Environmental Impact Assessment Report for Cement Industry (guide)

8/16/2019 Environmental Impact Assessment Report for Cement Industry (guide)

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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORT

FOR CEMENT INDUSTRY

1 Introduction to EIA

Environmental Impact Assessment is a tool designed to identify and predict the impact of a

project on the bio-geophysical environment and on man's health and well-being, to interpret and

communicate information about the impact, to analyze site and process alternatives and providesolutions to sift out, or abate/mitigate the negative conseuences on man and the environment!

EIA is always necessary for any industrial project and "ement industry! #he EIA is a means of

avoiding environmental disturbances that are always much more e$pensive to correct after their occurrence than before! It is also important to underline that very few projects have been deemed

not viable merely because of the cost of pollution control and that modern environmental control,

in a new plant, is less than %& of the initial investment!

#oday, there is world-wide evidence that man cannot ignore the uality of the environment! #husenvironmental issues must be addressed as soon as possible during project planning! #here

should not be any hesitation in abandoning a project or a process at an early stage or in proposing

alternatives to any project which would have very detrimental impact on the environment, as isthe case for projects which are not economically or financially viable! In the same way as

economic, financial, institutional, or technical analyses, EIA is an integral part of the project!

Aware of this necessity, numerous countries have implemented EIA regulations! International

agencies generally also lend their assistance to any industrial project of importance implementingan EIA including "ement industry! EIA is fully recommended and mandatory in developed

countries li(e )*A, "anada, Australia and many other countries! +ut in developing "ountries

li(e a(istan EIA is recommended but not mandatory due to lac( of environmental values andcorruption!

It is also important to note that an EIA cannot stand alone and must be integrated in an overall

management system and must include dialogue between the plant manager and people living in

the vicinity!

2 Basic Stages of EIA

2.1 Project description and legal and administrative framework:

A brief description of the project is necessary with all off-site e$tensions and their interactionwith natural and social components! All the regulations implemented within the EIA must bedetailed here!

2.2 Scoping and screening:

It is important that people in charge of the protection of the environment .inistries,

donors, 01s, family, residents23 can outline to the investor the limits of the EIA, in


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time, space and the type of impact to be addressed as well as the way of evaluating

them3, and identify the alternatives!

2. !escription of t"e e#isting environment:

recise data relevant to the site is reuired, describing4 intended uses, uality, physical, biological, social, and economic conditions! #his description must include other e$isting

or proposed developments! #he use of maps, graphs, drawings2 is very important for a

better understanding of the situation! 5ey data gaps and uncertainties must be identifiedhere!

2.$ Anal%sis of alternatives and &asis for t"e selection of t"e alternative proposed:

#he project description is completed by a precise description of the different choices

concerning processes, site and all alternatives that the investor has e$amined for a better

protection of the environment and populations concerned! A comparison of these different

alternatives, in term of their potential impact and cost/benefit analysis, is reuired! #he basis on which each alternative is chosen must be stated!

2.' Environmental issues of t"e project:

1nce the project is defined and all alternatives thoroughly studied, this section presentsthe environmental issues around the final project! Each area of positive or negative

impact must be defined in terms of its magnitude, reversibility, period of occurrence and

nature primary, secondary23! At this stage it is important to outline in detail thedifferent phases of the project and to address all the environmental repercussions lin(ed

with each phase! All the drastically negative repercussions that cannot be eliminated must

be identified and mitigating measures must be proposed!

2.( )itigating measures:

6or all remaining negative repercussions, mitigating measures have to be proposed andmust be underta(en as soon as the project starts3! #hese measures must be realistic both

technically and economically! #he efficiency of each measure in reducing significant

negative effects to an acceptable level must be assessed! An estimation of the reuiredinvestment is necessary at this stage to verify the feasibility of the proposed measures!

2.* Environmental management and training and environmental monitoring plan:

In order to try and prevent environmental accidents, it is necessary to prepare a document

to define the role of each person or group in the environmental management team of thefuture company and the monitoring and training procedures underta(en to enhance the

capabilities of the staff and wor(ers! #hese documents will naturally be updated once the

plant is built!


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2.+ Appendices:

All documents needed for understanding the chosen methodology, the references, the

meetings with ministries, scientists, managers, affected groups, the names andualifications of the authors of the study, need to appear under this heading!

EIA ,%cle

$ )et"odologies for Predicting Impact in an EIA

#he contents of the EIA and the range of studies to be implemented, in order to ma(e predictions

on environmental issues, are directly lin(ed to the size of the project and to the sensitivity of the

area where it is to be erected! #he EIA must provide the decision ma(ers and the population withall the necessary analytical data, for their information and awareness! As superfluous details are

unprofitable, the assessment has to pinpoint the important parameters to be studied, the others are


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only mentioned! 6or these major parameters, it is often necessary to follow some guidelines in

order to have as objective a thin(ing as possible! #hough this may not be necessary for small

projects where good practice of EIA and common sense can be sufficient, it is a necessity for large scale projects principally when they include integrated forest development! #here are

various methods available to guide the EIA author! #hree are be detailed here4

• #he chec(-list method or the EIA type,

• #he matri$ method,

• #he +attelle environmental evaluation system!

