Integrating EIA with EMS for Proposed Projects

1. Integrating EIA with EMS for Proposed Projects Graduation Project by Alpay BEYLA 010050448 Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ilhan TALINLI

2. Contents • Part 1. Introduction • Part 2. Environmental Impact Assessment • Part 3. Environmental Management Systems • Part 4. Integrating EIA with EMS • Part 5. Results and Discussions

3. PART 1. Introduction

4. Introduction • Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is one of the major tools relied uponby governments and societies worldwide to achieve environmental management. • It is primarily used to assist them in the identification, prediction and mitigationof the environmental impacts of their activities.

5. Introduction • The aim of environmental impact assessment (EIA) is to ensure effective environmentalmanagement outcomes for development projects. • Some argue that it has failed to achieve this,because environmental management activities are not properly planned in the EIA process.

6. A representation of a project's interaction with itsenvironment.

7. Part 2. Environmental Impact Assessment

9. Structure of the EIA Document • Descriptive information: For instance, descriptionsof the site and its locality, the proposal, scopingand public consultation, the-non technicalsummary • Analytical information: The approach to, and resultsof, studies, significance, conclusions and soon • Commitments or recommendations: For instance,mitigation and enhancement, and environmentalmanagement plans

10. The Necessity of the EIA Methods The EIA practitioner is faced with a huge quantity of raw and usually unorganized information that mustbe collected and analyzed in preparation of an EIA report. The best methods are able to: • organize a large mass of heterogeneous data; • allow summarization of data; • aggregate the data into smaller sets with least loss of information; and • display the raw data and the derived information in a direct and relevant fashion.

11. Summary of EIAMethods and Study Activities

12. The EIA Process • Gathering environmental information • Describing a development or other project • Predicting and describing the environmental effects of the project • Defining ways of avoiding, reducing or compensating for the adverse effects • Publicising the project and the Environmental Statement including a clear, non-technical prediction of the likely effects, so that the public can play an effective part in the decision making process • Consulting specific bodies with responsibilities for the environment • Taking all of this information into account before deciding whetherto allow the project to proceed • Ensuring that the measures prescribed to avoid, reduce or compensatefor environmental effects are implemented

13. The Environmental Statement • The ‘Environmental Statement (ES)’ is the report normally produced by,or on behalf of, and at the expense of, the developer or project promoter whichmust be submitted with the application for whatever form of consent or otherauthorisation is required.

14. Key Stages and Steps in the EIA Process (David Tyldesley, 2005)

15. Four priorities for better EIA practice

16. Aims and Objectives of EIA • Project development: The use of EIA in project development may be regarded as a wayof avoiding environmental impacts by using EIA at as early stage as possible in thedevelopment. This is also a way of avoiding costs due to these impacts. • Development control:(licenses, permits etc). Here the EIA is a tool for authorities toprevent adverse environmental impact from the proposed projects • Plan development:This EIA is a tool for authorities in planning of resource. This EIA often is called Strategic EnvironmentalAssessment (SEA). • Policy development:Another use of SEA is in policy development were theconsequences of a policy can be evaluated by a government.

17. Reasons of Diminished Effectiveness of EIA • Failureto implement the process earlyin the planning stages • Inadequateconsiderationof environmentally preferable alternatives • Lackof meaningful public participation • Failure toimplement monitoring, mitigation, and compliancemeasures recommended during the EIAprocess in required and enforceablecomponentsof the operational stages of the approvedaction (Lee, 2000)

18. Weaknesses in EIA Processes and Practice • Timing of the EIA process relative to project planning and design • The poor scientific quality of many EIA studies • Allowing inadequate public involvement • The absence of “follow-up” environmental management activities

19. “Follow-up”Environmental Management Activities • Follow-up environmentalmanagement activities include tasks such as mitigation, monitoring, reportingand auditing of the environmental impacts of development. • These activities,undertaken by both project proponents and government agencies, are conductedafter a development proposal is approved.

20. Final Point for EIA • The EIA report provides an obvious foundation for developing alist of potential environmental impacts to bemonitored, as well as a reference for establishingperformance targets to be met within the EMS.

21. Part 3. Environmental Management Systems

22. Definition of EMS • Environmental management systems, streamline and systematize activities andservices to deliver outcomes that aim to improveorganizational environmental performance. • They areusually committed to voluntarily by organizationsor management.

23. History of EMS • In June 1992, the British Standards Institute published BS 7750, the first Environmental Management Systems standard. This standard set the stage for the world to take a look at their environmental practices. • In 1996, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) published standard 14001 Environmental Management Systems – Requirements with Guidance for Use. • ISO 14001 was first published in September 1996 and amended in November 2004. It was created and amended by Technical Committee ISO/TC207, Environmental Management, Subcommittee SC1 Environmental Management Systems.

