Unit 3: Environment Impact Assessment
Key unit competence
To be able to use EIA to manage the environmental effects of business
activities.
Introduction
You were able to evaluate the impact of economic activity on the environment
in unit 4 of socioeconomic development in S.5 You pointed out that all
economic operations, such as creating infrastructures (such as roads, pipelines,
mines, and tourism facilities, etc.), can have an impact on the surrounding
natural environment in one way or another. This is clear when we look at the
effects of large-scale development, such as open-pit mines, hotels that can
accommodate thousands of people, and large hydroelectric dams, frequently
negatively impact the environment.
Because there is such a strong connection between the natural and human
environments, it is crucial to consider how economic activities, initiatives, and
planned developments might affect the environment’s quality and people’s
well-being.
So, this unit is created to support you in being accountable and ensuring
that all environmental matters are considered early in the project planning
process. It will also help you acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and
values you need to produce relevant EIA reports for the projects you intend
to start.
Introductory Activity
EIA Case Study
The government of Rwanda, through Rwanda Environment Management
Authority (REMA) and EIA guidelines, expects entrepreneurs to be cautious
and careful with goods produced, the technology used, the materials used
for the production, and their probable impact on the human health and
the environment. If the product/project does not meet the standard’s
requirements, it is not permitted for further production, and the owner will
have to change the technology and the structure of the product.
With the ever-increasing urbanisation and population growth rates, the
economic activities, if not well addressed, are bound to negatively impact
on the environmental attributes of the project areas and its surroundings.
Kigali, the country’s capital city, continues to have the most economic
activities and population. With the above economic situation, the economy
and the environment are bound to be affected negatively and positively
and thus entrepreneurs intending to start any project have to prepare
appropriate Environmental Impact Assessment reports showing the most
sustainable and cost-effective way of mitigating any negative impact that
may arise as a result of the implementation of the proposed project.
Questions
Referring to the above case study, answer the following questions.
a) What do the Environmental Impact Assessment guidelines expect
entrepreneurs to be observant of?
b) In what ways can the projects started in Kigali affect the economy
positively?
c) What are likely negative effects of the business activities or projects
to the environment and Kigali community at large?
d) What strategies would you propose to the entrepreneurs in Kigali to
mitigate the likely challenges because of the projects started?
e) Write a simple Environmental Impact Assessment report of the
business idea you intend to start in your community
3.1. Meaning of EIA and its importance
Learning Activity 3.1
Use the background knowledge from the introductory activity above to
analyse the photo below and answer the questions that follow.
Source: www.sciencephoto .comWhile entrepreneurs are undertaking economic activities or setting projects,3.1.2. Importance of Environment Impact Assessment
they must be cautious to reduce adverse effects on the environment andhuman beings. This can be done by replacing and/or modifying plannedactivities to reduce negative impacts.Questionsa) What do you see in the photo?b) What do you understand by the term Environmental ImpactAssessment?c) Explain the major purpose of Environmental Impact Assessment.3.1.1. Meaning of EIAEnvironmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is the systematic method fordetermining, forecasting, and assessing the environmental effects ofsuggested actions and projects.Prior to making substantial decisions and commitments, this method is used,with a focus on preventing, minimising, and offsetting the significant negativeeffects of proposed activities.
i) Enabling incorporation of environmental considerations in design and
site selection for a project or development activities.
ii) Providing information beneficial to decision making.
iii) Enhancing responsibilities of relevant parties in the development
process.
iv) Mitigating and minimising environmental damage.
v) Avoiding costs and delays in implementation of projects that would
arise from unanticipated environmental problems.
vi) Making development projects more financially and economically
efficient.
vii) Making an active contribution to sustainable development.Application Activity 3.1
Assume you intend to start one of the projects above.
1. How do you think soil pollution may affect people’s health in
cities?
2. Show how carrying out an EIA process before starting your project
will benefit?
