of proposed activities is
frequently seen; and
• particular indirect effects of EIA are both instrumental (such as where
policy or institutional adjustments are made as a result of EIA experience)
and educational where participation in the EIA process leads to positive
changes in environmental attitudes and behavior.
Nature and Scope of environmental issues
and impacts
Numerous reports on the state of the world indicate the environmental problems
facing society.
Exm:
-Environmental Performance Index 2022
-UNEP Global Environmental Outlook (GEO)
-Sustainable Society Index
- Climate Change Performance Index
-etc
Water scarcity, plastic pollution, land degradation, tropical forest clearance,
biodiversity loss and climate warming issues are examples. Some of them are
global or so pervasive that they affect all countries. Other environmental problems
are concentrated regionally and thus affect only certain countries or are more
serious for some than others.
2022 EPI SCORE (0=worst, 100=best)
26.30
Rank : 172 out of 180
Types of impacts
The impacts of a development proposal examined in EIA can be
• direct, such as the effect of toxic discharge on air and water quality, or
• indirect, such as the effect on human health from exposure to
particulates or contaminants, which have built up in food chains.
Other environmental and social impacts are induced, for example by a
new road opening up an undeveloped area to subsequent settlement
or by involuntary resettlement of people displaced by the construction
of a large reservoir.
Types of impacts
Despite a lack of internationally consistent practice, integrated impact
assessment, linking biophysical and socio-economic effects, is identified as an
important priority in Agenda 21. As a widely adopted process that already covers
other impacts, EIA is recognised as one of the best available mechanisms for
implementing an integrated approach.
Principles of EIA administration and practice
• EIA is one of a number of policy tools that are used to evaluate
project proposals.
• It is also a relatively recent development when compared to use of
economic appraisal methods.
• A number of factors led to the introduction of EIA in the US National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA, 1969), including public concern
about the quality of the environment and the increasing effects of
new technologies and ever-larger development schemes. In addition,
then available economic appraisal techniques, such as benefit cost
analysis, did not take account of the environmental and social impacts
of major projects.
The architects of NEPA intended the environmental
impact statement to be the ‘action-forcing’ mechanism,
which would change the way government decisions
were made in the USA. However, they probably did not
foresee the extent to which EIA would be adopted
internationally, culminating in Principle 17 of the Rio
Declaration on Environment and Development. Today,
EIA is applied in more than 100 countries, and by all
development banks and most international aid agencies.
EIA has also evolved significantly, driven by
improvements in law, procedure and methodology.
Major trends in EIA process development are
summarised in table below. Except for the early
pioneers, the phases and timescales identified in the
table below do not necessarily correspond to the
development of EIA in particular countries. In all
countries more strategic, sustainability- based
approaches are still at a relatively early stage.
To date, EIA has been applied primarily at the project-
level. This ‘first generation’ process is now
complemented by Strategic Environmental Assessment
(SEA) of policies, plans and programmes, and both EIA
and SEA are being adapted to bring a greater measure of
‘sustainability assurance’ to development decision
making. These trends have brought new perspectives on
what constitutes EIA good practice and effective
performance.
Recently, a number of reviews of these issues have been
undertaken, including the International Study of the
Effectiveness of Environmental Assessment (see Section
A). It described basic and operational principles for the
main steps and activities undertaken in the EIA process.
The International Association for Impact Assessment
(IAIA) and the Institute of Environmental Management
and Assessment (IEMA) have drawn on these to prepare
a statement of EIA Best Practice (see EIA Wiki) for
reference and use by their members . The Effectiveness
Study identified three core values on which the EIA
process is based:
The Effectiveness Study identified three core values on
which the EIA process is based:
• integrity– the EIA process should meet internationally
accepted requirements and standards of practice;
• utility– the EIA process should provide the information
which is sufficient and relevant for decision-making;
and
• sustainability– the EIA process should result in the
implementation of environmental safeguards which are
sufficient to mitigate serious adverse effects and avoid
irreversible loss of resource and ecosystem functions.

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CEV 314 Environmental

Long term objectives of EIA are to:

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