6 - Assessing Impact Flashcards
What are the 3 main things to predict?
- Project impacts on the environment
- Environment impacts on the Project
- Cumulative effects
What are environmental impacts also referred to as?
Environmental Risks
What are the 5 impacts of the environment on a project?
- Temperature
- Water levels
- Precipitation Patterns
- Storm Severity
- Sensitivity to change
What are 5 things to know when predicting impacts of a project?
- Understanding of proposed project.
- Outcomes of similar projects
- Past, present, or approved projects
- Interacting environmental & socio-economic components
- Receptors response to change
What is a Receptor?
A component of the natural or human environment that is measurably affected by the project and which forms an endpoint of a given effect pathway
True or False: There is no single set of methods, laws or regulations that prescribe HOW impact predictions should be made.
True
Practices are currently moving beyond predicting _________ components to more _________ concepts.
individual, holistic
What are 3 key components of addressing Impact?
- Accuracy & Precision
- Analogue Approaches
- Expert Judgement
What does accuracy refer to in Impact Methods?
… the extent of a system-wide bias in a prediction, or the closeness of a predicted value to the true or actual value
What does Precision refer to in Impact Methods?
… the level of preciseness of exactness associated with an impact prediction.
What are 3 key benefits of using Analogue Approaches for Impact Methods?
- Learning from a similar project and past project experiences
- Drawing upon similar projects
- Challenging in transferring outcomes from one context to another
Expert Judgement for Impact Methods involves what 3 considerations?
- No standard by which judgement is integrated into an EA
- No specific criteria as to what constitutes an expert
- Good expert judgement will be substantiated with evidence, explicitly in its uncertainties including confidence levels and assumptions.
What are 4 main types of Modelling and Extrapolation of Impact Methods?
- Balance Models
- Statistical Models
- Spatial Models
- Simplification
What do Balance Methods use?
They identify inputs and outputs for specified components and outputs for an environmental system
What methods do Statistical Models use?
They use extrapolations or trend analysis based on assumptions about fundamental relationships or correlations underlying an observed phenomenon.
What do Spatial Models use?
They use geographic information systems to overlay approaches or potential outcomes.
Distinguish between “environmental change” and “environmental effect”:
Environmental change refers to alterations in the environment over time, while environmental effect pertains to the specific consequences of a project or action on the environment.
Identify three types of impacts that need to be predicted in an environmental assessment (EA):
- Project on the environment
- Environment on the project
- Cumulative effects
Explain the challenges of using analogue approaches for impact prediction:
- Contextual differences
- Limited availability of comparable projects
- Difficulty in transferring outcomes
Describe the key elements of an effective expert judgment in an EA:
- Evidence substantiation
- Clear articulation of uncertainties
- Confidence levels and assumptions
- Transparency in the expert’s qualifications
Define “threshold-based maximal allowable effects levels” and provide an example:
… they are pre-determined limits on the acceptable level of change caused by a project.
For example, a project may stipulate that noise levels will not exceed a certain decibel limit at nearby residences.
Explain the concept of the hierarchy of mitigation and list the levels within it.
The hierarchy of mitigation prioritizes impact management strategies. It includes: Avoidance then mitigation, restoration, and offsetting/compensation.
Provide two examples of mitigation measures for a hypothetical road construction project.
- install sediment fences to minimize erosion and sedimentation and
- implement a traffic management plan to reduce noise and disruption for nearby residents.
Differentiate between “offsetting” and “compensation” in the context of impact management:
Offsetting involves creating or restoring equivalent environmental values at a different location to compensate for unavoidable impacts, while compensation typically involves financial or other benefits to those affected.
List five criteria used to characterize residual effects:
- Direction
- Duration
- Geographic Extent
- Magnitude
- Timing
What is adaptive management and how does it relate to addressing uncertainty in impact predictions?
… an iterative approach to environmental management that involves learning by doing, adjusting actions based on monitoring results, and embracing uncertainty.
What does Adaptive Management help in impact assessment?
It helps address uncertainty by acknowledging that predictions may be inaccurate and necessitating ongoing adjustments.
Define Analogue Approaches:
Impact prediction methods based on extrapolating findings from similar past projects.
Define Compensation:
Provision of financial or other benefits to affected parties to offset unavoidable project impacts.
Define Cumulative Effects:
Environmental impacts resulting from the combined effects of multiple projects or actions over time.
