Perspectives on Environmental Impact Assessment

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1 Perspectives on Environmental Impact Assessment

2 Perspectives on Environmental Impact Assessment Proceedings of the Annual Training Courses on Environmental Impact Assessment, sponsored by The World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark at the Centre for Environmental Management and Planning, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, Managing editors BRIAN D. CLARK and ALEXANDER GILAD CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION REG IONAl OFFICE FOR EUROPE Editors RONALD BISSET and PAUL TOMLINSON Centre for Environmental Management and Planning, University of Aberdeen... A MEMBER OF THE KLUWER " D. REIDEL PUBLISHING COMPANY ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS GROUP DORDRECHTI BOSTON I LANCASTER

3 library of Congress Cataloging in Publieation Data MaiR entry under title': Petspecti es on envir().)unenta1 impact assessment. Indudes index. 11. Enviroomental impact analysis-congresses. 2. Environmental health-congresses. I. Bisset, Ronald. II. Tomlinson, Paul. III. World Health Organization. IV. University of Aberdeen. Centre for Environmental Management and Plannmg. TD194.6.P ' ISBN e-isbn-13: DOL / Published by D. Reidel Publishing Company, P.O. Box 17,3300 AA Dordrecht, Holland. Sold and distributed in the U.S.A. and Canada by Kluwer Academic Publishers, t90 Old Derby Street, Hingham, MA 02043, U.S.A. In all other coun tries, sold and distributed by KIuwer Academic Publishers Group, P.. O. Box 322, 3300 AH Dordrecht, Holland. All Rights Reserved 1984 by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland Softcover reprint of the hardcover I st edition 1984 No part of the material protected by this copyrigh t notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner

4 TABLE OF CONI'ENTS Preface and Acknowledgements Introduction to the Publication Brian D. Clark J. I. Waddington ix xiii PART A: OBJOCTIVES AND PROCEDURES Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA): Scope and Objectives Environmental Impact Studies in the United States Impact Assessment in the Uni ted States and Europe Brian D. Clark larry Canter Konrad von 1Jbl tke Canadian Federal and Ontario Murray G. Jones Provincial Environmental Assessment Procedures 35 EIA Procedures in France Xaver Monbailliu 51 The Evolving EIA Procedure Murray G. Jones 57 in the Netherlands EIA in the Planning Process: Robert G. H. Turnbull 69 A Scottish OVerview EIA Procedures in Developing Suraphol Sudara Countries 81 PART B: THE ROLE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT The Health Canponent of the Environmental Impact Assessment Process Medical Effects of Atrnospheric Pollution and Noise A. Gilad R. J. Donaldson

5 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Heal th Impacts of the Volta L. K. A. Derban 121 Dam, Ghana Assessment of Hazard and Risk cameron G. Ramsay 133 PART C: ASSESSMENT METHODS AND TECHNIQUES The Use of Hethods in Screening and Scoping Paul Tanlinson 163 Methods for Assessing Direct Ronald Bisset Impacts 195 Methods for Assessing Indirect Impacts Peter Wathern 213 Systems Analysis and Environ- Geoffrey A. Norton 233 mental Impact Assessment A Comparative Analysis of the Ros Atkins 241 Utility of EIA Methods Development of UNEP Guide- M. Nay Htun lines for Assessing Industrial Environmental Impact and Environmental Criteria for the Siting of Industry 253 Assessment of Visual Impact Ecological Impact Assessment Xaver Monbailliu Peter Wathern Water Pollution Impact Assess- Robert Johnston ment - Examples for Study 293 Physical Environmental William Ritchie 303 Assessment: Some particular problems of the coastal zone Solid and Liquid Wastes and Alastair Gemmell 311 the Impacts of their Disposal The Economic Input into Anthony H. Harris 341 Environmental Impact Assessment

6 TABLE OF CONTENTS vii funi toring and Environmental Impact Assessment PART D: CASE STUDIES Andrew I. Sors 365 The Role of Environmental Peter L. Scupholme 383 Impact Assessment wi thin British Petroleum Sullom Voe Oil Tenninal: Its George M. Dunnet 391 Environmental Appraisal Some Environmental Aspects of Gas Developnents in the UK Environmental Assessment of Coal Extraction Projects: The Vale of Belvoir Experience Assessment of Water Resource Developnents The Assessment of Tourism Impacts INDEX Frank E. Dean Peter Hills Peter Nelson Brian S. Duffield & Susan E. Walker

