The A-Z of Environmental Impact Assessment

and enhance positive ones.
EIA aims to predict environmental impact at an early stage in project planning and design, find ways and means to reduce adverse impacts, shape projects to suit the local environment and present the predictions and options to decision-makers.
What is the importance of EIA?
l To inform the process of decision-making by identifying the potentially significant environmental effects and risks of development proposals and projects.
l To promote sustainable development by ensuring that proposals do not undermine critical resource and ecological functions or the well-being, lifestyle and livelihood of the communities and peoples who depend on them.
l It enables monitoring and evaluation of developmental projects by regulatory authorities.
The process gives communities an opportunity to contribute and influence the development process in a way favourable to them.
Important steps in the EIA process
Screening
The first step in the EIA process is the screening of projects. This is an evaluation of proposals to find out which ones should be subjected to EIA and which ones should not.
A prospectus is a short report that informs EMA that a prescribed activity is being considered for implementation.
Basically, the prospectus requires project proponents to describe a proposed project in terms of location, size, area sensitivity and project implementation strategy, among others issues.
In Zimbabwe, all projects listed in the first schedule of the Environmental Management Act (Chapter 20:27) are called prescribed activities and should undergo the EIA process before implementation.
Scoping and terms of reference
A scoping process is meant to identify issues that are likely to be important during the detailed EIA phase and eliminates those that are not.
It involves the interaction between the interested and affected parties, Government departments and proponent(s) for identifying issues with respect to a proposed development.
Terms of reference refer to a document, which details the main environmental issues that must be addressed in an EIA study.
Impact identification and analysis
Impact identification involves taking account all the important environmental impact, making sure that both negative and positive impact is critically assessed.
While analysis is a technical exercise which uses physical, biological, socio-economic and cultural data to estimate the likely characteristics and parameters of impacts.
Tools that can be used include checklists, matrices, networks, overlays and GIS systems.
Participatory tools should be employed to enable communities to outline impacts from proposed development projects, as they perceive them.
Environmental Management Plan (EMP) or Impact Management Plan
This is developed and presented as part of the EIA report. An EMP translates recommended mitigation and monitoring measures into specific actions that will be carried out by the proponent concurrently as project implementation progresses.
It contains a summary of the potential impact, its recommended mitigation measures, statement of compliance with relevant standards, allocation of resources and responsibilities for plan implementation.
It also contains a schedule of the actions to be taken, programme for monitoring and auditing; as well as the contingency plan when the impact is greater than anticipated.
EMP should be as comprehensive and exhaustive as possible, as it acts as a guide in the implementation of the project.
EIA Review Process
The EIA review team drawn from EMA assesses the adequacy and quality of an EIA report, taking into account project impacts and mitigation measures as well as public comments.
EIA review process also establishes if the proponent has provided adequate and comprehensive information.
Review also checks whether all relevant and sufficient stakeholders have been consulted during the compilation of the report.
The response for an EIA review is 60 days and for the prospectus it is 20 days and usually our competent staff gives response well before the review set times prescribed by the law. Consultants registered with EMA conduct these EIAs.
Approval of the EIA Report
Follows when all aspects prescribed by the law have been fulfilled to the satisfaction level of the regulatory authority.
On approval, the Environmental Management Agency issues an EIA certificate.
Project developers are expected to adhere to the contents of the EIA report as far as possible during project implementation
Monitoring and Auditing
These are the final stages that are as equally important as others. Monitoring is carried out to provide information that will aid impact management, thus help the developer achieve a better understanding of cause or effect relationships and to improve EIA prediction and mitigation methods.
EIA audits are used to identify the impacts of project implementation, test accuracy of impact predictions and effectiveness of mitigation measures and to improve compliance and performance of EIA practice.
EIA and Project Cycle
The project cycle refers to the logical stages, which all projects should be subjected to during the EIA process to ensure successful project implementation.
Project Cycle Graph
Project proponents should ensure that all their activities are done within the confines of the law.
Quote of the week
Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife, are in fact plans to protect man. – Stewart Udali