Scoping

Scoping
 Scoping
•Scoping :-is the procedure in the EIA process that establishes the
key environmental issues to be addressed in the compilation of the
EIR Report.
•Scoping refers to the early, open and interactive process of determining
the major issues and impacts that will be important in decision-making on
the proposal, and need to be addressed in an EIA.

•Scoping is possibly the most important step in an EIA. Scoping means the
scope or range of the EIA report.

•It undertakes the project’s effect on the air, water, soil, noise level, air quality
and physical impact.
 Scoping
• It identifies issues and concerns, decides the assessment
methods, identifies affected parties and invites public
participation for agreement on debatable issues. In which
public participation involves interactions of all
stakeholders including project beneficiaries, local people,
private sectors, NGOs, scientists and other.
• It is on-going process and is likely to continue in the
planning and design phases of the project.
• Scoping is important because it is possible to bring
changes in the project in the early stages of the cycle of
the project and it ensures the study of all possible
important issues.
 Scoping
In this stage there is an option for cancelling or
revising the project. After crossing this stage, there
is little opportunity for major changes to the
project.
Scoping is a stage, usually involving the public and
other interested parties, that identifies the key
environmental issues that should be addressed in
an EIA. This step provides one of the first
opportunities for members of the public to learn
about a proposed project and to voice their
opinions.
 Key objectives of scoping
• Objective:-
The following are some of the main objectives of the scoping stage:-
Identify the key environmental issues to be included in the
assessment.
Identify the legal requirements and framework for the project
through its life cycle.
Identify the relevant component studies to establish the baseline
conditions for the area of the project.
Finalize the terms of references (TOR).
 Methodology
•Methodology:-
The following methodology was used to fulfill the above –mentioned objectives:-


The decision was made by the Ministry of Environment (MoEnv) .


To conduct a scoping session for the purpose of the EIA in accordance with
MoEV/EIA regulations for the project.


A list of potential and relevant stakeholders was prepared by MoEV.


An invitation letter was issued by MoEnv.The letter included the data and place of
the scoping session .


The session was held in due time and place.
 Scoping Session
• Scoping Session:-
• Invited stakeholders including organizations from the public and
private sectors in addition to NGOs attended this session.
• The session consisted of the following activities:-
A presentation about the project activities , facilities , and processes
was given by production manager and the EIA team leader.
The presentation was supported by process flow diagrams (PFD)
highlighting details of the project and the need for identifying
potential interactions between the project activities and the valued
Environmental components “VECs”.
 Scoping Session
• The participants were then asked to review the legal requirements and the
proposed TORs and provide any necessary legal requirement and suggest TORs
changes or additions.
• The participants were provided with a special form to write down their concerns
about the project as a function of the following valued environmental
components and they were given the right amount of time needed to do so:-
Public health.
Water Resources.
Biodiversity.
Socio-Economic conditions.
occupational Health and safety .
archaeology.
 Scoping Session
• All forms were collected from the participant by the MoEnv
representation

• And acopy of the forms was provided to the EIA consultant to

carry out the EIA.
 TOR or terms of Reference
 TOR or terms of Reference is a document produced by the authority
conducting the EIA study.It is formed during scoping – the second stage in
the EIA process.All the stakeholders are invited to submit their concerns
regarding the project during a public hearing organized by the EIA
committee, which is followed by discussions and deliberations.The finalized
list of this stage of EIA is submitted to the ministry in the form of TOR.
 Terms of reference (TOR) define the purpose and structures of a project,
committee, meeting, negotiation, or any similar collection of people who
have agreed to work together to accomplish a shared goal. ... They are very
important for project proposals.
 TOR
TOR is an important document in the process of EIA because
it sets the guidelines for the study.
 A TOR is drawn up with the following questions in mind.
The purpose of the study/project.
The extent of the study.
The stakeholders’ requirements; each stakeholder looks at
different aspects of the project differently. Complex
information needs to be explained appropriately.
 Content of TOR
TOR highlights the points that need to be covered (the TOR itself does
not elaborate on these points unless required) during the EIA study,
which include:-
• A description of the project, it’s purposes and extent.
• All the agencies responsible in the developmental project and the EIA
study.
• A description of the existing environmental conditions in the project
site and surrounding areas.
• The stakeholders that will be benefited and harmed by the fulfillment
of the project.
 Content of TOR
• The impacts, both positive and negative, the project will have on
the area and the locals.
• The impact that environment could have on the project.
• A list/description of the species endemic to the area, which are
likely to be effected.
• How in-depth does the EIA study need to be; whether baseline data
is available or whether the study be sourced from secondary data.
• Possible alternatives for the project in terms of design, site,
technology, implementation, etc.
• The legal requirements of the project and future legislation that
need to be drafted.
 TOR
• If the project site comes under special categories, and
the legislation regarding the same.
• Recommended mitigation strategies.
• The expertise required for the EIA study.
• The expected time limit for the entire EIA study.
• Natural Resource Valuation (NRV), if possible.
• The budget of the study, also called cost-benefit
analysis.
 TOR
•However, there are general rules, which should be observed when preparing
ToR for the EIA.

