Environmental Impact Assessment in India

Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment:

The environmental impact assessment in India was started in 1976-77, when the planning commis­sion asked the Department of Science and Tech­nology to examine the river valley projects from environmental angel. This was subsequently ex­tended to cover those projects, which required ap­proval of the Public Investment Board.

Then the Govt. of India enacted the Environment (Protec­tion) Act on 23^rd May 1986 to achieve the objec­tive the decision that were taken is to make envi­ronmental impact assessment statutory. After fol­lowing the legal procedure, a notification was is­sued on 27^th Jan 94. 10^th April, 1997 and 27^th Jan 2000. making environmental impact as­sessment statutory for 30 development projects (Schedule I), the mandatory EIA clearance proce­dure started.

The EIA Cycle and Procedures:

The EIA process in India is made up of the fol­lowing phases:

1. Screening

2. Scoping and consideration of alternatives

3. Baseline data collection

4. Impact prediction

5. Assessment of alternatives, delineation of mitigation measures and environmental im­pact statement

6. Public hearing

7. Environment Management Plan

8. Decision making

9. Monitoring the clearance conditions

Screening:

Screening is done to see whether a project requires environmental clearance as per the statutory noti­fications.

Screening Criteria are based upon:

(i) Scales of investment;

(ii) Type of development; and,

(iii) Location of development.

A Project requires statutory environmental clearance only if the provisions of EIA notifica­tion and/or one or more statutory notification is mentioned.

Scoping:

Scoping is a process of detailing the terms of ref­erence of EIA. It has to be done by the consult­ant in consultation with the project proponent and guidance, if need be, from Impact Assessment Agency. The Ministry of Environment and Forests has published guidelines for different sectors, which outline the significant issues to be ad­dressed in the EIA studies Quantifiable impacts are to be assessed on the basis of magnitude, prevalence, frequency and duration and non-quantifiable impacts (such as aesthetic or recre­ational value), significance is commonly deter­mined through the socio-economic criteria.

Af­ter the areas, where the project could have sig­nificant impact, are identified, the baseline status of these should be monitored and then the likely changes in these on account of the construction and operation of the proposed project should be predicted. Recent years, scoping was determined by “Term of reference” clearance by MOEF.

Baseline Data:

Baseline data describes the existing environmen­tal status of the identified study area. The site-specific primary data should be monitored for the identified parameters and supplemented by sec­ondary data if available.

Impact Prediction:

Impact prediction is a way of ‘mapping’ the en­vironmental consequences of the significant as­pects of the project and its alternatives. Envi­ronmental impact can never be predicted with absolute certainty and this is all the more reason to consider all possible factors and take all pos­sible precautions for reducing the degree of un­certainty.

The Following Impacts of the Project should be Assessed:

Air:

Changes in ambient levels and ground level con­centrations due to total emissions from point, line and area sources effects on soils, materials, veg­etation, and human health.

Noise:

Changes in ambient levels due to noise generated from equipment and movement of vehicles effect fauna and human health.

Water:

(i) Availability to competing users

(ii) Changes in quality

(iii) Sediment transport

(iv) Ingress of saline water

Land:

(i) Changes in land use and drainage pattern

(ii) Changes in land quality including

(iii) Effects of waste disposal

(iv) Changes in shoreline/river-bank and their sta­bility-

Biological:

(i) Deforestation/tree-cutting and shrinkage of animal habitat

(ii) Impact on fauna and flora (including aquatic species if any) due to contaminants/pollut­ants

(iii) Impact on rare and endangered species, en­demic species, and migratory path/route of animals

(iv) Impact on breeding and nesting grounds

Socio-Economic:

(i) Impact on the local community including de­mographic changes

(ii) Impact on economic status

(iii) Impact on human health

(iv) Impact of increased traffic

Assessment of Alternatives, Delineation of Mitigation Measure and Environmental Impact Assessment Report:

For every project, possible alternatives should be identified and environmental attributes compared. Alternatives should cover both project location and process technologies. Alternatives mould considers ‘no project’ option also. Alternatives should then be ranked for selection of the best environmental option for optimum economic benefits to the com­munity at large.

Once alternatives have been reviewed, a miti­gation plan should be drawn up for the selected option and is supplemented with an Environmen­tal Management Plan (EMP) to guide the propo­nent towards environmental improvements. The EMP is a crucial input to monitoring the clear­ance conditions and therefore details of monitor­ing should be included in the EMP.

An EIA report should provide clear informa­tion to the decision-maker on the different envi­ronmental scenarios without the project, with the project and with project alternatives. Uncertain­ties should be clearly reflected in the EIA report.

Public Hearing:

Law requires that the public must be informed and consulted on a proposed development after the completion of EIA report. Any one likely to be affected by the proposed project is entitled to have assess to the Executive Summary of the EIA.

The affected persons may include:

(i) Bonafide local residents

(ii) Local associations,

(iii) Environmental groups: active in the area

(iv) Any other person located at the project site/ sites of displacement

They are to be given an opportunity to make oral/written suggestions to the State Pollution Control Board as per Schedule IV of Annex I.

Decision Making:

Decision making process involve consultation be­tween the project proponent (assisted by a con­sultant) and the impact assessment authority (as­sisted by an expert group if necessary). The deci­sion on environmental clearance is arrived at through a number of steps including evaluation of EIA and EMP.

Monitoring the Clearance Conditions:

Monitoring should be done during both construc­tion and operation phases of a project. This is not only to ensure that the commitments made are compiled with but also to observe where the pre­dictions made in the EIA reports were correct or not.

Where the impacts exceed the predicted lev­els, corrective action should be taken. Monitoring will enable the regulatory agency to review the validity of predictions and the conditions of imple­mentation of the Environmental Management Plan (EMP).