Screening

ENVS304
 Project

Screening
EIA required No EIA required

Scoping

Impact assessment

EIA report Stakeholder

involvement
Review

Decision

Not approved Approved

Implementation and follow-up

Adapted and modified from Aucamp, 2009
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The EIA process

Phase II:
Phase I:
Full EIA study
Initial inquiries
(if needed)

•Understand • Scope
proposed activities • Evaluate baseline situation
• Identify & choose alternatives
•Screen • Identify and characterize potential
•Conduct preliminary impacts of proposed activity and
assessment (if needed) each alternative
• Develop mitigation and monitoring
• Communicate and document

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Screening/Initial Environmental Examination (IEE)

 The process of an EIA begins at the early stages of a project.

• When the project is first considered, not when construction has
begun.

 Once the project need, design and site have been identified;
the next step is to see the +ve and -ve effects of the project
on the environment.

 The outcome of the screening process is a decision to: either

include or exclude the development from the full EIA
Process.

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Screening

 Provides procedures and methods for

identifying whether or not an EIA is
required for a project proposal

• Although screening concept is the same, each

country or sponsor have their own set of
requirements in the screening process.

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Why screen?

 Because of the large number of projects

and activities that are potentially subject to
EIA.

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Screening

 Usually a desktop study but if information is

insufficient or impacts are uncertain, further
exploration is required.
 i.e. Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) i.e. before
the actual EIA starts

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Initial inquiries: is a full EIA needed, and what should it cover?

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Screening - Outcomes
 The nature of the project demands a full
EIA.

 By its nature, the project is unlikely to have

any significant environmental impacts.

 The project may or may not require a full

EIA; further inquiry is indicated.
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Screening:Criteria
 Projects can be screened based on three
categories:
1. Nature of the project (Type Criteria),
2. Size of the project (Threshold Criteria);
and
3. Location of the project (Sensitive Area
Criteria)

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Screening Approaches

 Generally 3 approaches
1. Case by case screening
2. List-based screening
3. Threshold-based screening

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