Environmental Impact Assessment and Soft Tools

This document discusses the concept of Environmental Impact Assessment and Soft Tools in controlling carbon emissions from factories. It includes a summary of key learnings, steps to obtain approval for a project requiring EIA, importance of public participation in EIA, and a strategy to control carbon emissions from factories.

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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND SOFT TOOLS
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1. Using the article “Revisiting the Limits to Growth After Peak Oil” provided in the class
summarize key learnings in terms of limit to growth. What are the means by which your
country is now tackling these issues?
The primary idea presented by Hall & Day (2009) in the article “Revisiting the Limits to
Growth After Peak Oil” is the relationship between food production, industrialization, pollution,
population and consumption of natural resources. The study explores ‘limit to growth' by
considering the fact that these variables seem to be exponentially increasing while advancements
in technology to keep with growth is linear. Hall and Day sought to explore the possibility of a
sustainable feedback pattern that is based on the alteration of the growth trends of the 5 variables
investigated.
In terms of growth limit, the study discovered that if no changes in the growth trend were to
occur, a limit to earth growth will be witnessed by 2072 which would yield a “sudden and
uncontrollable decline in both population and the industrial capacity.” The growth trends
observed in 1972 could be made better to ensure a sustainable ecological and economic stability
could be met. The study also discovered that the sooner the humanity commences on striving for
an alternative of checking on growth, the higher the chances of achieving this objective (Hall &
Day, 2009). The findings of the study led to a conclusion that these variables grow exponentially
as thus limiting growth because the technological measures aimed at dealing with these issues
only increases linearly.
Australia as a country has been using technology to counteract the natural pressure exerted by
the environment against any growth process. According to Wilson (2015) application of
technology in the physical pressure environment exerts on growth process has been so successful
such that interaction of various problems which results into capital growth and limit population
(Zuo & Wheeler, 2019).
Australia has been striving to alter growth trends by establishing ecological and economic
stability that is sustainable far into the future. To begin with, the country has been attempting to
improve effective birth control. The country has also been campaigning on limiting the average
family size. The country has also been striving to minimize pollution by encouraging the use of
renewable energy sources as opposed to non-renewable sources such as oil.

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1. Compare the steps one needs to follow to obtain approval for a project that requires EIA
in two of your chosen state. Please select the country as per the guide below. Specify the
commonalities or differences? (5%)
In Victoria, the Environmental Defenders Office is charged with the responsibility of providing
the recommendations adopted by the government and what conditions are met for Environmental
Impact Assessment. These requirements are provided in the EE act. The requirements apply to
both public and other works which are deemed to have a significant effect on the environment.
The Assessment provided under EE act in Victoria is under the discretion of the minister
(Fernande, Carnegie, Pegg, & Leishman, 2017). There is, therefore, no designated development
for which Environment Effect Statement is compulsory and no clear trigger for when the
assessment is required in Victoria.
In South Australia, the Ministry of planning, its employees, agencies, instrumentalities,
employees, and contractors have the mandate to review an Environmental Impact Assessment
before its approval. The guidelines for such support in Australia are provided in the South
Australia Development Act of 1993. The first stage of such permissions in meeting the
requirements of State Commission Assessment panel (SCAP) which provides and oversee the
environmental impact assessment and provide the guidelines (Fernandez Winzer, Carnegie,
Pegg, & Leishman, 2017). This body considers the proposal and identifies the significant
environmental, social and economic issues associated with the EIA project. Once this stage is
done, the proponent prepares and releases an assessment document. There is no set time for
preparing this assessment document. It, however, depends on the complexities of the proposal
and the sensitivity of the of the project. The next stage involves a response to the public
comments on the assessment document. The proponent then responds to any public concerns
before the proposal is taken to the next stage. Assessment of the proposal then follows this stage
where the ministry of planning assesses the entire proposal.
Commonalities and Differences
The environmental impact assessment approval requirements for the two states 5 common
stages, the screening process, prediction, mitigation, scoping, auditing, management, and
monitoring process. The four approval stages of application, notification, information and
decision stage procedures are common to the two states. Just like any part of Australia, the

