7

NATURE OF
ENVIRONMENTAL
SCIENCE
FEA 115
DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE, UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN
DR. A. S. AJAYI
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA)
DEFINITION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA)
EIA is recognized as a planning tool used to predict the likely
environmental impacts of a proposed activity such as a project,
plan, program or legislative action so that they can be
addressed at an appropriate stage in the design or formulation
before further decisions are taken on the activity or action. The
EIA involves a systematic process for identifying, predicting and
evaluating potential effects or impacts associated with a new
development project, plan, program or legislative action. The EIA
process is the various stages a proposed activity undergoes from
proposal to approval for implementation. The process compares
alternatives by which a desired objective may be achieved and
seeks to identify the one which represents the best combination
of environmental and economic costs and benefits.
It must also provide solutions called mitigation measures to
avoid, reduce or minimize the negative effects or impacts
that would arise from a proposed activity on the
environment and public health.
Increasingly, EIA must cover socio-economic, cultural and
physical impacts. It must also take into account the
interaction between various impacts and their results. Local
knowledge of socio-economic and cultural values is
important and must be addressed as much as possible to
ensure acceptance by the public. The EIA study thus
involves a team of experts and specialists in the various
disciplines to cover all the areas of information to be
collected, collated, analyzed and interpreted in the
proposed environment.
Scope of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
EIA is a management tool. It provides information upon which decisions
may be taken. It must involve the participation of various groups or
stakeholders, such as project proponent or developer, investor,
regulators, planners, local communities, non-governmental
organizations, and politicians who will make decisions about a
proposed major activity.
It is increasingly a requirement for international assistance for grants and
loans from some major donors, investors and various financial and
development organizations such as the World Bank, European Union,
and African Development Bank among several others. The potential
scope of a comprehensive EIA process is considerable and could
include the appraisal of policies, plans, programmes and specific
development projects. The primary purpose is to encourage the
consideration of environmental issues in the planning and decision-
making in order to ensure that the action is compatible with the
environment.
EIA LEGISLATION AND AGENCIES IN NIGERIA

The EIA was formally introduced to project management with the

passage of the United States National Environmental Protection Agency
(USNEPA) Act of 1970. It is regarded as the precursor of other EIA
legislations that led to the formal introduction of EIA. It was the first
legislation for EIA, requiring analysis of the environmental impacts of
major federal actions significantly affecting the receiving environment.
Other countries have had to tailor their legal, institutional and
procedural context to suit their own peculiar situations. The United
States approach is quite elaborated and detailed especially when
compared to those of Malaysia, South Korea and Brazil. Currently, EIA is
practiced in over 100 countries in the world.
EIA is proclaimed in Principle 17 of “Agenda 21” of the United Nations Conference
on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Brazil in June 1992. It states
that “Environmental Impact Assessment as a national instrument shall be
undertaken for proposed activities that are likely to have significant adverse
impact on the environment and subject to a decision of a competent authority”.
In Nigeria, the regulatory framework for EIA is the EIA Act No. 86 of 1992 (formerly
EIA Decree 86 (1992). It is the law that governs EIA practice in Nigeria as adopted
in 1992. It is the main legal document explaining the system and principles of EIA in
Nigeria. It can be found at the Federal Ministry of Environment website
[Link] Impact Assessment Decree No. 86
[Link].
In the evolution of the EIA systems in Nigeria there are three independent types in
operation. These are the EIA Act 86 of 1992, the Town and Country Planning
Decree 88 (1992) and the Petroleum Act (1969). The EIA schemes (the Town and
Country Planning Decree) has not evolved satisfactorily but the other two Acts
have produced legislations and robust guidelines. The Petroleum Act of 1969 was
the first comprehensive legislation introduced in Nigeria applicable to petroleum
operation.
LEAD AGENCIES
The lead agencies for the EIA process in Nigeria are the Federal Ministry
of Environment (FMEnv), the competent authority, through its
Environmental Assessment Department for EIA and the Department of
Petroleum Resources (DPR), an arm of the Ministry of Petroleum
Resources, which also has a mandate for the regulatory framework for
all activities in the Oil and Gas sectors of the economy. DPR does this
through the Petroleum Act of 1969 and the updated Environmental
Guidelines and Standards (EGAS formerly EGASPIN) of 1991 and 1999
and revised in 2002. Also, States and Local Government Councils which
comprise the second and third tiers of government were encouraged
under Decree 59 of 1992 to set up their own environmental protection
agencies (SEPAs). In practice, most EIAs are prepared pursuant to
FMEnv and DPR guidelines.
CLASSIFICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
The various types of impact assessments include those on climate,
population, development, ecology, risk, social, strategic, and health.
The description of the various types of impact assessments listed above
are as follows:

Climate impact assessment

A climate impact assessment will investigate the impact on man, plants
and animals of climatic changes which may occur as a consequence
of a change in climate. A change could occur due to changes in such
environmental issues as depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer,
increases in ground-level ultraviolet radiation, heat waves, extreme
events such as droughts, flooding and accompanying ecosystem
damages and health risks. A current climate impact assessment that is
receiving worldwide attention is that due to global warming associated
with green-house gas emissions.
Demographic impact assessment
Demography is the statistical and mathematical study of the size, composition
(age, race, sex, or marital status), and spatial distribution of human
populations and how these features change over time. A demographic
impact assessment will examine the effects of population or its changes
usually in a given area on socio-economic or health parameters of interest. For
example, population changes in the labour market and migration. Most often,
national and global population continues to rise, which makes population
change an essential component to demographics.

