Environmental Impact Assessment In Practice 1

Question 1

According to the EU directives what the actors involved in an EIA?

Answer 1

1. Project proponents,practitioners
2. Government authorities, decision makers and competent Authorities (EU)
3. Affected interested landowners, public

Question 2

According to United Nations environmental programme what are the EIA decision tree.

Answer 2

Refer to notes ;)

Question 3

The major outputs from screening is ?

Answer 3

Ypthere is an initial environmental examination that determines if there is Either the need for an EIA or there isn’t.

Question 4

What happens if there is a need for an EIA?

Answer 4

If it is identified that there is the need for an EIA the type of EIA needs to identified

Question 5

Why do we need to determine the type of EIA?

Answer 5

This is need because the type of EIA determines the type of competent decision making authorities are appointed. And also determine the potential early involvement of the public

Question 6

What are the types of EIA?

Answer 6

1 Full/comprehensive EIA
2. Limited EIA
3. Further studies to determine what type of EIA is required.

Question 7

What are some of screening methods employed ? STEP 1 in an EIA.

Answer 7

1. List -based screening (inclusion or exclusion)
2. Case-by-case screening scenarios
3. Threshold based screening ( if a project surpasses a certain threshold it likely requires an EIA and if it falls below a certain threshold it like does not require an EIA)

Question 8

The Eu has an Annex list that is used during screening to determine if an EIA is needed or not. Can you state this ?

Answer 8

If the project falls within Annex 1, article4(1) then an EIA is mandatory.subject to article 4(2) and according to article 5-10.

1. Crude oil refineries or the installation for gasification and liquefaction of less than or equal to 500 tones of coal per day.
2. Thermal power station or any other combustion installation that releases a heat output of 300Megawatts or more.
3. Nuclear power station and other nuclear reactors, as well as the dismantling of said stations or reactors with power greater than 1kilowatt continuous thermal load.

Question 9

Annex II article 4.2?

Answer 9

In this annex subject to article 4(2), for projects listed here member states determine if a project should undergo an assessment according to articles 5-10.

Member state make this determination either through :cases by case examination or with thresholds set by the .

And they can decide to apply both scenarios to a project.

Question 10

Annex II has a set of categories under its case -by-case decision (12 in total) what is category 1 about .

Answer 10

Change in land use in agri-silvi-and aquaculture. This involve deforestation,afforestation., use of w land for farming, water mgt projects in farming (irrigation and land drainage).etc

Question 11

Name 4 other categories considered other case-by-case screening in Annex II.

Answer 11

Industry : chemical, textiles, food , extraction ,energy, metal,mineral.
Infrastructure
Tourism
Other:waste management

Question 12

When the case-by-case assessment or threshold scenarios in Annex II are being carried out what should be considered ?

Answer 12

The relevant selection criteria listed in Annex III

Question 13

WHat are the relevant selection criteria from AnnexIII that should be considered in Annex II?

Answer 13

1.Characteristics of the project (use of natural resources,size, cumulative with other projects,waste production,risks of accidents)
2.Location of the project
3.Characteristics of the project impacts on environmental and human health.

Question 14

Under location of the project what is considered ?

Answer 14

The environmental sensitivity of geographical areas likely to be affected by the project :
1. Existing land use
2. Abundance of regenerative capacity of natural resources in the area.
3. The absorption capacity of the natural environment especially: Westland’s, coastal areas, areas classified or protected under member state legislation, areas whose environmental quality standards have been determined as low by union legislation,densely populated areas, landscapes of historical,cultural or archaeological significance.

Question 15

Under characteristics of the potential impacts what is considered ?

Answer 15

The magnitude and complexity of impact
Extent of impact ( location and size)
The probability of impact
The duration , frequency and reversibility of impact .
The ability for the impact to go beyond the country’s borders

Question 16

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the threshold approach

Answer 16

Advantages
Consistency in project locations, between other locations and within the project.
Simple and quick to use .

Disadvantages
Leads to a proliferation of projects just below threshold amounts
Inflexible and arbitrary
No room for common sense or expert judgement
Difficult to set and change

Question 17

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the case by case approach .

Answer 17

Advantages
Allows for common sense and expert judgement
Flexible (can incorporate many different projects and environments)
Can evolve and improve easily

Disadvantages
Likely to be complex,ambiguous,slow and costly
Open to abuse by decision makers due to political or financial interests.
Development of president could lead to loss of flexibility.