Shortcomings of Environmental Impact Assessment

Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) is an evaluation process tool that reviews the possible consequences of a proposed development site. It reports the developer and the authoriser about the environmental, social and health repercussions that can arise from the development of a project. EIA has advantages, limitations, and scope for better assessment like any evaluation tool. The following article discusses the benefits, and shortcomings of Environmental Impact Assessment, the quality of EIA, and the scope to improve the EIA process.

The Advantages of Environmental Impact Assessment

Saves Time and Money:

 A thorough EIA report can produce a more accurate impact assumption of a development area and its surroundings. Therefore, the authority or the developer can take early environment-friendly measures and policies. This often saves a considerable amount of money, time, and resources in a long-term scenario. 

Helps to Build a Sustainable Environment

The EIA report can identify several aspects and consequences of a development project on the environment and human and social life. With the help of the EIA assessment process, we are better equipped to design sustainable, environment-friendly projects and minimise their negative impacts on the environment and, in turn, society.

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Environment Awareness: 

Today in the age of climate change, environment-friendly measures have become a prime concern. EIA determination can identify the extent of the impact of a given project on the environment, which can lead to possible solutions to avert or minimise the negative effects. EIA has also been crucial in creating environmental awareness among the people. On many occasions, it has persuaded authorities or developers to take impactful measures toward saving biodiversity and the overall human and social environment. 

Shortcomings of Environmental Impact Assessment

The EIA process has multiple advantages, but there are many shortcomings of the Environmental Impact Assessment. Some of which are discussed here. 

1. Loopholes in the Application Process

Loopholes in the application process are one of the shortcomings of Environmental Impact Assessment because there are many development projects which have a severe impact on the environment. Still, they were relieved from the notification process. This happens when they are not listed in Annex I or their investments are not adequate to send notice according to the current regulations. 

2. Inadequate Public Participation 

There is little scope for public participation and accounting for public opinion in the EIA process, and indigenous knowledge and understanding often get neglected in the evaluation process. Therefore, there are numbers of instances where these limitations create much bigger obstacles to the progression of the projects. 

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3. Insufficient Expertise

The lack of expertise in different fields to evaluate the impact is one of the shortcomings of EIA. Often there is an inadequate standard of control or lack of expertise on the part of environmentalists, bio-diversity experts, social scientists, and social workers. That creates a lack of understanding of the evaluation process of EIA.

4. Dependency on Technical and Scientific Data and Analysis.

The EIA process relies heavily on technical and scientific field data. Technical data, data collection processes, and measures are not always accurate or can paint a true picture. Macro data without proper in-depth study often lacks nuance, leading to errors and miscalculations in evaluation.

5. Quality of EIA

Normally the EIA process is financed by individual investors or organisations and agencies. Agencies without strong oversight might want clearance for the project and thus ignore unfavourable aspects. So EIA reports often try to overlook or misjudge the reality of the environment. Further, it lacks many important details from the ground. Many EIA reports are defective and partial, and many reports only submit one seasonal report in the process. These shortcomings in EIA often raise questions about the quality of EIA.

Scope to Improve the EIA Process

1. Independent Body of EIA:

There is long-standing demand from civil society and environmentalists that EIA should have an independent functional entity. The EIA conducting body should be created by experts from the judiciary, environment science, social science, anthropology, people from communities and local bodies. These EIA structures will function independently, not abiding with the Ministry of Environment and Forest. 

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2. Sectorwide EIA

An action must be taken to set up new policies for sector-wide EIA to understand the impact and repercussions of not just a single project but different projects and how they impact each other. This requires carefully deliberated parameters and critical observation and analysis. 

3. Strong Policies 

To further strengthen the EIA, policies should be implemented that would enforce every developmental project to go through EIA scrutiny without any deviation. It is also vital to implement strong policies to stop industrial or other development projects in environment-sensitive areas.

4. Public Participation 

EIA should be more inclusive towards public hearings and participation to consider public knowledge to resolve social and environmental consequences. If any development happens in the forest or marine area, to save natural flora and fauna. 

Conclusion 

The importance of EIA has become more evident in the present world when our climate and environment are in jeopardy due to man-made actions. There are several examples of incidents where the impact on the environment is not accounted for and has deviated from the ground reality. It provides certain favours to the individuals or agencies with a vested interest. To stop these tendencies and save our environment, government bodies, project developers, and other stakeholders of the society need to come forward to make stronger policies and critically analyse implications on the ground for improvement in the EIA evaluation process.