$.1 ,"eck-lists or EIA t%pe met"ods

7arious chec(-lists, or EIA type methods, are available world-wide! 0enerally chec(-lists aremore widely used in developing countries while EIA type methods are often used in developed

countries by authorities to guide the EIA authors in their thin(ing!

#he principle of these two methods is to give a framewor( to EIA authors so that they do notforget any important point! "hec(-lists, or EIA type methods, are good tools but they cannot ta(e

into consideration all particular cases that can be met during an EIA! 8owever, they are generally

sufficient for small scale projects! #hese methods can be combined with the use of environmental

guidelines, widely proposed by authorities or donors agencies!

9hile EIA type methods are available for different activities, chec(-lists are provided both for

various sectors of activity industries, forestry, agriculture23 and for the different types of areas

affected wetlands, tropical forests, coastal zones23!

*ome e$amples of chec(-lists are provided both in the appendices and in the ne$t chapter dedicated to EIA in the pulp and paper industry!

$.2 )atri# met"od

#he :eopold matri$ is the best (nown matri$ methodology available for predicting the impact of

a project on the environment!

It is a two dimensional matri$ cross-referencing4

• #he activities lin(ed to the project that is supposed to have an impact on man and the

environment!

• #he e$isting environmental and social conditions that could possibly be affected by the

project!


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#he activities lin(ed to the project are listed on one a$is4 raw material production, building

construction, water supply, energy supply, raw material preparation, cement waste processing,

gaseous emissions, liuid effluents, cooling water discharges, noise, solid wastes treatment anddisposal, transportation!

"e environmental and social conditions are listed on t"e ot"er a#is/ and divided in t"reemajor groups4

• hysical conditions4 soil, water, air2,

• +iological conditions4 fauna, flora, ecosystems2,

• *ocial and cultural conditions4 land use, historical and cultural issues, populations,

economy2

"e 0eopold matri# proposes a t"ree-step process to estimate t"e impact:

irst step4

6or all the interactions considered significant by the authors, the first step is to mar( the

corresponding bo$es in the matri$ with a diagonal line!

Second step4

1nce the bo$es with supposed significant interactions are slashed, the author evaluates each bo$

by applying a number from ; to ;< ; is the minimum and ;< the ma$imum3 to register the

magnitude of the interaction! #his number is transferred to the upper left hand corner! It

represents the scale of the action and its theoretical e$tent!

"ird step4

#he final step for this method is to mar( from ; to ;


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6irst designed for water resource development, the +attelle method can easily be used in other

projects! #he principle lies in splitting the environmental impacts in four major categories

Ecology, pollution, aesthetics and human interest! #hese categories are divided into thematic data

• Ecolog%

• *pecies and populations,

• 8abitats and communities,

• Ecosystems!

• Pollution

• 9ater pollution,

• Air pollution,

• :and pollution,

• oise pollution!

• Aest"etics

• :and,

• Air,

• 9ater,

• +iota,

• .anmade objects,

• "omposition!

• uman interest

• Educational/scientific pac(ages,

• 8istorical pac(ages,

• "ultures,


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• .ood/atmosphere,

• :ife patterns,

• "omposition!

#hese thematic data are divided into environmental indicators! 6or e$ample in the "ement

industry, water pollution could be represented by4 +1>, dissolved o$ygen, faecal coli forms,inorganic carbon, p8, temperature, total dissolved solids, turbidity, etc!

3nce t"e environmental indicators are c"osen/ t"e met"od follows t"ree steps:

irst step:

At this stage, the goal of the method is to transform environmental indicators into

environmental uality! #he notation table defines a number from < to ; < for poor uality and ;

for good uality3! #hus it is possible to uantify evolution both in the wrong or right directionenvironmental deterioration or improvement3!

Second step:

A total of a ;,


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'. "e Environmental Auditing ,%cle

#his chapter will show the organization of environmental management in any industry! #he first

cycle to consider is the cycle of the relationship between industry and environment, and betweenenvironmental management and industry!

According to t"e International ,"am&er of ,ommerce EA can "ave man% &enefits suc" as

• 6acilitating comparison and interchange of information between operation or plants,

• Increasing employee awareness of environmental policies and responsibilities,

• Identifying cost-savings including those resulting from waste minimization,

• Evaluating training programmes and providing data to assist in training personnel,

• roviding an information base for use in emergency response arrangements,

• Assuring an adeuate, up-to-date environmental database for internal management

awareness and decision ma(ing in relation to plant modifications, new plans, etc!,

• Enabling management to give credit for good environmental performance,

• 8elping to assist relations with authorities by convincing them that complete andeffective audits are being underta(en, by informing them of the type of procedure

adopted,

• 6acilitating the obtaining of insurance coverage for environmental impairment liability!


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(. Environmental management s%stem 4S356,E: )et"od European 5nion/

!rawing B6E,E7


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Environmental Impact Assessment Report for Cement Industry (guide)