Environmental Impact Assessment

An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a crucial process used to identify and evaluate the potential environmental impacts of a proposed project or development.
It’s essentially a risk assessment for the environment, aiming to predict and minimise negative consequences before a project gets underway.

Screening: Determining if a formal EIA is required for the proposed project based on its size, nature, and potential environmental impact.
Scoping: Defining the scope of the EIA study, identifying the key environmental issues that need to be assessed.
Baseline Assessment: Establishing the existing environmental conditions at the project site and surrounding areas.
Impact Assessment: Predicting the potential environmental impacts of the project during construction, operation, and decommissioning (if applicable).
Mitigation Measures: Developing strategies to avoid, reduce, or compensate for any negative environmental impacts.
Public Consultation: Providing opportunities for the public to review the EIA report and provide feedback.
Decision-Making: The relevant authorities consider the EIA report along with other factors before granting approval for the project.

To decentralise the process of project clearance, the EIA Notification 2006 has categorised the projects into Category ‘A’ and Category ‘B’ based on their impact potential.
Draft EIA Notification 2020: The new draft aims to increase transparency and streamline compliance by incorporating multiple notifications, amendments, circulars, court and tribunal directions, and so on.

Informed Decision-Making: EIA provides valuable information to decision-makers (governments, companies) about the potential environmental consequences of a project. This allows them to make informed choices that balance development needs with environmental protection.
Minimising Harm: By identifying potential environmental impacts early on, mitigation strategies can be developed to reduce or avoid negative consequences. This can include measures like using cleaner technologies, relocating project features, or implementing stricter environmental controls.
Public Participation: EIA often involves public consultation processes, allowing communities potentially affected by the project to voice their concerns and participate in shaping the project’s design.
Sustainable Development: EIA promotes sustainable development by encouraging practices that meet current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Exemptions doing away with the need for green clearance:
A time-consuming process: The EIA process, which is sometimes excessively focused on scientific investigation, takes time and causes project delays.
There has been little public participation in the actual implementation process and the compliance monitoring following EIA is rare.
Biodiversity is usually ignored. There is a rising awareness of the importance of including biodiversity issues in EIA.