4M14E ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

1
4M14EENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

• Peter Guthrie

2
Recommended text books

• Wood, C. (2002). Environmental Impact Assessment
  a Comparative Review (2nd Edition). Harlow
  Prentice Hall
• Therivel, R. and Partidário, M.R. (1996). The
  Practice of Strategic Environmental Assessment.
  London Earthscan
• Glasson, J. Therivel, R. and Chadwick, A. (1999).
  Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment
  (2nd Edition). London Spon Press

3
What is EIA?

• an important procedure for ensuring that the
  likely effects of new development on the
  environment are fully understood and taken into
  account before the development is allowed to go
  ahead
• (DETR and National Assembly for Wales, 1999)

4
What is it really?

• Environmental Impact Assessment is a process, set
  down as a repeatable series of steps to be taken,
  to allow the environmental consequences of a
  proposed development to be assessed.
• The environmental consequences have to be those
  INCREMENTAL effects which are due to the proposed
  development, and not those which are due to the
  passage of time or other developments not
  included in the proposal.

5
Origins and history of EIA

• 1960s witnessed the emergence of environmentalism
  (e.g. publication of Silent Spring by Rachel
  Carson in 1962)
• First formal system of EIA established in the US
  following the National Environmental Policy Act
  (NEPA) of 1969

6
Origins and history of EIA

• NEPA sought to ensure that environmental concerns
  were considered in the decision-making of Federal
  Government agencies
• Section 102(2)(c) required agencies to prepare a
  detailed statement on the environmental impact of
  proposals for legislation and other major
  Federal actions significantly affecting the
  quality of the human environment

7
Origins and history of EIA

• The statement referred to as an Environmental
  Impact Statement (EIS) - should include details
  on
• any adverse environmental effects which cannot be
  avoided should the proposal be implemented
• alternatives to the proposed action

8
Origins and history of EIA

• Since 1969 a host of other countries have adopted
  EIA legislation
• In 1977 the European Commission began drafting a
  directive on EIA and finally published a proposal
  in 1980
• Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the
  effects of certain public and private projects on
  the environment the EIA Directive was adopted
  in July 1985 and Member States had until 3 July
  1988 to implement its requirements

9
The EIA Directive

• The EIA Directive requires projects likely to
  have significant effects on the environment by
  virtue of their nature, size or location to
  undergo an environmental assessment before the
  competent authority in question grants consent

10
The EIA Directive

• The EIA Directive was amended in 1997 (Directive
  97/11/EC). Following signature of the Aarhus
  Convention on 25 June 1998, Directive 2003/35/EC
  was adopted which amends amongst others the EIA
  Directive and brings it into line with the public
  participation requirements of the Aarhus
  Convention

11
The EIA Directive

• See the European Commissions web pages on
  environmental assessment at
• http//europa.eu.int/comm/environment/eia/home.ht
  m

12
The EIA Directive

• The EIA Directive defines a project as
• the execution of construction works or of other
  installations or schemes,
• other interventions in the natural surroundings
  and landscape including those involving the
  extraction of mineral resources

13
The EIA Directive

• The EIA should identify, describe and assess the
  direct and indirect effects of a project on the
  following factors
• human beings, fauna and flora
• soil, water, air, climate and the landscape
• material assets and cultural heritage
• the interaction between the above factors
• EIA should therefore have a strong social
  dimension

14
Screening (does the project require EIA?)
Impact assessment (interpreting the impacts)
Scoping (what issues and impacts should the EIA
address?)
Mitigation (what can be done to alleviate
negative impacts?)
Baseline studies (establish the environmental
baseline)
EIS preparation/review (document the EIA
findings)
Alternatives (consider the different approaches)
Public consultation (consult general public and
NGOs)
Monitoring (monitor impacts of project)
Impact prediction (forecast the environmental
impacts)
15
Screening

• Is an EIA needed?
• Many projects may have no significant
  environmental effects
• A screening mechanism seeks to identify those
  projects with potentially significant adverse
  environmental effects