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commencement stage of any EIA approval in these two states is the application (Robertson,
Wright, Brown, Yuen, & Tongway, 2019). This is conducted in order to check on whether the
projects meet the regulation guidelines in these states. In Victoria, the instructions are provided
by EE while in South Australia, and the directions are provided in (SCAP). In case of errors in
the application, the applicant is notified of the errors based on the state laws. In both states, the
notification can be given a notice of up to 20 days should the applicant fail to comply with the
announcement, such plans are terminated and never approved. The subsequent stages in
accepting the EIA projects depends on the nature of the project. This is a normal process in the
two states as the authority seeks to assess the implication of the project on both the economy and
environment.
2. Write the importance of public participation in EIA and state where public opinion
should be sought with reasons? Identify and use kinds of literature from the Journal
articles to strengthen your argument. (4%)
Public participation is institutionalized in EIA procedures and other government policy-making
process such as food and water (Zhang, Measham, & Moffat, 2018). Public participation relies
on an idea that those who are affected by any decision have the moral rights to participate in the
decision-making process. This because the contribution of the public has an impact on the
project's outcome. The objectives of involving the public in EIA varies based on the nature of the
project.
The following include the importance of public participation in EIA decision making. To begin,
public participation improves the quality of the plans and projects (Wu, Xu, & Zhang, 2018).
Besides public participation aids in improving the implementation process. This is achieved by
avoiding the various litigations process and costly delays. This has an impact of meeting the
legal requirement thus improving the active citizenship thus complementing the concept of
democracy. Individual rights of the public members are therefore protected making EIA projects
acceptable (Wu, Xu, & Zhang, 2018). The outcome of projects where is the public is involved in
decision making are thus admissible. Zhang, Measham, & Moffat (2018) argues that public
participation in the decision-making process widens the information base of the ecosystem
assessment. Wu, Xu, & Zhang (2018) also points out that public participation also eliminates the

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notion of "Not-In-Backyard" sentiments from the public thus enhancing the acceptability of the
new policies.
Public participation in decision making necessary when the following aspects are of high priority
in the EIA project. Acceptability. Whenever there is a need to gain stakeholder acceptance of the
project, public participation in the decision making legitimizes resources spending and energy
for EIA. According to Enríquez-de-Salamanca (2018), even though public assistance does not
guarantee acceptance, proponents and opponents of public participation in projects assert that it
boosts recognition. There cases where civil cooperation has improved project acceptance. There
are however cases where the conflicting results have been found particularly when the system
prevents substantive engagement (Song et al. (2018). Public opinion must also be sought in EIA
where it is the public policy. According to public policies and attitude are interlinking. Public
participation in EIA projects does not only lead to the acceptance of the plans by the stakeholders
but also recognition of the broader policy
3. Consider a development activity in a square kilometer area (pick up any site using
Google map, except the one used in the workshop) within Australia and conduct an
environmental impact assessment. Your EIA should include all the steps taught in the
class. Every step will be marked equally. (15%)
Background
This Environmental Impact Assessment is aimed at assessing the environmental constraints of
the route option for the electricity cables connecting Kurnell Sub transmission substation to the
Bunnerong STS. The report concentrates on the impact of this project on Botany Bay. The wires
were required to replace the existing feeders from the Campsie STS to Bunnerong which were
evaluated as not only unreliable but also old. The project is considered to be highly sensitive to
the environment in terms of both the natural flora and fauna and heritage because the cables
cross Botany Bay.
Description of the Baseline Situation.
The soil in sections toward Bennelong STS are generally ranged from fine to medium to
grained quartzite sands. The wind quickly blows the fine-grained soils. The soil in areas
towards La Perouse Headland continues to get coarser and mainly dominated with coarse-

