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the NR group development professionals     
 

 

Environmental Assessment and Monitoring

Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA)

and

Strategic Environmental
Assessment (SEA)

Recent examples of projects and skills include:

Ecological footprint analysis (EFA) and Carbon Footprinting
Genteng multi-purpose reservoir on the Brantas River, East Java
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment of the Sondu-Miriu hydropower facility in Western Kenya
Fisheries and Ecology of Sondu-Miriu River, Western Kenya

Environmental Impact Assessment for projects (EIA) and Strategic Environmental Assessment for policies, plans and programmes (SEA) ensure that significant environmental impacts are identified and assessed and taken into account in the decision-making process.



Available
Experts: 		Environment Assessment
Specialists in theNRgroup

Whilst in practice, individual projects related to Environment Assessment may include elements of both EIA and SEA, the following definitions are useful:
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a process of evaluating the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project or development, taking into account a wide range of inter-related socio-economic, cultural and human (typically health) impacts, both beneficial and negative. Although legislation and practice vary around the world, the fundamental components of an environmental impact assessment involve the following stages:

i

Screening to determine which projects or developments require a full or partial impact assessment study;
spatial interpolation

Spatial Analysis of
Contaminated Land
- important steps in
Risk Assessment

ii

Scoping to identify which potential impacts are relevant to assess, and to derive terms of reference for the impact assessment;

iii

Impact assessment to predict and identify the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project or development taking into account inter-related consequences of the project proposal, and the socio-economic impacts;

iv

Identifying mitigation measures (including not proceeding with the development, finding alternative designs or sites which avoid the impacts, incorporating safeguards in the design of the project, or providing compensation for adverse impacts);

v

Deciding whether to approve the project or not; and

vi

Monitoring and evaluating the development activities, predicted impacts and proposed mitigation measures to ensure that unpredicted impacts or failed mitigation measures are identified and addressed in a timely fashion

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a systematic and comprehensive process of identifying and evaluating the environmental consequences of proposed policies, plans or programmes to ensure that they are fully included and appropriately addressed at the earliest possible stage of decision-making alongside economic and social considerations.
SEA, by its nature, covers a wider range of activities or a wider area and often over a longer time span than EIA of projects. SEA might be applied to an entire sector (e.g. national energy policy) or to a geographical area. The basic steps of SEA are similar to the steps in EIA procedures. Strategic environmental assessment does not replace or reduce the need for project-level environmental impact assessment, but it can help to streamline the incorporation of environmental concerns (including biodiversity) into the decision-making process, often making project-level EIA a more effective process.

 

Page last updated February 25, 2008