CET415
ENVIRONMENTA
L IMPACT
ASSESSMENT
MODULE II
ARUNLAL M P
MODULE II- SYLLABUS
• Environmental clearance process in India: Screening,
Scoping, Public Consultation, Appraisal- Form1-Category
of projects
• Generic structure of EIA report - Terms of Reference
(ToR)
• Types of EIA: strategic, regional, sectoral, project level-
Rapid EIA and Comprehensive EIA
• Initial Environmental Examination (IEE)
Process of Environmental Clearance
• Environmental Clearance process involves following
stages to obtain final Appraisal of the proposed project
by Appraisal Committee.
o Screening
o Scoping
o Public Consultation/ Public Hearing
o Environmental Appraisal
Screening
• After the selection of the project location which will
comply with the guideline, project will assess in which
category the proposed project falls in and if it requires
environmental clearance and environment impact
assessment study
Screening
• There are two categories – A category and B category.
• Projects falling under A category go to MoEF & CC for
clearance.
• Projects falling under B category go to State
government for clearance which further gets
categorized into B1 and B2 projects.
• B2 projects do not require preparation of EIA report.
• But depending upon the project and its location the
Appraisal Committee can ask project proponent to carry
out EIA study
Scoping
• Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) in the case of
Category ‘A’ projects or activities.
• State level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) in the
case of Category ‘B1’ projects
• The Expert Appraisal Committee or State level Expert
Appraisal Committee concerned shall determine the
Terms of reference on the basis of the information
furnished in the prescribed application Form1 and upon
duly considering the Terms of Reference proposed by
the applicant.
Terms of Reference (TOR)
• TOR or Terms of Reference is a document produced by
the authority conducting the EIA study. It is formed
during Scoping, the second stage in the EIA process.
• All the stakeholders are invited to submit their concerns
regarding the project during a public hearing organized
by the EIA committee, which is followed by discussions
and deliberations.
• The finalized list of this stage of EIA is submitted to the
Ministry in the form of TOR.
Content of TOR
• TOR highlights the points that need to be covered during
the EIA study, which include:
• i. A description of the project, its purposes and extent.
• ii. All the agencies responsible in the developmental
project and the EIA study.
• iii. A description of the existing environmental conditions in
the project site and surrounding areas.
• iv. The stakeholders that will be benefited and harmed by
the fulfilment of the project.
• v. The environmental aspects the project is likely to affect.
Content of TOR
• vi. The impacts, both positive and negative, the project
will have on the environmental and social aspects of the
project area. This is undertaken through checklists,
matrices or networks.
• vii. A list/description of the species endemic to the area,
which are likely to be affected.
• viii. How in-depth does the EIA study need to be: whether
baseline data is available or whether the study be sourced
from secondary data.
• ix. Possible alternatives for the project in terms of design,
site, technology, implementation, etc
Content of TOR
• x. The legal requirements of the project and future
legislation that need to be drafted.
• Xi. If the project site comes under special categories,
and the legislation regarding the same.
• Xii. Recommended mitigation strategies.
• xiii. The expertise required for the EIA study
• xiv. The expected time limit for the entire EIA study.
• xv. Natural Resource Valuation (NRV), if possible.
• xvi. The budget of the study, also called cost-benefit
analysis.
Public Hearing
• Public hearing is a mandatory step in the process of
environmental clearance for certain developmental
projects. It is a part of EIA study. This provides public of
an area to come forward and express their concerns and
views regarding the proposed project to the project
proponent and the Government.
Public Hearing
• Following is the process involved in public hearing:
• The District Collector is the chairperson of the public
hearing committee. Other members of the committee
include the official from the district development body,
SPCB, Department of Environment and Forest, Taluka and
Gram Panchayat representative, and senior citizen of the
district, etc.
• The hearing committee hears the objections/suggestions
from the public and after inserting certain clauses it is
passed on to the next stage of approval, i.e. Ministry of
Environment and Forest (MoEF).
