EIA third year exam Flashcards
What year was EIA introduced in UK?
1988
EIA is the responsibility of which department?
Communities and Local Government
Who pays for EIA?
Polluter (developer)
Name the IEMA special 2011 report
‘The State of Environmental Impact Assessment Practise in the UK’
One issue IEMA report mentioned
Risk aversion, poor planning and commercial realities lead to broad scoping without focus and too long ES which is a burden
Two practises recommended by IEMA to improve EIA
Communicating added value generated by EIA and delivery environmental outcomes that work now and in future
Screening is…
deciding whether the nature and likely impacts are such that it should be submitted for formal assessment
Who can decide if EIA needed without going through screening process?
The developer
Example of project the government can exclude from EIA
National defence project
Two approaches to screening are?
Use of thresholds and case-be-case examination
Schedule 1 outlines projects listed in Annex I where EIA is mandatory. Examples include…
Airports with runways over 2,100m, crude-oil refineries and nuclear power stations
Schedule 2 outlines projects listed in Annex II where EIA is required based on thresholds and criteria. Examples include…
Uncultivated or semi-natural land to be used for intensive agriculture if area exceeds 0.5 Ha, sugar factories with floorspace area over 1,000m2, golf courses exceeding 1 Ha
Annex II based on likelihood of significance environmental effects. This is based on the three criteria of…
Scale, location (based on official designations, relative abundance and regenerative capacity) and potential of hazardous environmental effects
Selection criteria in schedule 3 for screening of Annex II
Characteristics of development (e.g. risk to human health from pollution), location of development (e.g. abundance, availability, quality and regenerative capacity of natural resources such as water) and types and characteristics of potential impact (e.g. transboundary nature impacts)
One issue the IEMA report found in regards to screening
Ineffective application of screening requirements is the most common area of legal challenge in EIA practise
Scoping identifies…
potential impacts to become focus of investigations, alternatives to the project and terms of reference for environmental studies
Alternatives to the project include…
different location, scale and processes
Where can the developer gain a scoping formal opinion?
The planning authority
Is scoping mandatory in the UK?
No
The scoping report covers…
Content and extent of information to be provided to developer, types of environmental impacts to be investigated and other things such as alternatives and baseline surveys to be carried out
Give a pro and con of using a checklist to provide potential impacts of activities at different time phases on impact receptors as part of gathering scoping information
Systematic and consistent approach but doesn’t address cumulative impacts
Why are scoping consultations carried out?
So that interested parties’ concerns can be addressed
Name three statutory consultees
Coal Authority, Environment Agency and Natural England
Name two potential non-statutory consultees
Local environment groups and RSPB
How can consultations be advertised and carried out?
Leaflets inviting comments, public meetings and telephone discussions
The baseline assessment is a study…
to collect all relevant information on the status of the environment to provide a baseline which changes can be measured
What should the baseline assessment take into account?
Changes that could occur without the project going ahead and releationship between different components
What does the IEMA report say about baseline studies?
They often have no clear objectives
Why is there a case for baseline study use-by dates?
The baseline condition is not static
Name three problems with bassline assessments?
Reliance on recorded data only, use of out of date material, and failure to acknowledge data limitations
What is a Phase 1 habitat assessment?
General description of habitats in study area
Name 3 of the 10 broad habitat categories for Phase 1?
Woodland and scrub, tall herb and fen and coastalnd
End products of a Phase 1
Habitat maps, target notes and statistics
Scale of a phase 1 map
1:10,000
Two reasons why UK Habitat Survey should replace Phase 1?
Has a hierarchy of two levels of habitat types and more useful habitat types
What are the contributing factors to landscape?
physical, human, aesthetic and visual
What does a landscape assessment involve?
Site visits, desktop study of topographical maps, information databases, and photographs
What does a landscape assessment assess?
Degree of sensitivity to change of landscape resources and visual impact
Impact prediction involves…
identifying possible direct, indirect and cumulative impacts, estimate likelihood of impact occurring, quantifying nature of impact occurring, organise information on systematic assessment and evaluate significance
Methods used for impact prediction
checklists, matrices, qualitative methods, networks, overlays and maps
What does a Cumulative Effects Assessment consider?
Potential environmental effects of proposal with other existing and/or proposed projects and existing environmental problems
Impact=
Activity X Receptor
What factors to consider when quantifying predictions?