16
Screening

• Two principal approaches to screening
• the use of thresholds
• case-by-case examination against criteria
• Under the EIA Directive
• EIA is mandatory for projects listed in Annex I
  of the Directive
• EIA is required subject to Member States
  thresholds and criteria for projects listed in
  Annex II of the Directive

17
Scoping

• The scope of an EIA is the issues and impacts it
  addresses
• Scoping is the process of deciding which of a
  projects possible alternatives and impacts
  should be addressed in the EIA
• An EIA should focus only on the significant
  issues and impacts

18
Scoping

• Scoping is carried out in discussions between the
  developer, the competent authority, relevant
  agencies and, ideally, the public
• Effective scoping enables limited resources to be
  allocated to best effect (i.e. through
  investigation of only the most significant
  impacts)
• Scoping is not mandatory under the EIA Directive

19
Baseline studies

• Following the scoping phase, it is essential to
  assemble all the relevant information on the
  current status of the environment
• The baseline study should anticipate the future
  state of the environment assuming the project is
  not undertaken - the no action alternative
• This provides the baseline against which future
  impacts can be assessed

20
Baseline studies

• Baseline studies should be undertaken for each
  alternative site so that the relative severity of
  the impacts for each alternative can be assessed
• New field work may necessary (e.g. ecological
  survey) if relevant data is not already available

21
Alternatives

• EIA is ideally undertaken for a project and its
  alternatives (e.g. different locations, scales,
  designs)
• Alternatives are the raw material of EIA
• The US Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has
  described the discussion of alternatives as the
  heart of the EIS
• Many EISs fail to consider alternatives

22
Impact assessment

• Impact assessment involves evaluating the
  significance of the impacts identified
• Significance can be determined through
  professional judgement, reference to regulations
  etc.
• Potential for bias in determining what is
  significant
• The conclusions of the impact assessment can
  ultimately be used by decision-makers when
  determining the fate of the project application

23
Mitigation

• Negative impacts on the environment identified
  during the EIA can be alleviated through
  mitigation measures
• The mitigation hierarchy Avoid - Reduce - Remedy
  - Compensate - Enhance
• Impacts remaining after mitigation are known as
  residual impacts
• The legislation obstructs the proper process of
  design development

24
EIS preparation / review

• The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is a
  formal document which includes information on the
  development and information relating to
  screening, scoping, baseline studies,
  alternatives etc.
• Common requirement to include a non-technical
  summary

25
EIS preparation / review

• Once complete, the EIS is submitted to the
  competent authority (along with the planning
  application)
• The EIS is often reviewed (either formally or
  informally)
• The review enables the competent authority to
  decide whether the EIA is adequate, accurate and
  unbiased

26
Public consultation

• The EIA Directive provides for public
  consultation on the application for development
  and the EIS

27
Post-project monitoring

• Monitoring should determine
• the accuracy of the original predictions
• the degree of deviation from the predictions
• the possible reasons for any deviations
• the extent to which mitigation measures have
  achieved their objectives

28
What is in an ES?

• Non Technical Summary
• Description of the proposals
• Assessment of Baseline conditions
• Assessment of no development conditions
• Assessment of conditions with development
• Mitigation proposals

29
What is in an ES?

• All conditions assessed for
• Construction phase
• Operation phase

30
Construction Phase

• Temporary
• Higher levels of impact usually deemed acceptable
• Difficult to predict
• VERY difficult to enforce conditions
• Usually well influenced by effective consultation

31
Operation Phase

• Long Term
• Much less room for compromise on standards
• Relatively simpler to predict
• Less difficult to enforce conditions, as the
  conditions are on the project owner
• Usually less influenced by effective consultation
  at scheme level, more at detailed level

32
Operation Phase

• Can be several phases
• Project itself may be developed in stages
• Sometimes need to look at
• Commissioning
• Opening
• Operation after period
• Operation once landscaping mature
• Operation at design capacity
• Operation at ultimate capacity

33
Consents Process

• ES generally accompanies an application for
  permission to proceed
• May be at Local, Regional, or National level
• Local and regional levels usually can refer
  upwards
• Application will be at outline or detailed stage
  increasingly difficult to get approval on outline
  applications