The ToR should commence with a brief description of the project. This should include a plan of the
area that will be affected either indirectly or directly.

The study should ensure that the consultants or practitioners focus on the major issues and the most
serious likely impacts identified during scoping e.g. air emission, waste water discharge etc. The
opportunities for enhancing any positive benefits from the project should also be highlighted. This
component of ToR is usually submitted to designated authority for scrutiny and approval.

The ToR should contain explicit references to which safeguard policies may be relevant and which
legal requirements should be applied.
 TOR
The ToR should give an indication of the team considered necessary
for the study and a team leader identified. Depending on the scope of
the study this may be multi- disciplinary. However, as the team should
not be rigidly imposed on the consultant.
If international experts are doing the EIA, it is important to make
provision for local capacity building in the ToR. Apart from enabling in-
country expertise to be built up, this will promote more involvement
and understanding of the issues raised by the study. As most EIA
studies are of relatively short duration, this is probably best achieved
through the attachment of project proponent to the consultants
during the study or an insistence on the use of local staff personnel for
some of the tasks.
 TOR
• The expected date of commencement and time limit should be given and
consultants program of work must be within the given time limit.
• The budget limit should be given in the ToR. The type of experts, and whether
foreign or local, and the duration of their inputs will usually be the deciding cost
factors although a large field survey or measurement program with laboratory
analysis could significantly increase costs. Any assistance to be provided by the
Client to reduce costs should be clearly stated in the ToR.
• Consultant payments proposal should be made and tied to specific milestones
e.g. the consultant will be paid 20% of their fee upon receipt of draft report by
client etc.
• Reporting requirements should be clearly stated and should comply with local
or international reporting guidelines. The format of EIS must be clear and the
number of copies in soft and hard must be stated.
• ToR should make provision for the consultants to improve the terms of
reference in order to improve the quality of EIA.
TOR
TOR
TOR
Impact Identification Methods
 Impact Identification Methods
Evaluation methods:-
Checklists
Matr ices
Networks
Map overlays
Geographic informations systems (GIS)
Task-specific computer modeling
Expert systems
Mathematical models to predict the effect on ambient air quality,
noise, level predictions and groundwater pollution possibility.
 What are Checklists?

• Structured list to identify relevant environmental factors for

consideration in EIA
• Encourage discussion during the early stages
• Ensure nothing has been left out;
• Do not require the clear establishment of direct cause effect
links to project activities.
• Checklists cannot represent the interdependence, connectivity,
or interdependence, connectivity, or synergism between
interacting environmental components.
 Checklist
• Structured list of environmental factors potentially affected.
• Extensive and complete. Main function: identify ALL possible
consequences of the proposal
• Should enable identification of impacts on:
Soil
Water
Atmosphere
Flora
Fauna
Resources
Recreation
Cultural
Chicklist
 Matrix methods
• Matrix methods identify interactions between various project
actions and environmental parameters and components.
• They incorporate a list of project activities with a checklist of
environmental components that might be affected by these
activities