25. Structure of EMS • Plan - Establish the objectives and processes necessary to deliver results in accordance with the organizations environmental policy

26. Structure of EMS • Do - Implement the processes

27. Structure of EMS • Check- Monitor and measure processes against environmental policy, objectives, targets, legal and other requirements, and report the results

28. Structure of EMS • Act - Take actions to continually improve performance of the environmental management systems

29. Structure of EMS

30. Simplified Overview of a TypicalEMS

31. Benefits of the ISO 14001 (EMS) • Obtain insurance at reasonable cost • Enhance image and market share • Meet vendor certification criteria • Ability to dispose of waste • Liability limitation and risk reduction • Save in consumption of energy and materials • Easier site selection and permitting • Technology development and transfer • Improve industry-government relations • Meet customer’s environmental expectations • Maintain good public/community relations • Satisfy investor criteria • Reduce cost of waste management • Lower distribution costs • Provide a framework for continuous improvement of environmental performance

32. Part 4. Integrating EIA with EMS

34. Relation Between EIA and EMS

35. Interaction Between EIA and EMS Within EIA, there is also a range of factorswhich may influence environmental management activities. In particular,environmental management activities can be influenced by; • Design changes in the pre-decision stage of EIA • Environmental management commitments within Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) • Environmental management conditions on project approval • Environmental management activities implemented in the operational development • Enforcement of approval conditions by government agencies in the operational development

36. The relativeusefulness of well practiced EIA and EMS as toolsto determine environmentaloutcomes for a projectduring the differentphases of the project cycle. (Ridgway, 2005)

37. Comparison Between EIA and EMS

38. Comparison Between EIA and EMS • Impact identification is the initial step common toboth tools. However, an important difference isthat in the EIS preparation potential impacts areidentified, while in an EMS both actual andpotentialimpacts must be considered. • Both processes require the ranking ofimpactsaccording to their relative importance, but,in EIA, ranking criteria will be submitted on public election. Although public input is also recommendedin EMS, the decision whether or not tosolicit and how to incorporate these views restsexclusively internally.

39. Comparison Between EIA and EMS • EIA derives not from any substantive prescribe to choose an environmentally beneficial alternative, • But instead from its proceduralrequiring decision-makers toevaluateand consider the environmental impacts of potentialactions, • Decision-makerswould analyzeother, more traditional factors such as economiccosts, design options, and constructionschedules.

40. Differences Between the EIA and EMS

41. The Goal Behind Integration ofEIA with EMS • Ensuring that initial adverse impactswill be no greater than the levels set out asacceptable in the plan, • Reducing the adverse impacts bycontinual design improvements, process refinements,and mitigation measures.

42. The Goal Behind Integration ofEIA with EMS • EIA seeks integration of environmentalconsiderations into other planning and decision-making, • While EMS seeks to integrate the monitoring,reporting, training, feedback, and self-correctingprocess into every aspect of the operation.

43. The Goal Behind Integration ofEIA with EMS • EMS involves a commitment to take essentialactions to improve environmental quality. • As a result, EMS provides amechanism for enforcingthe substantive environmental mandate thatmany EIA procedures lack.

44. Benefits of Integrating EIA with EMS • The recommendations presented in EIA are generally stated in terms that are too broad and generic. In order to be implemented these recommendations need to be ‘translated’ into a set of clear procedures and/or instructions. • Converting the management measures proposed inan EIS into enforceable commitments • The effort to describe the affected environmentand to identify impacts during the EIA processwould not be duplicated once the organization decidesto implement an EMS.

45. Benefits of Integrating EIA with EMS • New opportunitiesfor infusing substantive environmental goals intoboth government planning and business decision-making • More effectiveplanning andimproved environmentalprotection • Streamlining complianceand enhancingbusiness competitiveness

46. Pollution Prevention Perspective • Under an integrated strategy, EIA processesmay provide a practical framework for evaluatingand integrating a comprehensive pollution preventionplan, • While the EMS process provides atop-down policy for ensuring that pollution preventionmeasures are actually incorporated on acontinuous basis during the operational phases.

47. Obstacles to Integration • Insufficient interaction between the EIS consultantand the proponent project team. • Incompability between the project team and operational staff can cause loss of time and money. • The EIA process is often viewed by projectproponents as a bureaucratic step to obtain a governmentpermit, rather than a useful planningprocess that will assist in the actual operation ofthe project.

48. Conceptual Framework for Integrating an EIA with EMS (Ridgway, 1999)

49. Cause–effect relationship linking a project action to an environmental impact (Sánchezand Hacking, 2002)

50. Single-sequence Idea for the EIA-EMS Integration (Sánchezand Hacking, 2002)