ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Transcription

1 SECOND CYCLE DEGREE PROGRAMME (MSC LEVEL) IN ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT A.A

2 Environmental Impact The 'environmental impact' can be defined as the effect of an anthropic intervention which caused deterioration of individual environmental components or an environmental system as a whole. More precisely, an environmental impact is: the result of interferences caused by a initial source, through chains of more or less complex events, generating pressures on significant environmental targets with the potential to alter them

3 Environmental Impact SOURCE Elementary action Direct Interference Primary environmental target Environmental System

4 Environmental categories Atmosphere Water Environment Soil and subsoil Vegetation, flora and fauna Ecosystems Public Health Noise and vibration Landscape Ionizing and non-ionizing radiations

5 Environmental risk Linked with the concept of impact is also, from a technical viewpoint, that of RISK an environmental risk may be in some ways considered a potential impact II nd PART of the COURSE

6 Identification of impacts Be consistent with the regulations Provide a comprehensive picture of the impacts Distinguish between impacts that are: positive and negative, extended or limited, long-term or short-term, reversible or irreversible, significant or not, direct or secondary Allow comparison between alternatives Incorporate information both qualitative and quantitative

7 (EIA) Administrative and technical procedure aimed at formulating an assessment of compatibility of a new construction and / or substantial changes to the environment, understood as the set of human activities and natural resources. The EIA identifies and describes the status of fact and evaluates the design stage. It is based on a forecast of possible disruptive effects of the initial environmental situation, i.e. the impacts generated by the achievement of the project.

8 Objectives of the EIA The EIA aims at assessing and comparing solutions through analyses of different alternatives allowing to achieve the goal targeted by the work. Its purpose is the prevention and protection of the environment, consistent with the needs of economic development.

9 Brief History (I)! The EIA was introduced as an instrument of environmental policy in U.S. law with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 1969! In 1976 were introduced in France les études d'impact for operations that can have disruptive effects on the environment! In the European legislation is the second program of Community environmental action of 1977 to indicate as an objective the creation of mechanisms to ensure preventive actions! In 1985 the EEC adopted the first EIA Directive (Directive85/337/ EEC: Environmental impact assessment of certain projects, public or private), to be implemented by 1988

10 Brief History (II)! In 1997 was issued a second Directive (97/11/EC) refering only to projects of works. The most important innovation is the inclusion of the screening phase (selection), which allows to decide which of the projects for which EIA is not mandatory, should however be submitted to the procedure! In 2001 was issued a third directive (2001/42/EC), not related to projects of individual works but to the assessment of the effects of particular plans and programs (SEA)! The EIA has been implemented in Italy by Law 349/1986, which addressed the issue in general terms, leaving the definition of the details to subsequent legislation

11 Involved Subjects The EIA is a procedure that involves three major players:! The proposer or the developer of the work: requests the authorization to make it and justifies the choice through the production of the EIS (Environmental Impact Study ). Law tends to distinguish between the developer and proponent, eg. Regional Veneto s Law states that the developer is the private entity, while the proposing authority is the public subject.! The public administration: is called to verify the adequacy of the project and to evaluate the EIS submitted by the proposer! The population involved: both directly and through representatives of political parties, associations, their delegates or consultants involved in various ways in the decision to reject, approve or request changes to the draft

12 Environmental Impact Study (EIS)! Documents the studies conducted by the proposer in order to assess the effects of the proposed work on the environmental system with reference to components, factors, relations between them and quality state of the concerned area! Must be drawn up in accordance with the requirements of the following frameworks: 1. Planning or programmatic, 2. designing (project) and 3. environmental

13 Discussion of alternatives Strategic: the search for design alternatives for the realization of the same objective Localization, necessary in the planning work Process or structural, only useful in the general or executive design Clearing and Mitigation, useful during the executive design Zero, valid only in the feasibility study: in practice indicates the need of the project

14 Possible goals of the EIS Choose the minimum impact of the work among more than one project and more than one site (Allocation and optimal choice); Choose the work with a minimal impact among more than one project for a single site (Optimal choice of project) Choose between a single project and more than one site (optimal allocation); Assess the environmental eligibility of a single project for a single site (Remediableness of the project) Rate the level of environmental acceptability of a work already allocated or for which has already been decided on the creation or allocation (Remediableness of the work with subsequent amendments)

15 General structure of the EIS Pogrammatic framework Design framework Environmental framework

16 Programmatic Framework Reconstructs the programmatic and planning scenario in the project area Analyzes the relationship between the proposed intervention and the territorial and sectorial planning and scheduling acts (GUP, etc...).

17 Designing Framework Discusses the reasons assumed by the proposer in the definition of the initiative Evaluates the technological choices of the project Identifies the causes of interference with the environment (as measured in various stages of the project: construction, operation, malfunction and disposal or decommissioning)

18 Environmental Framework Analyze the natural and anthropic components affected by the project and the interactions between them and the environmental system taken as a whole. Also to be described: Impacts of different nature related to the new infrastructures Measures for a correct integration into the landscape and the ecosystem Containment measures of the possible impacts related to emissions of pollutants Measures of compensation and restoration of sites Monitoring measures and established control procedures

19 Information The organization of an EIS requires a rational managing of the information flows. These should be: quantitatively important qualitatively consistent

20 Documentation Technical documents (EIS and design scripts) Non technical documents aimed at informing the public (non-technical summary and documentation certifying the publication of the acts)

21 Terminology The adoption of a clear terminology (semantics associated with the jargon) is particularly important because, especially in this sector, the use of an understandable but precise technical language is a definite priority. must create between disciplines a common language

22 Impacts (I) Interferences on the system may be: direct or indirect The former are Primary impacts; The latter, impacts that are induced elsewhere in space and/or later in time, these are Secondary impacts. eg. The removal of soil for the construction of an incinerator and the effects of traffic generated by waste transport

23 Impacts (II) Another important distinction is that related to: - Long-term impacts vs short - Reversible vs irreversible impacts - Impacts on individual components vs cumulative and synergistic

24 Impacts (III) Synergetic Elements or environmental conditions able to destroy or enhance the environmental effects of a work Sensitive target Sensitive element thought to be subject to significant disruption

25 Leopold Matrix Componenti Environmental ambientali components Activities Attività Aria Air Acqua Water Suolo Soil Biosfera Biosphere.. Produzi Energy one Producti di energia on Road Costruzi constructi one di on strade + o -

26 Environmental study (I) Model Synthetic representation of a given reality or schematic representation in order to explicitate real situations Environmental Component Item or category of elements that costitute the environment and that are physically definable

27 Environmental study (II) Environmental Variable Element that characterizes the state and dynamics of environmental components that varies in space and time Environmental Indicator Environmental Variable capable of representing environmental situations not directly measurable through physical units

28 Environmental study (III) Environmental Parameter Conventional quantity that measures the value taken by a given environmental variable (e.g. dissolved oxygen, hourly traffic...) Environmental Factor Environmental component that interacts with others conditioning its state or evolution (e.g. the chemical-physical state of water, [acidification])

29 Environmental study (IV) Environmental Process Transformation of a given environmental reality, through intermediate stages more or less recognizable, determined by a series of internal or external factors Complex Environmental System Real environment resulting from the interaction of more environmental factors both natural and anthropogenic