Development impact assessment

This refers to a project-level EIA of a development activity in isolation, such as
the establishment of a new 100 ha fish farm or the construction of a dam on a
major river, and the impacts that would be exerted on the environment. A
project-level EIA is relatively simple and reaches to meaningful conclusions. It
informs decision-makers and other stakeholders of potential environmental
impacts, and suggests ways to reduce or minimize the impacts that would
arise from a development activity. It is intended to drive decisions in the
context of the given project. It may not effectively include the cumulative
effects (or total impacts) of the development in a region.
Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA)
An ecological impact assessment will examine the effects of an event or activity, such as
flooding, drought, oil spill, or wind farm on a receiving environment and its components of
air, water, soil and biota. It assesses also the potential effects of a development on
habitats, vegetation and species; particularly those protected by national and
international legislation or considered to be of particular nature conservation importance.
It is an essential or integral part of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

Risk Assessment
Risk is usually defined as the product of the probability or uncertainty of something
happening and its impact (consequence). A risk analysis is an analysis of both of these
components, and is therefore more than just an impact assessment. Environmental risk
assessment is the analysis and evaluation of the uncertainty of unwanted potential
environmental effects which could be problematic and the various measures to reduce
risk.
For example, the environmental risk and negative impacts of fish farming (aquaculture)
could be an analysis of the probability and local impact of organic waste load from feed,
drugs (antibiotics) used in pathogens and disease control, nutrient salts, or genetic effects
and various measures to reduce them. An analysis of the risk factors in fish farming is
beneficial in order to take a risk-based approach to fish culture. Animal welfare is a topic
that also could be considered in risk assessment.
Social impact assessment (SIA)
Social impact assessment can be defined as the process of assessing or
estimating, in advance, the social consequences that are likely to
follow from specific policy actions or project development, particularly
in the context of appropriate national, state or local environmental
policy legislation.
Social impacts include all social and cultural consequences to human
populations of any public or private actions that alter the ways in which
people live, work, play, relate to one another, organize to meet their
needs, and generally cope as members of society. It is an essential part
of all EIAs where it is evident that altering the environment also alters the
social and cultural organization of human populations.
Hence, it is considered as a key dimension of the EIA process. Examples
of the close interactions can be found in the context of land tenure
and rights, rural livelihoods and traditional practices.
Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)
Strategic Environmental Assessment can be defined as the systematic and
comprehensive process of evaluating at the earliest possible stage, the environmental
effects of a policy, plan or programme and its alternatives. The SEA process applies
primarily to development-related activities or initiatives that are known or likely to
have significant environment effects. For example, those to be carried out individually
in sectors or areas, such as agriculture, transport and energy or collectively through
land-use change.
Why is SEA important?
SEA is particularly important as it extends the aims and principles of EIA very early in
the decision-making process, beyond the project-level and when major alternatives
are still open. Strategic impact assessment represents a pro-active approach to
include all environmental considerations into the higher level of decision-making.
Please note that the terms “policy”, “plan” and “programme” also mean different
things in different countries. Within the same country, the terms “plan” and
“programme” may be used interchangeably. However, generally policy is regarded
as the overall directive which outlines, guides or sets a context for a proposed action
which a government or organization intends to take. Usually, policy is implemented by
plans and programmes which outline the actions, options and measures to be carried
out in a sector or area.
How does SEA compare to or differ from EIA?
SEA and EIA have many similarities and a common foundation. SEA has developed largely
in response to the levels and types of decisionmaking not covered by EIA. However, SEA of
policy, plans and programmes differs from EIA of projects in relating to higher-level of
decision-making; having a broader range of alternatives open to consideration; and
greater opportunity to include all considerations for the environment.

Health impact assessment (HIA)

Health impact assessment (HIA) is a multidisciplinary process to assess or determine the
potential and sometimes unintended effects of a proposed policy, plan, program, or
project on the health of a population and the distribution of those effects within the
population. HIA identifies appropriate actions to manage those effects in order to reduce
the harmful effects on health and to increase the beneficial effects. A multidisciplinary
focus is also necessary because of the fact that the most valuable HIAs examine the
effects of proposals in sectors outside of health, such as agriculture, education and
commerce, where health effects are typically not a major consideration in the policy-
making process. While ultimately it is the individual that experiences good or poor health,
the environmental determinants of health, along with the context of health outcomes
must be considered.
The goal of HIA is to identify those activities and policies likely to have major impacts on
the health of a population in order to reduce the harmful effects on health and to
increase the beneficial effects.
KEY ELEMENTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA)
 Screening: Screening is a key activity to determine whether an EIA is
required or not. Screening is the most common mechanism to determine
whether or not a proposed activity requires an EIA and the level at which
that assessment should occur.
 Scoping: The scoping exercise is the stage where the coverage of the EIA is
decided. It commences early in the project cycle to assist in improving the
project design and influence the environmental benefits of the proposed
project or programme. Scoping is also a preliminary activity and earlier tasks
in the project cycle that focus discussions on the environmental
consequences. Usually a decision regarding a proposed activity will be
taken on account of some clear selected issues of significance.
 Identifying and evaluating project alternatives.
 Mitigating measures: The options to avoid, minimize, or reduce identified
negative impacts of a proposed activity. They are remedies designed to
limit the severity of environmental effects or impacts.
 EIA report and certification