UNIT-1
TOPICS
• ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMSNET
• PRINCIPLES and concepts
• Historical development
• EIA in Project cycle
• Legal and regulatory aspects in India
• Perspective and requirements
• Sources of environmental hazards
• Environmental and ecological risks
• Environmental risk assessment framework
• Environmental auditing
• Satellites for environmental applications
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
ASSESSMSNET
• An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is
an assessment of possible Positive or
Negative impact of a proposed project on the
environment.
• EIA is a decision making tool.
Why we need EIA?
• Human well-being is closely connected to environmental
sustainability. As a result, all forms of human development
such as building infrastructure (i.e., roads and pipelines,
mines, and tourism facilities etc.) have an impact on the
surrounding natural environment and vice versa.
• This is evident when we consider the results of large-scale
development like open-pit mines, hotels for thousands of
people and large hydroelectric dams that often have
irreversible impacts on the environment and the livelihoods
of people because of large-scale deforestation, excessive
water use, habitat destruction and resettlement.
• It is very important to try to predict the environmental and
social impacts of programs, projects and planned
developments that may alter the quality of the
environment and impact well-being.
CONCEPTS OF EIA
• EIA is an exercise to be carried out before an
project or major activity is undertaken to
ensure that it will not in any way harm the
environment on a short- term or long term
basis.
• Any developmental activity requires EIA to be
done before executed to know the effect of a
proposed development on the environment.
PRINCIPLES OF EIA
• Environmental impact assessment should be
– Transparency: The process should have clear, easily understood requirements
for EIA content; identify the factors that are to be taken into account in
decision making and acknowledge limitations and difficulties.
– Certainty: The process and timing of the assessment should be agreed in
advanced and followed by all participant.
– Participation: The process should provide appropriate opportunities to
inform and involve the interested and affected public, and their inputs and
concerns should be addressed explicitly in the documentation and decision
making.
– Practicality: The process should result in information and outputs which assist
with problem solving and are acceptable to and able to be implemented by
proponents.
– Feasibility: The assessment process should be able to adopt to deal efficiently
with any proposal and decision making situation.
– Cost- Effective: The process should the objectives of EIA within the limits of
available information, time, resources and methodology.
– Credibility: The process should be carried out with professionalism, fairness,
objectivity, impartiality and balance, and be subject to independent checks
and verification.
– Accountability: The decision makers are responsible to all parties for their
action and decision under the assessment process.
Phase 1: Project Concept
• Initial stage of project planning
– Basic nature of the project is known including the
site where the project is being proposed to be
implemented.
– “Screen” project to determine if project requires a
full EIA.
Phase 2: Pre- Feasibility
• Identify issues/ impacts for investigation
• Making plan for public involvement
• Identifying major issue of public concern
• Establishing priorities for environmental
assessment.
Phase 3: Feasibility
Detailed engineering and design
Project construction and development
Operation and Maintenance
The Main Participants Of EIA
• EIA applies to public and private sections. The six
main players are:
– Those who propose the project
– The environmental consultant who prepare EIA on
behalf of project proponent.
– Pollution Control Board (State or National).
– Public has the right to express their opinion.
– The Impact Assessment Agency.
– Regional centre of the Ministry of Environment and
Forest.
Legal and Regulatory aspects in India
• Environmental Protection Act,
• Water (Prevention and control of Pollution)
Act,
• Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act,
• The Forest (Conservation) Act,
• The Wildlife Protection Act.
Environmental Protection Act, 1986
• Constitution of India has a number of provisions
demarcating the responsibility of the central and
state government towards Environment
Protection.
• Functions of Authority:
– To take measures to protect and improve
environment
– To make rules to regulate environmental pollution
– To regulate the standards of quality of air, water and
soil
– Safeguards for handling of hazardous substances
– Restriction on location of industries
Prof. K Padma Kumari, JNTUK
Water (Prevention and control of
Pollution) Act, 1974
• This was the first national law of India on
pollution control.
• The Water Pollution Board at the central and
state level has been set up for prevention and
control of water pollution in all sources of
water under its jurisdiction.
• They also determines permissible and non
permissible levels of water pollution
Prof. K Padma Kumari, JNTUK
Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution)
Act, 1981
• This Act regulates, control emission from
automobiles and industrial plants.
• The central board for prevention and control of
water pollution is authorized to implement and
enforce this Air Prevention & Pollution Act also.
• Functions of Central Board:
– Determines the standards of air quality
– To execute nation wide awareness program
– To provide technical assistance and guidance to state
boards
Prof. K Padma Kumari, JNTUK
The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980
• The India forest act of 1927 was amended in
1980 to prohibit the state governments from
declaring any reserve forest as non-reserve
without prior approval of the central
authority.
• This amendment has restricted the efforts of
the state governments to use forest land for
non-forest purposes.
Prof. K Padma Kumari, JNTUK
The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972
• This act was enacted in 1972 to provide necessary
protection against serious threat to wildlife by the
expansion and advancement of agriculture, Industry and
urbanization.
