Environmental Assessment

Tools
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)

Learning outcome
1.

2.

3.

Understand the concept of EIA as one of the

significant assessment tools in sustainability
management study
Apply concept of EIA and to predict
environmental
degradation
and
propose
appropriate mitigation measures
Evaluate the importance of EIA for LCA and CBA
analysis for short- and long-term goals

Our original nature

Development

Environment degradation in Seri

Manjung, Perak

Coal Power Plant- TNB

Vales Teluk Rubiah Maritime Terminal and iron-ore
distribution center

Pollution by the increasing ships, they will drop

anyway oil and garbage which will end up at the
beaches of Pangkor, Teluk Batik and Teluk Senangin.
What about the Asthma patients?
Loss of jobs due to pollution in the fishing industry
Loss of jobs expected in the tourist industry
Do we want Seri Manjung and Sitiawan to become a
new Klang? a new Butterworth?
With the coming of 5500 new jobs in Seri Manjung,
many new houses are needed and as we speak are
being built. These people need transport to Teluk
Rubiah. The only way now is all the way through
living areas. Two options:
1. Build a new road via Teluk Batik and through the
canyon.
2. Build a tunnel through the hills (not possible as
Vale is drilling two new caves)
New infrastructure to areas outside the Manjung
region. More cars and motorbikes means more
asphalt.

Environment degradation :
Air pollution, erosion, oil spillage and biodiversity

Three Gorjes Dam in China

Three Gorjes Dam in China : Before

and after construction

Measurement of impacts

Type of Environmental Problem

(1) Erosion and Landslides
(3) Water Pollution
(4) Losses in Biodiversity
(5) Deterioration of Health

Reality
Intensive development environmental
degradation (damage)
Intensity of damage type of development
(e.g., housing, resort, hotel, highway, factory,
bridge and.)

How to reduce the damages?

How to preserve our current environment to our
future generation?

What is environmental assessment

tools?
What is EIA?
Why EIA is a necessary
requirement before conducting
any project?
How EIA study could provide
benefits to sustainability
management study?

What is EIA
EIA is process to identify, predict, evaluate and
communication information about the impacts on
the environment of a proposed project and to detail
out the mitigating measures prior to project
approval and implementation

Development of EIA in Malaysia

EIA fits into the overall scheme of environmental
management.
Pollution control is essentially a curative process and
preventive process
Decrease environmental degradation
It seeks to avoid costly mistakes in project planning
and development
Due to environmental losses, modification that probably required
subsequently to make the project environmentally acceptable to the
government and to the community

EIA : legal requirement in

Malaysia
EIA is required under section 34A, Environmental Quality Act, 1974.
It provides EIA prescribed activities which may have significant
environmental impacts (including human health and economic)
Under this legislation, project initiator of a prescribed activity must submit a
report (TOR) of the EIA to the Director General of Environment Quality for
approval of proposed activity.

The EIA report must follow the EIA guidelines issued by DOE, including
assessment of the impact of prescribed activity on the environment, and
detail the proposed measures (mitigation action plan) to prevent, reduce or
control adverse impacts on the environment

The project cycle & integration of environmental activities

Project
concept

Baseline study : Prefeasibility

Assessment of significant
impacts, identification of
mitigation needs, input to
cost/benefit analysis

Baseline study :
Feasibility

Detailed design of mitigation

measures, preparation of
environmental management
plan

Environmental screening, site

selection, project options,
scoping of significant issues

Design and
engineering

Monitoring and
evaluation

Environmental monitoring
and auditing, lessons for
future projects

Implementation of
mitigation measures and
environmental
management plan

Implementation

Principles of Environmental Impact (risk) Assessment

scoping

Risk characterization
Likelihood of exposure
Consequence of exposure

Risk evaluation
-conclusion-

Risk treatment
Mitigation option and
actions

Risk Assessment

Problem definition

Monitoring and review

Communication and consultation

Problem formulation and its

effect to environment, impacts to
economic and human health

Integration of Environmental Activities

Problem context

Principles of Environmental Impact Assessment

SCOPING : Identification of problems is a

critical steps in the EIA process because it
ensures EIA focused on the significant effects,
so that time and money are wasted on
unnecessary investigations.
The main propose of SCOPING :

Only important issues to be considered in an EIA

The appropriate time and space boundaries of the EIA
Necessary information for decision-making
Focus only to significant effects and factors to be studied
in detail.

Why EIA study is importance?

Proposed project/activity

Input
Environmental
inventory

Effective measurement to measure the effect of the

proposed project to the existing environment (e.g.,
land, water, air, flora and fauna, and humans)

Output
Mitigation
actions

Roles and responsibility

Department of environment
Project Initiator
EIA Consultant/Assessor
Review panel
The Environment Related Agency
The Public
Approving Authority (Government
Authority)

Prescribed activities
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.