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grained sandstone and tends to be heavier and cannot easily be blown by the wind (Ameen,
Stagner, & Ting, 2017). The soil towards the Kurnell side are sediments made of medium-
grained to sand deposits and stands a chance of being blown by the wind just like any other
fine grain soil particles.
Evaluation of the potential Impacts.
Quality of Air. The projects present a risk of air pollution. This is expected to be highest during
road trenching process and the horizontal drilling part of the route construction. This will
increase the amount of dust that is suspended in air and the exhaust fumes from the types of
machinery that will be delivering the construction materials.
Cable trenching. Excavation of soil while trenching is likely to create a cloud of localized dust.
The sediments will probably be suspended in the wind and transported to other parts. The
trenches created will also destroy the various plant life along the cable paths.
Threats from the drilling process. The machinery which will be used in the project will emit
gases. The gases emitted contains. Both the cable trenching and directional drilling in route
construction all seem to pose a potential threat to the entire process.
Land use. The project is likely to pose a threat to the surrounding environment. The project
stands a high chance of interfering with the activities in the area during its construction.
Water at Botany Bay is used for various activities. The drilling process will increase dust
suspension in the air which will pollute water sources in this area. Besides, exhausts from tracks
used in transporting materials will emit gases such as carbon dioxide which are high pollutants of
the water. This will go a great depth in interfering with the plants and animal life along (Ameen,
Stagner, & Ting, 2017).
Mitigation and Findings
Mitigation and Monitoring
The project management should consider taking actions aimed at suppressing dust by using
methods such as suitable water spraying mechanism. This measure will be aimed at limiting the
amount of dust that is suspended in the air as a result of the project activities. Besides, the quality

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of air will be improved by checking on the amount of air that is suspended in the air. The project
manager should also consider using tracks with limited emission of the greenhouse. Where
applicable, heavy machinery should be avoided if their alternative ways of transporting raw
materials. The amount of suspended dust should also be monitored to keep a check on the
amount of dust which escapes into the atmosphere.
The construction environment management plan for the horizontal drilling system should also
consider putting into place the measures aimed at improving the efficiency of the exhaust system
for the horizontal drilling operations. The land use monitoring system should be put in place to
check on the effects of the project on the various land uses. The water at Botany Bay is mostly
used for recreational activities such as boating and limited fishing activities. During this project,
care should be taken to monitor the interruption of this project on these activities.
Recommended Findings.
From the Environment Impact Assessment of this project, it is clear that this project is likely to
lead to pollution of both air and water source in Botany Bay. The project will increase the
amount of dust suspended in air, increases the emission of vehicle exhausts likely to increase
greenhouse gases and the formation of acid rain. The project is also a possible cause of
disruption of human activities such as boating every day in the region. It is thus recommended
that the project management team employ measures aimed at limiting these possible
environmental pollution activities. By effectively monitoring these activities, the projects stand a
chance of having a minimal environmental impact
4. Soft tools are essential in changing the behavior of the public. Design a strategy
(especially one or more soft tools and associated modifications) to control the following
behavior of Reducing carbon emissions from factories in general (This is to be either
state or federal government Policy). Your answer should include research on strategies
adopted in other countries of similar socioeconomic status to the country you are
designing the strategy. (7%)

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According to Ameen & Mourshed (2019), there is a rapid growth of urban centers across the
globe. Statistically, urban centers contain approximately 50% of the total population in the
world.
Furthermore, future projection indicates that this figure may rise to 69% by 2050 (Ameen, &
Mourshed 2019). Already, the existing cities contribute a lot in depletion of agricultural lands
and natural resources. Precisely, the cities provide more than 70% of global pollution in the form
of emissions from vehicles and exhausts of industries and power plants. Besides, fossil fuels are
burnt to provide the energy required for these processes. With the likelihood of increased
dependence on energy in these cities, the environment stands a chance of more degradation. As a
consequence, the need for cities to adopt green building systems has gained momentum among
city planners. Green building has benefits such as low costs of development and operating, an
increase in comfort, high-quality indoor environment, and enhanced durability (Ameen, &
Mourshed, 2015).
There are various policies in the transport sector which are aimed at moderating greenhouse
emissions from roads vehicles. With a broad objective of addressing greenhouse emissions,
policies aimed at reducing fuel consumption at a level lower than non-intervention have taken
effect in Australia (Ameen & Mourshed, 2019). These objective has been achieved via regulations
in fuel taxes and the fuel economy. However, the current levels of fuel taxes do not explicitly
stimulate the desired levels of carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles. Soft tools compliment all
these regulations aimed at minimizing carbon dioxide emissions from cars. This has a general
effect of addressing emissions of greenhouse gases.
To begin with, the use of a computer simulation tool VECTO is a strategy that will limit CO2
emissions from vehicles. As a strategy, this simulation software provides a piece of transparent
and reliable information in the fuel consumption information which is based on standard testing
method (Karpate, Sharma, & Sundar, 2018). Through this project, environment policies makers
and customers will be able to choose the most CO2 efficient vehicles. The vehicles which do not
meet environmental standards will thus be exempted from emitting more carbon dioxide into the
environment. VECTO software will also be capable of reflecting the complexities of a heavy-
duty vehicle because it accounts for what influences CO2 emissions of complete cars. VECTO
tool will also provide credible standardized means of comparing fuel efficiencies. This will have