Magnitude, timescale, probability, reversibility and importance
Ranges for magnitude and importance in a Leopold Matrix
-10 to 10
1 to 10
The four prediction techniques
Calculations/models, experiments/tests, physical simulation and professional judgement
Strength, weakness and how to validate for experiment prediction method
Can deal with complexity
Expensive
Show how experiment represents actual conditions
Example of something to investigate and a consideration for predicting noise pollution impacts
frequency of noise and baseline noise levels
Impact evaluation aims to determine…
significance
Two guidelines for evaluating significance and their definitions and pros and cons
Emissions based = predefined environmental standards and thresholds. Widely understood but appropriate standard may not exist
Environmental quality based = user defined significance. Links scientific criteria to social acceptance but concern among some sectors of the public
Levels of acceptability and examples of impacts
Unacceptable - extinction of rare or endangered species
Contestable (mitigation may be possible) - some loss of endangered habitat
Normally acceptable - some loss of population of non-threatened species
Three levels of probability
Nearly certain - high confidence
Reasonably foreseeable - some disagreement of conflicts
Remote and speculative - little to no credible data exists
Significance=
Probability X Magnitude
Example of avoid mitigation
Protecting environmentally sensitive areas by adjusting development boundaries
Example of a reduction mitigation
Spraying quarry material to control dust
The three types of remedy mitigations
Restore, replace and compensate
How can the success of a restoration be measured?
Ranking the six attributes (e.g. absence of threats and species compositions) defined by SER on a 5 star scale
The two types of replace mitigations
Translocation and habitat creation
Three types of compensation mitigations
Relocation and/or financial compensation of affected communities, compensating environmental benefit (e.g. providing amenities) and mitigation banking or BNG
What is mitigation banking?
When developer buys credits at an ‘equivalent’ site elsewhere
What are units for Biodiversity Net Gain based on?
Distinctiveness and quality
How can mitigation be improved?
Introduction of methods to evaluate effectiveness of proposed measures and their feasibility
What is SEA?
A systematic process that evaluates environmental consequences of proposed policy, plans and programmes (PPP) to ensure consideration of these consequences take place in early decision making
How are SEA’S different from EIA’s
They are at a broader long term scale, use mainly descriptive data, there is more uncertainty and focuses on cumulative impact
What is a sustainability appraisal (SA)?
Systematic process carried out during preparation of local plans and spatial development strategies
Why are SEA’s important for biodiversity conservation?
It’s longer term focus and focus on cumulative impacts can help implement the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), ensure biodiversity objectives are built into plans, and identify and evaluate alternatives that are better for biodiversity
Why did Woodsmith mine need an EIA?
Large scale operation with long timescale, potential for pollution and is in sensitive location (North York Moors National Park)
What was found in Woodsmith scoping report?
Potential impacts of pollution during construction from leaks/spills
For Woodsmith, statutory consultees such as EA and NE were included. What alternatives considered for project?
Underground Pipeline construction would cause visual impacts so an underground MTS to the port was decided upon
Examples of information collected for Woodsmith ecological baseline?
MAGIC used for identification of conservation sites and notable habitats. Phase 1 habitat survey carried out.
How were ecological impacts predicted for Woodsmith
Relevant surveys of wildlife and habitat
Example of an ecological impact evaluation for Woodsmith
Habitats within proposed mine surface area being of low ecological value so low magnitude and minor adverse significance
Example of a mitigation for Woodsmith
Dust control measures and natural screening to reduce impact of dust emissions
Cumulative impact found for Woodsmith in CIA
Marine water quality impact from increased suspended sediment concentration from dredging from other projects
SEA for Tyne and Wear Local Transport Plan integrated what other assessments?
HIA, EqIA and HRA
What other consultee was included in scoping for SEA for Tyne and Wear Local Transport Plan?
Public health groups
The bassline for the SEA for Tyne and Wear Local Transport Plan included info on not just environmental status but what else?
One issue of the baseline?
The policy context
Use of out of date Census data
Method used for SEA for Tyne and Wear Local Transport Plan and findings
‘SEA Framework’ which listed 16 objectives and set of indicators and prompt questions to measure and guide assessment.
Analysis against baseline found many objectives’ success would decline without plan implementation.
The alternatives for the SEA for Tyne and Wear Local Transport Plan (do-minimum, realistic and optimistic scenarios) were generated by objectives and challenges. How were they assessed? What issue was there?
Assessed against the prompt questions from the framework.
No significance criteria was used as difficult as lack of details about specific schemes
The realistic scenario was chosen from the SEA for Tyne and Wear Local Transport Plan and developed into policies. How was it improved?
By considering climate adaptation