AGRICULTURE
AIRPORT
DRAINAGE AND IRRIGATION
LAND RECLAMATION
FISHERIES
FORESTRY
HOUSING INDUSTRY INFRASTRUCTURE
PORTS
MINING
PETROLEUM
POWER GENERATION AND TRANSMISSION
QUARRIES
RAILWAYS
TRANSPORTATION
RESORT AND RECREATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
WASTE TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL
WATER SUPPLY

Detailed eia procedure

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Iron and steel industry

Pulp and paper mills
Cement plant
Construction of coal fired power plant
Construction of dams for water supply and
hydroelectric power schemes
6. Land reclamation
7. Incineration plant (scheduled wastes and solid
waste)
8. Construction of municipal solid waste landfill facility
(including municipal solid waste transfer station)

Detailed eia procedure

9. Project involving land clearing where 50% of the area or
more having slopes exceeding 25 degree (except quarry)
10. Development of tourist or recreational facilities on islands
in surrounding waters which are gazette as national
marine parks.
11. Logging covering an area exceeding 500 hectares or more
12. Construction of recovery plant (off-site) for lead-acid
battery wastes.
13. Non-ferrous-primary smelting
14. Scheduled wastes recovery or treatment facility generating
significant amount of wastewater located upstream of
public water supply intake

EIA report (Preliminary / Detail)

Executive summary
Title of project
Project initiator
Statement of need
Project descriptions
Project options
Description of the existing environment
Potential significant impacts
Mitigation and abatement measures
Residual impacts
Summary of conclusions
Data sources, consultations and public participation
List of references

Environmental Impact Assessment

Guidelines

Environmental inventory
Complete descriptions of environment as it exist in an area where a
particular proposed action is being considered. It compiled all
details information below (natural environment/biophysical
environment and man-made environment):1.
2.
3.
4.

Physical-chemical (soils, geology, topography, surface-water and

groundwater resources, water quality, air quality, and climatology)
Biological (flora and fauna
Cultural (historic and chaeological sites, and aesthetic resources
(e.g., visual quality))
socioeconomic environments (humans in the environment, including
the population trends and distribution, educational system,
transportation networks, infrastructure concern (e.g., water supply,
water disposal, solid-waste-management, public service (e.g., police
station and hospital)

Environmental assessment on the existing

physical and chemical properties

Land
Surface water
Groundwater
Atmosphere
Noise

Land
Landforms
(geomorphology)
Soil profile
Soil composition (type of
soil, soil mineral, water
content and others)
Slope stability
Subsidence and compaction
Seismicity
Flood plain / swamps
Land use
Buffer zones

Surface water

Shoreline
Bottom interface
Flow variation
Water quality
Drainage pattern
Water balance
Flooding
Existing use

Atmosphere

Air quality
Air flow
Climatic changes
visibility

Noise
Intensity
Duration
Frequency

Groundwater
Water table
Flow regime
Water quality (pH, SS,
BOD, COD, and
pollutants)
Recharge
Aquifer characteristic
Existing use

Example on water quality

assessment

pH (6-8)
Pollutants
Heavy metals (Cr7+. Hg2+, As2+)
(> 0.01 mM)
Chlorinated
organic
compounds (e.g., PCE, TCE,
cis-DCE)(>0.005 mM)

Toxic chemicals
Persistence in environment
Difficult to degrade
Significantly effect human health

Identification and measurement

tools for selected pollutants
Identification of pollutants using
GC-MS

Propose suitable remediation treatment research and laboratory work

Chemical method
Biological method (microorgamisms)
Chemical-biological method
Integrated method (Biomimetic soil minerals microorganisms) method

Integrated method (Biomimetic soil

minerals microorganisms) method
1.0
PCE
TCE
1,3-Butadiene
Ethene
Acetylene
Mass balance

0.8

0.6

C/Co

Enhance degradation of PCE

by adding enzyme from
anaerobic bacteria

0.4

0.2

0.0
0

20

40

60

80

100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240

Time (hr)

Cis-DCE and VC
were not observed

Advantages :
Cost-effective
Easy to implement at contaminated sites
No addition chemicals to environment
Effective (no toxic by product was produced and fast degradation kinetic)

Homework
1. As an EIA consultant, clear understanding on the significant
difference between preliminary EIA and Detail EIA studies is
necessary. Provide examples of these two EIA studies and
identify relevant assessment tools

2. Cost Benefit Analysis and Life Cycle Analysis are significant

assessment tools in EIA study. Do you agree with this
statement. Justify your answer by illustrating proper example.

Thank you very much