34
Secretary of State Inspectors / Reporters
(Scotland) Councillors (District, County or
Borough) Chief or Senior Planning Officers
35
But

• At local level, Councillors (elected members),
  may be capricious and driven by political
  considerations

36
Consents Process

• Planning Authority will impose conditions on
  acceptance eg for UK
• S106 Conditions of TCP Act
• S38 Agreement Highways Act
• Parts of other Acts eg Ports and Harbours Act
  (Harbour Revision Orders)
• Contributions to development outside site
  boundary
• Contributions to local government initiatives
• Limits to levels of activity (difficult to
  enforce)

37
(No Transcript)
38
Consents Process

• Refusal leads to appeal process
• If significant objections, Planning Authority may
  refer the application to higher level of
  government (in England and Wales, the Secretary
  of State)
• In UK, 98 of all planning applications are
  granted, eventually albeit in amended form

39
Acoustics and Vibration

• Roads well established methodology
• Airports widely accepted contours for
• LA EQ 16 hour and 8 hour
• Railways façade measurements and predictions
• Night time noise often critical
• Vibration threshold (usually threshold of
  perception)

40

• More than half of Europe's citizens live in noisy
  surroundings
• One third of Europeans have disturbed sleep due
  to noise
• Prolonged exposure to noise can cause
  hypertension and heart disease
• Noise above 80db may cause aggressive behaviour
• A link between noise and mental health is
  suggested by the demand for sleeping pills and
  tranquillizers
• An adult's ear can tolerate an occasional noise
  level of up to 140db
• A child's ear should never be exposed to noise
  above 120db
• Source bbc.co.uk

41
Air Quality

• Looking for
• Oxides of nitrogen (NOx)
• Oxides of sulphur (SOx)
• Ozone O3
• Particulates PM10 and now PM2.5
• Dioxins and Furans for Incinerators
• Particulates (dust)
• Odour

42
Air Quality

• No legal standards
• Most projects have very limited impact
• Dioxins and Furans have become significant
  concerns since the extremely low levels could be
  measured
• Roads schemes always show improvement in air
  quality over next twenty years

43
Forestry and Agriculture

• Classification of land (Grade 1, 2, 3)
• Severance and viability
• Orphaning of land parcels
• Isolating buildings from fields etc
• Opportunities for landscaping on isolated pieces
  of land

44
Water Quality

• Aquifer protection zones
• River designations
• Ecology impacts
• Hazard assessment from spills etc

45
Landscape and Visual Amenity

• Visual assessment
• Site categorisation (AONB, Conservation area)
• Inter visibility plots
• Landscape description
• Landscape value
• Opportunities for landscaping

46
Twyford Down
47
Heritage and Archaeology

• Site categorisation (SAM, Grade I, II, II)
  (World Heritage Site, Conservation Area)
• Locally important buildings without designation
• English Heritage
• National Trust
• County Archaeologist

48
Ecology

• Assessment of ecological value
• Site categorisation (SSSI,SNCI, SAC,SPA)
• Inventory of flora and fauna
• Rare species
• Protected species (incl Red List)
• Impact of severance, disruption etc
• English Nature, RSPB, Wildlife Trusts etc

49
Geology and Soils

• Assessment of geological value
• Pedology characterisation
• Site protection (SSSI)

50
Traffic Impact Assessment

• Traffic flows generally on roads
• Cars, taxis, trucks, buses, cycles
• Pedestrian journeys
• Public/private transport split
• Congestion/traffic management
• Proposed mitigation measures

51
Sustainability Assessment

• Currently part of EIA
• Should be the over-arching process
• No current guidelines

52
Construction Impacts

• Traffic movements
• Dust
• Mud
• Social impacts itinerant workers
• Business generation
• Spoil heaps
• Contamination of rivers streams

53
Construction Impacts

• Light pollution
• Noise
• Vibration of piling plant
• Materials stockpiles
• Construction sites

54
How does EIA actually contribute to Sustainable
Development?