Define Environmental Change:
Alterations in environmental conditions that occur over time, regardless of the cause.
Define Environmental Effect:
The specific consequence of a project or action on the environment.
Define Expert Judgement:
Informed opinions provided by qualified specialists to assess impacts when empirical data is limited.
What is the Hierarchy of Mitigation?
A framework prioritizing impact management actions, starting with avoidance, then mitigation, restoration, and finally offsetting/compensation.
Explain impact prediction:
Forecasting the likely environmental consequences of a proposed project or action.
Describe Mitigation:
Measures taken to minimize the severity or extent of negative environmental impacts.
What is Offsetting?
Compensating for unavoidable impacts by creating equivalent environmental values at a different location.
What are Residual Effects?
The remaining environmental impacts after all feasible mitigation and enhancement measures have been implemented.
What does Sensitivity Analysis do?
Examines the influence of varying input parameters on predicted outcomes to assess the robustness of impact assessments.
What are Threshold-based Maximal Allowable Effect Levels?
Pre-defined limits on acceptable environmental changes from a project.
What can uncertainty look like in impact prediction?
The lack of complete knowledge or understanding of the potential impacts of a project, including the likelihood, magnitude, and timing of effects.
______________: Transparent communication of the limitations and assumptions associated with impact predictions, acknowledging areas of uncertainty.
Uncertainty Disclosure
What tool is used for systematically identifying, characterizing, and disclosing uncertainties associated with impact assessment predictions?
Uncertainty Matrix
When must impact avoidance enter the EIA equation?
at an early stage
Draw the Hierarchy of Mitigation:
!
What are some examples of avoidance in managing project impacts?
- Changing the project design
- Setting regulatory standards concerning the use of toxic substances;
- Scheduling project construction activities so that they do not conflict with daily patterns of local activity
Define mitigation:
Minimizing the severity or extent of impacts
What are the main considerations when reducing adverse effects?
- Blasting in Mine Construction
- Erosion and Sedimentation
- Local Housing Market
- Visual Impacts
Define Restoration:
Restoring environmental quality, rehabilitating certain environmental features, repairing ecological functions, restoring valued components.
Provide an example of repair, rehabilitation, or restoration:
Agricultural land used for the storage of materials during construction may be fully rehabilitated; land used for gravel extraction may be restored to agricultural use
When is Offsetting / Compensation used in the hierarchy of mitigation?
When unavoidable, residual or irreparable
What is the HADD?
Harmful Alteration, Disruption, or Destruction of fish habitats are prohibited under the Fisheries Act unless otherwise authorized.
What is HADD an example of?
Offsetting / Compensation
What are the 4 types of compensation?
- Impact Benefit Agreement (IBA)
- Collaboration Agreement (CA)
- Impact Management Agreement (IMA)
- Adverse Effect Agreement (AEA)
What are Agreements meant for?
to complement the existing regulatory process.
Why would proponents want to enter into agreements with potentially affected communities / groups?
- Helps minimize regulatory risk going through the IA process.
- Building relationships and trust
What are examples of Enhancement Measures in a project?
- Increased training to maximize local employment
- Priority hiring for local community members
- Life skills and financial counselling to employees
The textbook says this is important to __________________ and determining the significance of potentially adverse effects.
prioritizing impact management actions
Characterization of effects is focused on _______ effects
residual
Define Residual Effects:
Residual effects are what’s left after technically and economically feasible mitigation or enhancement measures have been applied
What are the 10 Classification for Residual Effects?
- Direction
- Duration
- Ecological Context*
- Frequency
- Likelihood
- Magnitude
- Reversability
- Spatial
- Social Context*
- Timing
Omitting or underestimating ____________ can result in a systematic bias in the conclusions and decisions taken.
uncertainties
Assume that the level of uncertainty can be _________ and __________.
assessed, quantifiable
What are the 4 types of addressing uncertainty?
- Confirmatory Analysis
- Probability Analysis
- Sensitivity Analysis
- Uncertainty Analysis
What does the uncertainty disclosure account for?
the reality that uncertainty cannot be expressed as a probability or explained with the tools used in impact assessment.
What does the Uncertainty Matrix do?
Provides a more systematic approach to describing and disclosing uncertainty.
What are the purpose of Environmental Management Plans?
To detail the specific mitigation strategies and way in which they will be implemented and monitored.
True or False: Projects only have one environmental management plan.
False, they can have multiple.
Draw the Adaptive Management Cycle:
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