Environmental Impact Studies Flashcards
What constitutes the Built Environment
Buildings, Highways, other man-made structures
Ecosystem definition
Communities of organisms interacting with one another and with their physical environment.
Environmental impacts of Built Environment
Waste production
Toxic chemicals
Health issues problems
Depletion of Natural Resources
Energy depletion
Climate Change
Sources of Environmental Impact
Material selection: choice of material and quantity
Manufacturing Process: Methods to transform raw materials into products, each step wastes material
Energy use: Fossil fuels waste, etc.
Stages of a product life cycle
Material Extraction
Material processing
Manufacturing
Use
Waste management
Reuse
Remanufacture
Recycle
How to reduce environmental impact
Improve engineering designs
Create more efficient extraction and manufacturing
Improve recovery and reuse of materials and energy
Green Engineering
Design, discovery and implementation of engineering solutions with an awareness of potential benefits and problems for the environment, economy and society throughout the lifetime of the design. Its goal is to minimize adverse impacts while simultaneously maximizing benefits to the economy, society, and the environment
What is an EIS
Written report detailing the findings made base on a detailed environmental review process
Two steps to produce an EIS
- Environmental Inventory: Detailed description of the existing physical environment (basis for evaluating project impacts)
- Environmental Assessment
Identification and analysis of all potential
adverse environmental consequences of the
project
(● Prediction of all possible environmental changes
● consideration of the magnitude and overall
importance of those changes)
EIS includes 9
- Description of the existing environment
- Description of the proposed project
- Environmental assessment
- Unavoidable adverse environmental impacts
- Secondary or indirect impacts
- Methods for reducing adverse impacts
- Alternatives to the proposed project
- Irreversible commitments of energy and resources
- Consideration of public input and review
Description of Existing Environment involves
Geology
Water resources
Vegetation
Air quality
Noise
Transportation
Public utilities
Population
Historical cultural features
Description of proposed project
Total area of the project
Number of building lots
Residential facilities
Commercial facilities
Industrial facilities
Plan of proposed of roadways
Pipelines of stormwater drainage system
Plans of water supply system
Plans of wastewater collection system
Landscaping
etc.
Environmental audit
Environmental audit is an evaluation of
● waste generation of an industry
● waste management practices
● assessment of the industry’s compliance
with environmental laws at the local, provisional,
and federal levels
Environmental auditing is a management tool that enhances the overall environmental performance of manufacturing facilities
When is it required
Transfer of property
Liability reduction
Key steps in auditing process
- Pre-audit activities
● Selection and scheduling of facility to audit
● Selection of audit team
● Contact with facility and planning of the audit
(development of protocols, checklists, questionnaires) - Site activities
● First understanding of internal controls
● Assessment of internal controls
● Gathering of audit evidence
(field surveys and sampling activities)
● Evaluation of audit findings
● Report of findings to facility - Post audit activities
● Production of a draft report
● Production of a final report
● Preparation and implementation of an action plan
● Monitoring of action plan