7 Brian D. Clark PREFACE AND ACKNCWLEDGEMENl'S Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a young and dynamic subject. The environment is now finnly on the political agenda in both developed and developing countries and there is a growing realization that procedures, methods and techniques to assess the likely environmental, health and social impacts of projects, plans and policies must now be given the same emphasis that econanic and technical assessments were accorded in the past. This volume is a collection of papers on a wide range of EIA topics produced by an international group of experts drawn fran developed and developing countries. Perspectives are presented fran the viewpoint of government, industry, national and international agencies and academia. The 31 papers are arranged in four sections; (A) Objectives and Procedures, looking at the developnent of EIA in selected countries; (B) The Role of Environmental Health Assessment, covering medical effects of pollution and risk and hazard; (C) Assessment methods & techniques including developnents in monitoring; and finally (D) Case Studies ranging fran EIA for oil, gas, coal, water and tourism developnents. This book therefore should be of interest to all those concerned with EIA whether their interests relate to the role that EIA can play in rational decision making or whether they require an understanding of the procedures, methods and techniques that are available to introduce, implement and evaluate EIA systems. As such the book should prove of value to politicians and decision makers, technical experts concerned with environmental management in government, industry and consultancy, and environmental educationists now increasingly concerned not only with introducing EIA training at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels but also in mounting basic and applied research progranmes on the subject. Everyone concerned with the new art or science of EIA is on a learning curve and it is confidently hoped that sections of this book will benefit those on different parts of the curve! The volume is a direct outcane of the now annual Aberdeen based WHO International Training Course on EIA ix B. D. Clark et al. (eds.), Perspectives on Environmental Impact Assessment, ix-xi 1984 by D. Reidel Publishing Company.

8 x PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS which is organized by the Centre for Environmental Management and Planning (CEMP), formerly the PADC unit of Aberdeen University. A caravan visit by Dr Alex Gilad, then the peripa.tetic WHO (Euro) Regional Officer for Environmental Systems Management, to the far north of Scotland introduced him to the work of PADC and he suggested that a training course on EIA, with emphasis on health assessment, be instituted. Since this date in the late 1970's four courses have been rrounted attended by over 500 faculty and pa.rticipa.nts from 86 countries. This volume comprises a selection of pa.pers presented at courses between 1980 and It is hoped that a further volume of pa.pers will be published: many pa.pers not included are worthy of publication but we have pushed to the limit the tolerance of our publishers concerning the length of the volume! The production of this volume would not have been possible without the support and dedicated hard work of many people. To Sandra Ralston a great debt of gratitude is owed for the calm and efficient manner in which she manages to get faculty and pa.rticipants to Aberdeen. we are grateful to the faculty of the early courses for their forbearance in the delay to publication and to authors selected from the July 1983 course who had to produce pa.pers at break neck speed! Ron Bisset and Paul Tomlinson have borne the brunt of the work of coordinating and editing the volume, and" given their other commitments~they have undertaken this task with a cheerfulness and commitment that belies the many problems involved. Latterly Belinda Foster has had the dubious privilege of putting the volume "to bed" and to her I am indebted for her ruthless determination to meet the publishers final deadline. That time could be found to produce the volume at all is due to the work of Julie Martin and help with 'things' afforded by the 'night shift' Marion Chalmers! The typing has been undertaken by Pearl Allan and Kathleen Brebner and their ability to cope with illegible handwriting and impossible deadlines is gratefully acknowledged. Without the support of WHO (Euro) and in pa.rticular for their provision of fellowships for pa.rticipants, this volume would never have seen the light of day. To Dr Alex Gilad and Eric Giroult, WHO (Euro), we are rrore than grateful for their encouragement and constructive criticisms and I hope that the WHO Course will continue to prosper as an internationally recognized annual event. Our heartfelt thanks must also be accorded to Ian Priestnall and Michiel ten Raa of our publishers, Reidel, for their pa.tience and tolerance.