3.2. Roles and responsibilities of stakeholders
Learning Activity 3.2
Scenario
Fig 3.2 Industrialization activities lead to waste disposal which contaminates theenvironment. Source; www.ipsnews.net
Due to the different economic, political, social, and environmental changes
in today’s economy, there’s a need for proper planning for any economic
activity to be implemented. Entrepreneurs are expected to follow proper
EIA guidelines to avoid environmental, human, and economic risks.
The government of Rwanda through REMA ensures the protection and
sustainable management of the environment and encourages optimal use
of natural resources. Different stakeholders have different functions to
perform to execute proper EIA procedures.
a) From the above scenario, identify at least two stakeholders in EIA?
b) As a student of entrepreneurship, you have been approached by
MUTESI Chantal who is planning to start a project of brick laying in her
society. Advise her on the following.
i) What measures should she take to mitigate the likely
environmental challenges caused by her project?
ii) Why does she need to do EIA for her project?
Rwanda is very reliant on its natural resources, particularly its Land, water and
forests. For income and food security, over two thirds of the people work in
agriculture, forestry, transport and tourism.
For any economic activity to be carried out in the current economy, good
planning is required due to the various economic, political, social, and
environmental changes. Businesses must adhere to proper EIA criteria to
reduce hazards to the environment, people, and the economy. Priorities for
adaptation and resilience in Rwanda are based on the 2011 green growth and
climate strategy.
Thus, various stakeholders have a part to play in the EIA process. The roles of
stakeholders are listed below.a) REMA (Rwanda Environment Management Authority)
Mandated by law, REMA has a responsibility to organise the EIA procedure
by undertaking screening, guiding developers on assessment procedures,
conducting public hearings, reviewing EIA reports based on the terms
of reference (TOR) and taking decisions on approval or disapproval of
proposed projects. The Authority is also responsible for monitoringimplementation of environmental protection measures.
Roles of REMA
i) Receive and register EIA Applications (project briefs) submitted by
developers,
ii) Identify relevant Lead Agencies to review Project Briefs and provide
necessary input during screening, iii. Review Project Briefs and
determine project classification at screening stage,
iii) iii. Transmit Project Briefs to relevant Lead Agencies and concerned
Local Governments to provide input on Terms of Reference (TOR),
iv) Publicise Project Briefs and collect public comments during
development of TOR,
v) Approve EIA Experts to conduct EIA studies.
b) Developers
The developer has direct responsibility for the project and should provide
necessary information about the project at all stages of the EIA process.
Developers hire experts to undertake EIA studies on their behalf and
answer questions about potential impacts and proposed mitigation
recommendations at public hearings. Developers have the responsibility
to implement the environmental management plan including mitigation
measures as proposed in the EIA report and carry out subsequent
environmental monitoring and auditing.
Roles of Developers
i) Prepare and submit EIA applications (in form of Project Briefs) to
REMA,
ii) Hire experts to undertake EIA studies on their behalf,
iii) Prepare and append an addendum (Environmental Impact Report
Addendum) to the EIA report (if necessary),
iv) Submit the EIA report, Environmental Management Plan and the EIA
Report
v) Addendum (if applicable) to the Authority,
vi) Participate in public hearings and implement terms and conditions (if
any) REMA attached to approval of their projects.
c) Lead Agencies/Line Ministries
Lead agencies such as government ministries or departments +Lead
agencies have the responsibility to take part in EIA of projects under their
sectors. They provide valuable technical information to EIA experts duringEIA studies and are involved in the review process.
Roles of Lead Agencies/ Line Ministries
i) Participate in screening at the request of REMA,
ii) At the request of REMA, review Project Briefs to advise on Terms of
iii) Reference, iii. Ensure that their own projects adhere to EIA
requirements,
iv) Ensure that private-sector projects in fields over which they have
jurisdiction comply with EIA requirements,
v) At the request of REMA, they can serve on REMA’s Technical &
executive committee.
Application Activity 3.2
Concerns regarding how business owners involve the broader population
in the planning and execution of their projects have emerged in your
neighbourhood.
Explain how you would involve the community in the EIA process given
the project you plan to launch in your neighbourhood.