• A matrix of potential interactions is produced by combining these

two lists (placing one on the vertical axis and the other on the
horizontal axis).
• Matrices require information about both the environmental
components and project activities.
 Matrix methods
• A matrix serves as a checklist and a summary of the impact assessment. The
matrices are very suitable for EIAs as they link a particular environmental aspect to
a specific action of the development project and in a way explain the nature of the
impact. Leopold and his associates in the late 1960s designed a precise evaluation
procedure for landscape aesthetic (Leopold,1969; Leopold and Marchand, 1968 )
and produced one of the first systematic methodologies for the entire field of EIA.
The procedure is centered around a large matrix containing 8800 cells; the
horizontal axis has 100 columns for development characteristics representing
activities that might cause positive or negative environmental impacts. The
vertical axis consist of 88 rows of environmental aspects representing
environmental quality variables such as physical and chemical; biological; cultural;
and ecological. The identified effects are then evaluated according to their
magnitude and importance on scales 1-10 where 10 being the maximum. Each cell
is divided by a diagonal line, and magnitude and importance of the impact are
entered in the relevant half of the cell ( one in each half of the cell ).
Matrices method
 Networks
• Networks are used to show interrelationships among the different
aspects of the environment of the area and also indicate the flow of
energy or impact throughout the environment such as in the case of
upland ecosystem or a drainage basin.
• These networks are similar to those used in ecological studies. There
are different types of networks such as sequence diagrams, directed
diagrams or impact trees. The networks can be used to show both
temporal and spatial flows of impacts.
Networks
 Networks
• Network diagrams provide a means for displaying first, secondary, tertiary, and higher
order impacts.
• To develop a network, a series of questions related to each project activity (such as what
are the primary impact areas, the primary impacts within these areas, the secondary
impact areas, the secondary impacts within these areas, and so on) must be answered.

• In developing a network diagram, the first step is to identify the first order changes in
environmental components.

• The secondary changes in other environmental components that will result from the first
order changes are then identified.

• In turn, third order charges resulting from secondary changes are identified. This process is
continued until the network diagram is completed to the practitioner’s satisfaction. The
network helps in exploring and understanding the underlying relationships between
environmental components that produce higher order changes that are often overlooked
by simpler approaches.
 Overlay
• Overlay techniques were previously used in planning before
they were adopted in designing formal EIAs.
• Individual impacts such as the effects on soil, water,
settlements and noise are individually summarized and clearly
highlighted by mapping over the area using chloropleths
(shaded zones) to indicate the relative intensity of the impact.
• By this technique, the individual maps are transferred on to
transparencies which are then laid over one another to produce
a composite effect.
• Thus, the individual effects are summed up to show the total
impact of the project. Of course only a limited number of
impacts can be shown by this method. However, it is possible to
summarize a large
 Overlay
• amount of information on each transparency. The physical
constraint on this method has been eased with the advent of
new modern computer technology and the Geographic
Information System (GIS).

• It is now easy to carry out temporal changes or projected

environmental modifications by revising the raw data directly in
the files and perform the repeated overlays.
 Overlays

• An overlay is based on a set of transparent maps, each of which represents the spatial
distribution of an environmental characteristic (for example, susceptibility to erosion).
Information for an array of variables is collected for standard geographical units within
the study area, and recorded on a series of maps, typically one for each variable. These
maps are overlaid to produce a composite
• The resulting composite maps characterize the area’s physical, social, ecological, land use
and other relevant characteristics, relative to the location of the proposed development.
• One way is to use before and after maps to assess visually the changes to the landscape.
• The other way is to combine mapping with an analysis of sensitive areas or ecological
carrying capacity.
• Their limitations relate to:
• 1) lack of causal explanation of impact pathways; and
• 2) lack of predictive capability with respect to population effects. However, some
sophisticated versions can make predictions about potential habitat loss.
Overlays
 Baseline data collection
• The term “baseline” refers to the collection of background
information on the biophysical , social and economic settings
proposed project area. Normally , information is obtained from
secondary sources , or the acquisition of new information
through field samplings , interviews , surveys and consultations
with the public .

• The task of collecting baseline data starts right from the period
of project inception , however , a majority of this task may be
undertaken during scoping and actual EIA.
 Baseline data collection
• Baseline data is collected for two main purposes

 To provide a description of the current status and trends of

environmental factors (e.g., air pollutant concentrations) of the
host area against which predicted changes can be compared and
evaluated in terms of significance, and

 To provide a means of detecting actual change by monitoring

once a project has been initiated
Sample for scoping study
Location description
Scoping session agenda
Thank
You!
Any question?