Understanding EIA

with which to minimise negative impacts and enhance positive ones.
EIA aims to predict environmental impacts 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 development 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.
l 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
l 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.
l A prospectus is a short report that informs EMA that a prescribed activity is being considered to be undertaken. 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.
l In Zimbabwe, all projects listed in the First Schedule of the Environmental Management Act (CAP 20:27) are called prescribed activities and should undergo the EIA process before implementation.
Scoping and terms of reference
l A scoping process identifies issues that are likely to be important during the detailed EIA phase and eliminates those that are not.
l It involves the interaction between the interested and affected parties, Government departments and proponent(s) for identifying issues with respect to a proposed development.
l Terms of Reference (TORs) refer to a document which details the main environmental issues which must be addressed in an EIA study.
Impact identification and analysis
l Impact identification involves taking account of all the important environmental impacts, making sure that both negative and positive impacts are 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.
l Tools that can be used include checklists, matrices, networks, overlays and GIS systems.
l 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
l 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.
l It contains summary of the potential impacts, their recommended mitigation measures, statement of their compliance with relevant standards, allocation of resources and responsibilities for plan implementation, schedule of the actions to be taken, programme for monitoring and auditing; as well as the contingency plan when impacts are greater than anticipated.
l EMP should be comprehensive and exhaustive as possible, as it acts as a guide in the implementation of the project.
EIA review process
l 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.
l EIA review process also establishes if the proponent has provided adequate and comprehensive information.
l Review also checks whether all relevant and sufficient stakeholders have been consulted during the compilation of the report.
l The response for an EIA review is 60 days and for the prospectus is 20 days and usually our competent staff gives response well before the review set times prescribed by the law.
l Consultants registered with EMA should do these EIAs.
Approval of the EIA Report
l Follows when all aspects prescribed by the law have been fulfilled to the satisfaction level of the regulatory authority.
l On approval, the Environmental Management Agency issues an EIA certificate.
l Project developers are expected to adhere to the contents of the EIA report as far as possible during project implementation
Monitoring and auditing
l These are the final stages, which 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-effect relationships and to improve EIA prediction and mitigation methods.
l 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
Projects proponents should ensure that all their activities are done within the confines of the law.