3.3. Environment Impact Assessment procedure
Learning Activity 3.3
For an EIA report to be finally submitted to the authorities (REMA offices of
a given district), there is a process that developers must go through. Given
your knowledge and background about EIA so far and for the project you
intend to start.What activities should one focus on during the EIA procedure?
Environment Impact Assessment in Rwanda consists of the following
procedures.
Project Brief Submission and Registration. As a first step in the EIA process,
a developer proposing to start a project shall notify REMA in writing by
submission of a Project Brief. The purpose of a Project Brief, which is to
provide information on the proposed activity so as to enable REMA and Lead
Agencies establish whether or not the activity is likely to have significant
impact on the environment, and thus determine the level of EIA necessary.
Scoping and consideration of alternatives. The responsibility for scoping is
done by developers (or their EIA experts) in consultation with Lead Agencies
and all relevant stakeholders. Scoping is intended to establish important
issues to be addressed in the environmental impact and eliminate the
irrelevant ones. After scoping, REMA approves the terms of reference that
would be used for carrying out the environmental impact study.
Baseline data collection and Analysis of Initial State. Baseline data describes
the status of the existing environment at a location before intervention of
the proposed project. Site-specific primary data on and around a proposed
site should be collected by experts conducting the environmental impact
study to form a basis for future environmental monitoring.
Impact prediction and analysis of alternatives. Impact prediction is a
way of forecasting the environmental consequences of a project and its
alternatives. This action is principally a responsibility of an EIA expert. For
every project, possible alternatives should be identified, and environmental
attributes compared. Alternatives should cover both project location and
process technologies. Alternatives should then be ranked for selection
of the most optimum environmental and socio-economic benefits to
the community. Once alternatives have been analysed, a mitigation plan
should be drawn up for the selected option and is supplemented with
an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) to guide the developer in
environmental conservation.
Public hearing. After completion of the EIA report, the public must be
informed and consulted on a proposed development. REMA may, if it deems
necessary, conduct a public hearing before EIA reports are appraised by its
technical committee. Any stakeholders likely to be affected by the proposed
project are entitled to have access to unclassified sections of the EIA report
and make oral or written comments to REMA. REMA shall consider public
views when deciding whether or not to approve a proposed project.
Decision-making. During the decision-making and authorization phase,
EIA documents submitted to the Authority are reviewed by two decisionmaking committees: a technical committee and an executive committee
constituted by REMA. If the project is approved, the developer will be issued
with an EIA certificate of authorization, which permits implementation of
the project in accordance with the mitigation measures in the EIA report and
any additional approval conditions.
Environmental Monitoring. Monitoring should be done during both
construction and operation phases of a project. It is done not just to ensure
that approval conditions are complied with but also to observe whether the
predictions made in the EIA reports are correct or not. During implementation
and operation of a project, monitoring is a responsibility of the developer
and REMA.
Application Activity 3.3
As an entrepreneurship student, the Sector Education Officer for your sector
has requested you to screen one of the major projects in your community.What aspects of the screening would you prioritise, and why?
3.4. Components of EIA report
Learning Activity 3.4
Your sector is running a youth empowerment program aiming at making
youths start sustainable projects in their communities. One of the conditions
is that for every group of youth to qualify for the program is to develop an
EIA report of the project that will be supported.
Using the information about the EIA report. write a simple EIA report forthe project you would present to the sector to win the above support.
According to REMA, the EIA report should entail the following:
i) Executive summary of the EIA report which should be brief and focus
on following matters:
◾ Name and location of the project.
◾ Name of the developer
◾ Name of the agency preparing EIA report.
◾ Main impacts identified.
