ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA)

COURSE OVERVIEW

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a process of evaluating the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project or development, taking into account inter-related socio-economic, cultural and human-health impacts, both beneficial and adverse.

EIA is designed to identify the potential risk of a project ( e.g infrastructure development such as Dam ) to environmental and human well-being and identity measures to eliminate or mitigate these risks

UNEP defines Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) as a tool used to identify the Environmental, Social and Economic impacts of a project prior to decision-making. It aims to predict environmental impacts at an early stage in project planning and design, find ways and means to reduce adverse impacts, shape projects to suit the local environment and present the predictions and options to decision-makers. By using EIA both environmental and economic benefits can be achieved, such as reduced cost and time of project implementation and design, avoided treatment/clean-up costs and impacts of laws and regulations.

Although legislation and practice vary around the world, the fundamental components of an EIA would necessarily involve the following stages:

• Screening to determine which projects or developments require a full or partial impact assessment study;
• Scoping to identify which potential impacts are relevant to assess (based on legislative requirements, international conventions, expert knowledge and public involvement), to identify alternative solutions that avoid, mitigate or compensate adverse impacts on biodiversity (including the option of not proceeding with the development, finding alternative designs or sites which avoid the impacts, incorporating safeguards in the design of the project, or providing compensation for adverse impacts), and finally to derive terms of reference for the impact assessment;
• Assessment and evaluation of impacts and development of alternatives, to predict and identify the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project or development, including the detailed elaboration of alternatives;
• Reporting the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or EIA report, including an environmental management plan (EMP), and a non-technical summary for the general audience.
• Review of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), based on the terms of reference (scoping) and public (including authority) participation.
• Decision-making on whether to approve the project or not, and under what conditions; and
• Monitoring, compliance, enforcement and environmental auditing. Monitor whether the predicted impacts and proposed mitigation measures occur as defined in the EMP. Verify the compliance of proponent with the EMP, to ensure that unpredicted impacts or failed mitigation measures are identified and addressed in a timely fashion.

CERTIFICATION

Learners are eligible to receive a Professional Certification and a Graduate Membership Certification from the Institute after successfully fulfilling the Assessment and Examination requirement.

In addition, the institute also prepares you for international examinations and you are entitled to six (6) months post-training mentorship from international/ national highly influenced mentors around the globe.

To earn a Professional Certificate for this course, you need to earn more than 50% of possible points on Assignments and Examinations to obtain a passing grade. Assessments are worth 15% of your total score, while assignments and Examinations are worth 85%.

 LEARNING OUTCOME

• The knowledge of EIA will expose participants will be introduced to how EIA can reduce cost and time of project implementation
• Participants will obtain professional recognition for personal EIA skills and attributes
• Participants will be able to demonstrate EIA knowledge, Expirence and Intergrity to clints, regulators, local communities and other stakeholders