• The Indian board of Wildlife was set up in 1952 to protect
wildlife resources.
• Various wildlife parks, sanctuaries were created.
• The wildlife protection Act, 1972 to provide protection to
wild animals and birds by
– Constitution of wildlife advisory board in each state
– Regulating the haunting of wild animals and birds
– Specifying the procedures for declaring areas of sanctuaries
and national park.
– Regulating the possession, acquisition and trade of wild
animals as well as animal products
Prof. K Padma Kumari, JNTUK
Enforcement of Environmental
Legislation
• All major development projects- government
or private- need an environmental impact
assessment by a competent organization. It
lists local flora, fauna, people and ecosystem.
• Citizens actions and action groups can act as
watch-dogs against willful environmental
damage by resorting to prayers, petitions,
media publicity, dharnas or public interest
Litigation(PIL)
Prof. K Padma Kumari, JNTUK
Environmental Hazards
• HAZARD: A hazard is a situation that poses a
level of threat of life, health, property or
Environment.
• Environmental Hazard: it is an event which
has the potential to threaten the surrounding
natural environment including pollution and
natural disasters.
Types of Environmental Hazards
• These are categorised as
– Physical hazards: Natural disasters(earthquakes,
floods, cyclones, droughts etc.) and ongoing natural
phenomenon such as UV radiation, that can cause
health problems.
– Chemical hazards: Harmful natural and artificial
chemicals in the environment.
– Social hazards: Lifestyle choices that endanger health.
– Biological Hazards: viruses, bacteria and other
organisms that cause disease.
Sources of Environmental Hazards
• Hazardous materials spills, chemical accidents,
oil spills
• Pollution, environmental degradation, nuclear
war, global environmental change, natural
resources depletion
Ecological Risks
• Ecology: The study of relation between living
organisms.
• An Ecological Risk Assessment is the process
for evaluating how likely it is that the
environment might be impacted as a result of
exposure to one or more environmental
stressors, such as chemicals, land-use change,
disease, and invasive species.
Ecological Risk Assessment Framework
• An ecological risk assessment includes three
phases
– Phase 1 - Problem Formulation
– Phase 2 - Analysis
– Phase 3 - Risk Characterization
Phase 1 - Problem Formulation
• The risk assessor(s) gathers information to
determine which plants and animals are or might
be at risk and in need of protection.
• Problem formulation includes a preliminary
characterization of exposure and effects, as well
as examination of scientific data and data needs,
policy and regulatory issues, and site-specific
factors to define the feasibility, scope, and
objectives for the ecological risk assessment.
• Problem formulation concludes with an Analysis
plan.
Phase 2 - Analysis
• Two components of the analysis phase are exposure
and effects assessments.
• In the Exposure Assessment, the risk assessor
determines which plants and animals are or are likely
to be exposed to each environmental stressor and to
what degree.
• In the Effects Assessment, the risk assessor reviews
available research on the relationship between
exposure level and possible adverse effects on plants
and animals. They may also review evidence of existing
harmful ecological effects.
Phase 3 - Risk Characterization
• Risk characterization includes two major components
– Risk Estimation
– Risk Description
• “Risk Estimation" compares:
– The estimated or measured exposure level for each stressor and plant or
animal population, community, or ecosystem of concern; and
– The data on expected effects for that group for the exposure level.
• "Risk description" provides information important for interpreting the
risk results. This includes:
– Whether harmful effects are expected on the plants and animals of
concern;
– Relevant qualitative comparisons; and
– How uncertainties (data gaps and natural variation) might affect the
assessment.
Environmental Risk Management
Framework
Environmental Auditing
• Environmental auditing is an attempt to
provide information on the environmental
performance of a company, and thus include
environmental issues in the decision making
process.
• An environmental audit assesses the nature
and extent of harm to the environment
caused by the activities, waste or noise from a
particular company.
Satellites for Environmental
applications
• Environmental Satellites: Satellites are ideal for
observing the global environment as they are
capable of revealing and monitoring remote
environments, hidden features, and even events
that the human eye cannot detect.
• Temperature, wind speed and direction, aerosols,
water vapour, cloud cover, precipitation, storms,
and tropical cyclones. Satellites can also monitor
how winds disperse smoke from wildfires or ash
from volcanic eruptions.
• Satellites provide the following data on the
oceans:
– Sea surface temperature, sea level height, ocean
currents, and ocean winds. It is also possible to
monitor accidents, such as large oil spills, and periodic
oscillations in the sea that affect global weather
patterns, such as El Niño in the Pacific Ocean.
• The following land features can also be observed
via satellites:
– Land surface temperature, winds, vegetation cover,
bodies of water, human settlements, soil moisture,
depth and extent of snow and ice.
List of environmental satellites
• NOAA- GOES , POES
• SCATSAT-1
• SARAL
• OCEANSAT