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an impact of improving the transparencies of competitions among motor vehicle manufacturers
forcing the market to adopt cleanest vehicles in terms of carbon dioxide emissions. Besides,
information obtained from this software will also form the basis upon which the various
environmental policies are based. The overall impact of this project will be a reduction of this
program will be a reduction of CO2 emissions as seen among the 25 vehicles fleets ran by
Transport Labs in Sweden that used monitored this type of measure and recorded 50 fuel
consumption between 2008 and 2013 (Karpate, Sharma, & Sundar, 2018).
Inclusion of a sustainability tool similar to Qatar Sustainability Assessment System (QSAS) is
another strategy that will limit carbon dioxide emission into the atmosphere (Ferwati, Al Saeed,
Shafaghat, & Keyvanfar, 2019). This will include a series of sustainable criteria and categories,
and each of these aspects will be linked to the direct environmental impacts. Because emission
from the motor vehicles is part of the environmental concerns, a tool similar to QSAS will help
in limiting carbon dioxide emissions. QSAS prioritizes on promoting the environmental
conditions of the neighborhood thereby increasing healthy circulation of air. Besides, it focuses
on the compactness of cities. Cities like Tehran should adopt this flexible tool. QSAS tool, in this
case, should be modified to have a series of categories and criteria on the types of vehicles and
vehicles' density, each with a direct effect on greenhouse gas emission concerns.

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References
Ameen, F., Stagner, J. A., & Ting, D. S. (2017). The carbon footprint and environmental impact
assessment of desalination. International Journal of Environmental Studies, 75(1), 45-58.
Ameen, R. F., & Mourshed, M. (2019). Urban sustainability assessment framework
development: The ranking and weighting of sustainability indicators using the analytic
hierarchy process. Sustainable Cities and Society, 44, 356-366.
Enríquez-de-Salamanca, Á. (2018). Stakeholders' manipulation of Environmental Impact
Assessment. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 68, 10-18.
Fernandez Winzer, L., Carnegie, A. J., Pegg, G. S., & Leishman, M. R. (2017). Impacts of the
invasive fungus Austropuccinia psidi (myrtle rust) on three Australian Myrtaceae species
of coastal swamp woodland. Austral Ecology, 43(1), 56-68.
Ferwati, M. S., Al Saeed, M., Shafaghat, A., & Keyvanfar, A. (2019). Qatar Sustainability
Assessment System (QSAS)-Neighborhood Development (ND) Assessment Model:
Coupling green urban planning and green building design. Journal of Building
Engineering, 22, 171-180.
Hall, C., & Day, J. (2009). Revisiting the Limits to Growth After Peak Oil. American Scientist,
97(3), 230.
Karpate, Y., Sharma, S., & Sundar, S. (2018). Modeling fuel efficiency for heavy-duty vehicles
(HDVs) in India. Energy Efficiency, 11(6), 1483-1495.

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Robertson, G., Wright, J., Brown, D., Yuen, K., & Tongway, D. (2019). An assessment of feral
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Song, Y., Hou, D., Zhang, J., O'Connor, D., Li, G., Gu, Q., … Liu, P. (2018). Environmental and
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Wu, J., Xu, M., & Zhang, P. (2018). The impacts of governmental performance assessment
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Zhang, A., Measham, T. G., & Moffat, K. (2018). Preconditions for social license: The
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