9 PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xi Only they fully appreciate the multifarious Scottish/Dutch interpretations that can be placed on the term "deadline"! Finally it is interesting to note that one further outcane of the annual training courses, mainly at the request of participants, has been the bi-monthly EIA Worldletter jointl y produced by CEMP, Aberdeen Uni versi ty, and the Environmental and Ground Water Institute of Oklahoma University as a means of establishing a network of contact on relevant EIA matters. A quotation in a book on Iran published same years ago states that "anyone who knows anything or all about Iran must be grossly misinformed". It is hoped that this volume will make same contribution to a better understanding of EIA at a time when there appears to be misinformation and lack of knowledge about the aims, scope and objectives of EIA and its potential as a tool for sound environmental management. Brian D. Clark Executive Director Centre for Environmental Management and Planning (CEMP) Department of Geography University of Aberdeen Aberdeen Scotland. Managing Editor

10 J. I. Waddington INrRODUcrION 'IO THE PUBLICATION Heal th is fundamental for the happiness and wellbeing of individuals and nations. It is the essential, and probably the most important ingredient of quality of life. It has often been said that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure", but this old slogan, although often repeated, has seldcm been practiced. Until very recently and to a large extent at the present time, the bulk of the technological, human and econanic resources devoted to promotion of health have been invested in services and facilities for the cure of diseases, rather than for their prevention. Only recently has it been realized that the vast expenditure on curative health care in most highly developed countries contributes relatively little to the standard of health of the population as a whole. As a consequence, health professionals are learning to think less in terms of therapy and more in terms of preservation of that "state of physical, mental and social wellbeing" which we in WHO define as health. In parallel with this trend, the accumulated scientific, clinical and epidemiological evidence increasingly points to the importance of environmental factors as determinants of health. In the field of environmental protection, as in the field of health protection, timely identification and institution of preventive measures are often much easier and much less costly than post-factum corrective and curative action. A few thousand dollars worth of planning is often more effective than tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of clean-up equipnent, and it is therefore always more econcmical and more expedient to introduce environmental concerns as early as possible into the planning process. In many countries throughout the world, there is a growing awareness of the possible harmful side-effects that may be caused by the developnent of major projects. At the Sffine time there is a realization that many developnent progranmes and policies may lead to short-term conflicts between econanuc objectives and the need to preserve and enhance environmental quality. B. D. Clark et al. (eds.), Perspectives on Environmental Impact Assessment, xiii-xv by D. Reidel Publishing Company. xiii

11 xiv INTRODUCTION The experience of highly industrialized countries demonstrates that single-minded pursuit of economic development is self-defeating because, by disregarding the other components of what is cxmnonly called "the quality of life", it creates conditions which are not acceptable to large sectors of the population. In the recent past a number of projects, for example, major darns, have had unexpectedly deleterious social, environmental and health consequences. As a result, many government department and agencies are investigating the impacts of specific projects and are examining the role impact analysis could play in project planning. The process of environmental impact analysis has been developed, tested and institutionalized in several countries. The objective of the process is a prior identification and definition of likely environmental impacts of projects such as public works, industrial developments and tourist developments, as well as the impact of policies and legislative proposals. The environmental impact analysis process also includes the definition of alternative courses of action which would achieve comparable economic objectives while eliminatir.. g some or all of the detrimental environmental consequences. Identification of preventive or precautionary measures, which would minimize the unavoidable impacts, fonn an integral part of the process. The aim should be for a balanced appraisal in which economic, technical, social, environmental and health aspects are fully evaluated. Thus viewed, environmental impact analysis emerges as one of the most powerful planning tools for the prevention of environmental pollution and degradation. One of the most important components of any environmental impact assessment system is health, and the human heal th component of EIA is the primary focus of interest for the World Health Organization. It is clear, however, that assessment and evaluation of health effects must be based on, and integrated with, the process of environmental impact assessment. Without an adequate environmental impact assessment system, predictions of health effects are likely to be incomplete and inaccurate. For this reason the WHO Regional Office for Europe has been involved in a number of activities aimed at the prc:motion of EIA methodology, at both the country and regional levels, including sponsorships of the Seminars on Environmental Impact Assessment organized yearly by the University of Aberdeen since It is hoped that the seminars contribute to the

12 INTRODUCTION xv participants' perception of the concept and the methodology of environmental impact assessment systems in general, and to the health component thereof in particular, and that the current publication will serve as a useful reference material for the students and the practitioners in this field. J. I. Waddington Director, Envirorurental Health World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe Copenhagen Denmark

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