◾ Mitigation recommendation
◾ Environmental monitoring plan
ii) Objectives of the project, including ideas, intentions, and particular
objectives.
iii) Description of the proposal and its alternatives. In this part, it is necessary
to describe in detail the proposed project and its alternatives including
those not subjected to pre-feasibility study or feasibility study.
iv) Discussion on the proposal and its relation to relevant policies, laws,
and programs (sectoral and regional). In this section, the proposal must
be shown to be in line with policies, laws, institutional framework, and
development strategy of Rwanda.
v) Impact assessment that includes assessment of all impacts to the local
population and measures to avoid and mitigate impacts.
vi) Evaluation and comparison of alternatives and selection of one
that is environmentally suitable that shows impacts with largest
effects, measures for avoiding, mitigating and managing them and
environmental improvement opportunities.
vii) Impact management and environmental monitoring plan (EMP).
This is a plan for monitoring and management of impacts during the
implementation and operation of the project, where the responsibilitiesbetween the state and investor are differentiated.
Skills Lab Activity
Create an EIA report for your respective projects in the student businessclub or an identified business nearby
End of Unit Assessment
I. Project Activity
REB in partnership with Educate! is running a youth empowerment
program aiming at making youths start strong viable and sustainable
projects in their districts. They will choose the best 5 projects to be
supported.
Prepare an EIA report for the project you would present to win the
above support.
II. Other Assessment Questions
Part A (Multiple choice questions)
Choose the most appropriate answers.
1. EIA is defined as (select one):
a) A process of identifying, predicting, and evaluating the likely
impacts of a proposed project or development to define
mitigation actions to reduce negative impacts and to provide
positive contributions to the natural environment and wellbeing.
b) A report written by government representatives on the planned
development impacts of environment, socio-economic issues,
and culture.
c) Project life-cycle assessment.
2. What is essential in an EIA? (Select all that apply):
a) That it allows decision makers to assess a project’s impacts in all
its phases.
b) That it allows the public and other stakeholders to present their
views and inputs on the planned development.
c) That it contributes to and improves the project design, so that
environmental as well as socioeconomic measures are core
parts of it.
3. What is the purpose of the “screening” step of EIA? (Select all that
apply).
a) To assess the quality of the project design.
b) To facilitate informed decision making by providing clear,
well structured, factual analysis of the effects and consequences of
proposed actions.
c) To determine whether a full EIA is needed
4. Which type of project usually requires an EIA? (Select all that
apply):
a) Small housing building.
b) Dams and reservoirs.
c) Industrial plants (large scale).
d) Community Garden development.
e) Irrigation, drainage, and flood control (large scale).
f) Mining and mineral development (including oil and gas).
g) Port and harbour development.
h) Development of wells in the community.
i) Reclamation, resettlement, and new land development
j) Thermal and hydropower development.
k) Outdoor recreation.
5. EIA is usually required for a development project when (select
all that apply):
a) Large changes are expected in the environment.
b) Limited impacts are expected in the environment.
c) A small area is expected to be affected by the project
d) There are potentials for transboundary impact.
e) Many people are likely to be affected by the project.
f) No cumulative impacts are expected.
g) There are protected areas in the project area of influence.
6. What specific aspects does a good EIA report and review include?
(Select all that apply);
a) Assessment, mitigation measures and related plans.
b) Terms of reference (TOR).
c) A generalised set of assumptions about the project benefits
described in highly technical terms.
d) A satisfactory prediction of the adverse effects of proposed
actions and their mitigation using conventional and customised
techniques.
e) Information that is helpful and relevant to decision making.
7. What kind of monitoring is referred to when we speak of
monitoring a development project (select all that apply?)
a) Monitoring indicators that measure the impacts on theenvironment and communities because of the development project.
b) Ensuring the fulfilment of all the commitments made in the
approved EIA.
c) Keeping track of changes that may happen in the environment
and communities because of the project and other local and/or
global changes, such as changes in livelihoods due to economic
crisis or migration, differences in water availability due to
drought, etc.
d) Keeping track of the political context, to ensure that the project
retains its licence.
Part B (True/False questions)
8. Frequency of monitoring will be determined by the nature of the
project.
9. A good quality EIA might still lead to the planned development
not being permitted to go ahead based on the identified impacts.
True or false?
10. The EIA Report is compiled by the designated government agency.True or false?