Environmental assessments (EAs) are conducted to assess the environmental impact of a policy, program, or project during the consideration and approval stages.
The term “environmental impact assessment” (EIA) is often used when describing the projects undertaken by individuals or companies. And the term “strategic environmental assessment” (SEA) is often applied to programs, policies, and plans initiated by the government or government agencies.
EIAs commonly assess the potential impact of planned development on a region’s biodiversity, ecology, vegetation, water, air, and human settlements. When studying communities, potential socio-economic impacts are also assessed.
Environmental impact assessments are carried out by numerous sectors, including the agricultural, tourism, mining, and manufacturing sectors. NEPA environmental assessments are carried out to determine if projects or programs are compliant with the regulations set by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
How Useful are Environmental Assessments as a Project Management Tool?
For programs and projects with significant socio-economic and environmental impact, environmental assessments (EAs) are a vital project management tool. Environmental assessments can guide all aspects of the project lifecycle—from project approval and planning to execution and closure.
Since EAs are designed to gauge the potential socio-economic and environmental impact of projects before they’re begun, they should be integrated seamlessly into the approval and preliminary stages of project development.
An environmental impact assessment (EIA) may reveal substantial environmental or socio-economic reasons for changing a project’s direction.
They give the project proponents and EA team the opportunity to devise alternative solutions that avoid, mitigate, or compensate for the adverse impacts on biodiversity, the natural environment, or communities. Safeguards could also be added to the proposed project to minimize hazards.
Project managers could also use environmental impact assessments to gather feedback and recommendations from the local community and involve them more actively in the decision-making process.
Overall, environmental assessments can strengthen the decision-making and communication mechanisms within projects and could pave the way for introducing constructive innovations.
What are the Benefits of Environmental Assessments?
Environmental assessments can be used to identify the potential environmental, social, and economic impacts of projects, policies, and programs during their early stages. EAs are used to find ways to reduce adverse impacts, present predictions and options to key decision-makers, and safeguard communities and the natural environment.
When implemented correctly, EAs also provide the following socio-economic and environmental benefits:
- The local environment is protected – EAs can help to safeguard urban settlements, the region’s natural resources and biodiversity, and the community’s overall health and wellness.
- Severe or long-term environmental threats are identified – EAs can lead to changes to the proposed project, the creation of alternative solutions, or the project’s complete cancellation.
- More informed decision-making for leaders and communities – Since all of the risks, impacts, and mitigation efforts built into the project’s lifecycle will be outlined by the project manager, key decision-makers and communities will be better equipped to make decisions.
- Ensures that the project or program complies with the “NEPA process” – Compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is mandatory for federally funded activities, as well as federally permitted or licensed activities, with an environmental component.
How Much Do Environmental Assessments Cost?
The cost of an environmental assessment rarely exceeds 1% of the total project cost, according to the World Bank. Mitigation efforts often account for between 3% to 5% of the total project cost. Note that these estimates do not take into account the costs incurred by environmental damage as a result of projects failing to undergo EAs.
As for commercial real estate properties undergoing a Phase 1 environmental site assessment (Phase 1 ESA), costs will vary depending on the location and characteristics of that property. The average Phase 1 environmental site assessment costs between $1,800 and $3,500, as of 2021. In rare cases, it can be as high as $6,000.
The new ASTM E1527-21 Standard Practice for Phase I environmental site assessments may increase the cost of Phase 1 ESAs and other environmental documentation services.
When Should You Conduct an Environmental Assessment?
Generally, environmental assessments (EAs) should be conducted in the earliest stages of the project planning process (including the project approval stage). EAs should also play a role in all decisions and processes throughout the lifecycle of the project.
The overarching goal of your EA should be to clearly understand the scope and potential impact of a project on its physical and socio-economic environment. It’s also much easier to resolve problems that could threaten the continuity of your project during the early stages.
If your EA is poorly executed or introduced too late in the project development process, it could lead to environmental and socio-economic consequences. In worst-case scenarios, environmental and socio-economic factors need to be re-examined during the closing stages of the project, since the EA was introduced too late in the project development process.
What Is the Average Duration of an Environmental Assessment?
An environmental assessment that was initiated at the start of a project shouldn’t take longer to complete than the project design phase. However, this timeframe does not include the time needed to implement and measure the impact of the mitigation measures proposed by the EA.
The length of time needed to complete an environmental impact assessment will also depend on the following factors:
- The size and complexity of the project.
- The skills of the EA team and the EA methodology and processes employed.
- The level of participation and support given by the local community.
- The level of cooperation received from project sponsors, government agencies, and other key stakeholders.
How Would You Define an Acceptable Level of Environmental Impact?
There is no universal threshold that defines an acceptable level of environmental impact. The acceptable threshold is both contextual and localized—meaning it would depend on the project being assessed, as well as the unique social, economic, and environmental conditions of the area.
At the heart of sustainable development is the question of how much environmental impact should be tolerated by governments and communities. To help EA and sustainability specialists create workable definitions, the World Bank has issued its Project Level Guides for Environmental Sustainability.