Environmental Appraisal
• Once all the requisite documents and data from the
project authorities are received and public hearings
(where required) have also been held, assessment and
evaluation of the project from the environment angle is
completed within 90 days and the decision of the
ministry either approved or rejected shall be conveyed
within 30 days thereafter.
Validity of EC
• Ten years in the case of River Valley projects
• Thirty years for mining projects
• Five years in the case of all other projects and activities
• Area Development projects and Townships, the validity
period shall be limited only to such activities as may be
the responsibility of the applicant as a developer.
Post Environmental Clearance
Monitoring
• Mandatory for the project management to submit half-
yearly compliance reports in respect of the stipulated
prior environmental clearance terms.
GENERIC STRUCTURE OF EIA REPORT
TYPES OF EIA
STRATEGIC EIA (SEIA):
• Strategic EIA refers to systematic analysis of the
environmental effects of development policies, plans,
programs and other proposed strategic actions. This
process extends the aims and principles of EIA
upstream in the decision- making process, beyond the
project level and when major alternatives are still open.
• Strategic EIA represents a proactive approach to
integrate environmental considerations into the higher
level of decision-making.
TYPES OF EIA
REGIONAL EIA:
• EIA in the context of regional planning integrates environmental concerns into
development planning for a geographic region, normally at the sub- country
level.
• Such an approach is referred to as the economic-cum- environmental (EcE)
development planning. This approach facilitates adequate integration of
economic development with management of renewable natural resources
within the carrying capacity limitation to achieve sustainable development.
• It fulfills the need for macro-level environmental integration, which the
project-oriented EIA is unable to address effectively. Regional EIA addresses
the environmental impacts of regional development plans and thus, the
context for project-level EIA of the subsequent projects, within the region. In
addition, if environmental effects are considered at regional level, then
cumulative environmental effects of all the projects within the region can be
accounted.
TYPES OF EIA
SECTORAL EIA:
• Instead of project-level-EIA, an EIA should take place in
the context of regional and sectoral level planning.
• Once sectoral level development plans have the
integrated sectoral environmental concerns addressed,
the scope of project-level EIA will be quite narrow.
• Sectoral EIA will help to address specific environmental
problems that may be encountered in planning and
implementing sectoral development projects.
TYPES OF EIA
PROJECT LEVEL EIA:
• Project level EIA refers to the developmental activity in
isolation and the impacts that it exerts on the receiving
environment.
• Thus, it may not effectively integrate the cumulative
effects of the development in a region.
RAPID ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ASSESSMENT(REIA)
• Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment can be defined as the study,
which is done for quick assessment of likely adverse impacts.
• Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment studies will be conducted at
the initiation of the new activity. In some cases this study may be
required for the expansion of existing unit or change in the current
manufacturing process (if the pollution load is to exceed the existing
one).
• Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment study covers one season
baseline data for various environmental components viz. Air, Noise,
water, land, Biological and Socioeconomic including parameters of
human interest.
COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT ASSESSMENT
• Comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment is
basically a study which includes collection of data for
various components for four seasons i.e. Monsoon, Post-
monsoon, Winter and Summer.
• Comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment
report has to be submitted after the evaluation of Rapid
Environmental Impact Assessment report, if so asked by
the Impact Assessment Agency. Time scale is different
for rapid and comprehensive EIA.
INITIAL ENVIRONMENTAL EXAMINATION
IEE IN EIA STEPS
INITIAL ENVIRONMENTAL EXAMINATION
IEE IN EIA STEPS
• The output from the screening process is often a document called
an Initial Environmental Examination or Evaluation (IEE). The
main conclusion will be a classification of the project according to
its likely environmental sensitivity.
• Screening is the process undertaken to decide which
environmental assessment method is required to be undertaken
for a given project. It is the first step of EIA done to check its
requirement.
• This may be determined by size (eg: greater than a
predetermined surface area of irrigated land that would be
affected, more than a certain percentage or flow to be diverted or
more than a certain capital expenditure). Alternatively, it may be
based on site-specific information.