Since every ecosystem has a threshold for absorbing deterioration and an inherent capacity for self-regeneration, the World Bank has singled out the following factors when working out an acceptable level of environmental impact:
- Waste emissions discharged by the project should not exceed the local environment’s ability to absorb these emissions.
- The extraction of renewable resources should not exceed the regenerative capacity of the local ecosystem.
- The extraction of non-renewable resources should be equal to the rate at which renewable substitutes are developed for the local ecosystem.
What is the Science Behind Environmental Assessments?
Environmental assessments fuse social science with environmental science. As a result, successful EA specialists use a middle-ground approach to inform their decision-making. This middle-ground approach combines scientifically verifiable data with ethical, social, and cultural inputs.
While environmental assessments contain an objective component (i.e. the scientifically verifiable data such as data about the area’s water, sediment, and soil), they also contain subjective components (i.e. human values, sentiments, and cultural inputs).
How Do You Monitor Environmental Impact?
The monitoring of environmental impact should be seamlessly integrated into the overall project monitoring process. It’s important to involve the local community in the monitoring and evaluation of environmental impact.
While it’s important to involve EA specialists in environmental impact monitoring, a cost-efficient and equally viable method is to include the local community.
To meet the participatory monitoring and evaluation objectives, the following simple techniques could be utilized by communities:
- Group discussions
- Interviews
- Questionnaires
- On-site observations
- Simple scientific testing (it has been proven that communities can engage in scientific testing without sophisticated training)
- Maps, drawings, photographs, and other visual documentation that records changes
- Before-and-after images captured by audiovisual equipment
- The development of streamlined evaluation criteria
To ensure success, it’s important to make sure that all objectives and methods are clear from the outset and that all participants have received the necessary training to perform the tasks.
What Issues and Dilemmas Might Arise in Community-Level Environmental Assessments?
Projects that impact entire communities and require the input of numerous stakeholders will naturally lead to some community-level issues and dilemmas. These could stem from social, political, economic, racial, and gender-based issues. Other conflicts might be intercommunity or interpersonal.
There may be disputes over the potential environmental impact of a policy or project. Some community members might accept some level of environmental damage as long as it leads to improved living standards. Other community members might take the opposite stance.
Other disputes could unite communities against the project proponents and EA team. Regardless of their source, EA specialists and project managers should never ignore any issues that have the power to negatively impact the project.
As a general guideline, it’s best for EA teams to mediate between disputing parties and resolve all conflicts for the benefit of the project.
Who Are the Stakeholders in an Environmental Impact Assessment?
There are three main stakeholders in any environmental impact assessment (EIA): the project proponents, the regulators (including the project manager and EA team), and the community. When examining the community, the stakeholders aren’t always immediately apparent and should never be limited exclusively to community leaders.
It’s important to consult all members of the community during an EIA to develop a more comprehensive view of the potential environmental and socio-economic impacts of a project. These include industrial workers, business owners, residential property owners, farmers, and the marginalized.
The following questions can help EA specialists identify relevant community stakeholders:
- Who might be impacted—positively or negatively—by the project or policy in question?
- Who are the marginalized members of the community who need to be consulted?
- Which people best represent the group most likely to be affected by the project or policy?
- Which people are more likely to oppose or champion the proposed project or policy?
How Do You Conduct an Effective Environmental Assessment?
EA specialists need to remember that the environmental assessment is just a tool that facilitates the decision-making process. EAs should be done relatively quickly and should leave out data points and areas of study that aren’t relevant to the potential environmental or socio-economic impacts of a project or policy.
For example, when examining the potential impact of building a river dam, the EA should avoid studying the local flora and fauna. Instead, the EA should focus on the dam’s potential impact on the social and economic life of the community, as well as the dam’s impact on the river system.
The assessment should also be tailored to the individual needs of the project. Each project has a unique set of environmental and socio-economic characteristics that need to be factored into the assessment. The values, priorities, and level of support from each community will also vary from project to project.
Just as importantly, remember that EAs aren’t an exact science and there will be times when you’ll have to rely on your intuition. There will be some imprecise data, like when people’s actions and beliefs leave the floor open to multiple interpretations.
However, these weaknesses should not stand in the way of conducting effective EAs as long as you’re working with the best available data and feedback.
How Do You Prepare an Environmental Assessment Report?
The final output of an environmental impact assessment is the production of an environmental assessment report. The findings found in the report would be derived from the assessment of the potential impacts of the project. Alternative solutions that mitigate, avoid, or compensate for adverse environmental and socio-economic impacts need to be included in the report.
The environmental assessment report provides all relevant information to key decision-makers. If the project meets the standards set by the decision-makers and is approved by them, the project is then granted a license to operate. Alternatively, the decision-makers may ask for revisions to the project or even outright reject it.
Here are some actionable tips to keep in mind when preparing an environmental assessment report:
- Add a community profile that analyzes the key social, economic, cultural, physical, and political characteristics of the community.
- Avoid technical jargon, especially in summary and executive statements. Your report should be easily understood by a non-academic audience.
- Include a comprehensive evaluation of how the project would deplete local resources and lead to the emission of waste material.
- Mention any opportunities for environmental enhancements and other benefits to the community.
