Environmental Impact Assessment for Construction Project in Perth
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This document discusses the process of conducting an environmental impact assessment for a construction project in a square kilometre area in Perth, Australia. It covers the identification, screening, scoping, impact prediction, and mitigation stages of the assessment.
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0 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT Environmental Management Name of the Student Name of the University Author Note
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1 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT Q1.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? Ans. The article of Charles Hall and John W. Day Jr, “ Revisiting the Limits to Growth After Peak Oil “ clearly depicts the current condition of the world.The early decades of the 1970s were a period when a sudden rise of population and the limited availability of the resources were serious topics. The article of Hall and Day present the necessity to look into the topics again as the seriousness of the topic is no less today.The environmental impacts of the human activities associated with biodiversity and climate change are being re-explored in the recent decades. However, the article suggests that the issue with the diminishing resources have been paid less attention that is foundation of the human existence(Hall and Day 2009). As people are less attentive towards the availability of the resources, the growth of the population along with the resource depletion is going relentlessly. The most prominent result of these issues is the decline in the oil reservoirs referred to as “peak oil “. This is because the global production of oil has reached the peak level and on the verge of declining. With the decline of the oil resources, ,multiple economic and resource related issues will arise referred to as “peak everything”.The article shows that in the 1960s and the 1970s, the thought of the computer scientists and the ecologists had influenced us regarding the increasing number of people, their increasing materialistic needs and the limited resources available in the planet(Ricci, Marinelli and Puliti 2016). In the 1970s, the long lines at the stations of gasoline and the oil price shocks had confirmed that the arguments related to population growth and finite resources were correct. However, the past literature has researched about the “energy” but less about the “resources” and the “human population”. The article points
2 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT out that the power of the earth to produce food for man is less than the power of the population. This is because the population rises in a geographical ration whereas the subsistence rises in the arithmetical ratio. The article further points out that there are few resources on the earth which does not have any substitutes such as oil. The renewable energy can be considered as a way out but the collaborative energy from the traditional wood or the hydropower can only fulfill 1 % of the total energy used in the U.S. The only way is to incorporate the environmental issues, its management at the educational level(Thomas 1998). The understanding of the problem from the initial stage is more important than resolving the problems. Australia is recently facing certain environmental issues such as the climate change and decline in the distribution and abundance of various species.The natural resource like water is going scarce.The environmental issues affecting Australia are related to the conservation and deterioration of the state of Murray Darling Basin which has a direct and serious effect on the economy as a whole. In order to manage the environmental issues, the Australian government is investing on the Renewable energies since the year 2007. The businesses are planning to invest on the renewable energies especially in the wind and the solar energy sectors(Hobday and McDonald2014).Therearevariouswastemanagementregulationsimposedonthe organizations. The carbon emission rates are being considered and penalty is imposed on the transport vehicles. There are few international agreements which have influenced to shape the domesticenvironmentalpolicies.IthasresultedintheformationoftheCommonwealth Environmental Act 1999.The country has also imposed the Environmental Impact Assessment in every project of the country.
3 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT Q2.Compare the steps one needs to follow to obtain approval for a project that requires EIA in two ofyour chosen state. Please choose the state as per the guide below. Specify the commonalities or differences? (Western Australia and Queensland) Ans.In the Western Australia, the Environmental Impact Assessment is undertaken by the EPA. The proposals are referred to under the Environmental Protection Act (Part IV) 1986. In the year 2009, significant changes in the EIA process have been incorporated. It is an effort for streamlining the approval regime of the Western Australia. There are Five “priority one “implementation recommendations which are as follows: In order to increase the certainty and the clarity of the EIA process, an eight –year old administrativeprocesshasbeenupdated.TheEPAhaspreparedforanupdated administrative procedure that will collapse the five levels into two. It has set target timelines too. In order to address the lack of timeline, the EPA has developed a guideline on Timelines for the EIA of the project proposals. The delays are avoided through this process and also provides reduced costs and uncertainty of project. It has set outcome based conditions in the ministerial approval which is in the final step.The outcome based conditions are applicable while preparing the documentation of EIA. The issues which are to be considered during the outcome based conditions for ensuring that the outcome is delivered. It is highly specific to each proposal. Every condition describes the required environmental outcome relating to the environmental issue. It also includes the instruction on how the achievement of the outcome will be demonstrated. The example of the outcome is “the avoidance of a specific significant vegetation or habitat, the progressive rehabilitation of a particular area.
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4 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT In the Western Australia, one has to follow the above mentioned steps for obtaining approval for a project that requires EIA.On the other hand there are some changes in the EIA procedure of Queensland too. The processes in Queensland are as follows: There are four main EIA processes in Queensland. First of all, projects can develop other than mining under the Integrated Planning Act 1997. The third chapter of Environmental Protection Act 1994, suggests some of the petroleum and mining activities. The State Development and Public Works Organization Act 1971, supports “significant projects”. The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 supports the “controlled actions”. Hence, it is evident that in Queensland, one needs to follow the above mentioned Acts and regulations to obtain an approval for a project. It is different from that of Western Australia. Q3.Write the importance of public participation in EIA and state where public opinion should be sought with reasons? Identify and use literatures from the Journal articles to strengthen the argument. The public participation in the EIA has a significant role which helps in integrating the economic, the environmental and social objectives. The objective is to move towards more sustainable development. It can be done by increasing and strengthening the public awareness and maintaining a balance between the environmental and economic trade –offs. It also helps to protecttheenvironmentfromthedecisionswhicharepoliticallymotivated.Thepublic participationishighlynecessarytominimizeroravoidthedelay,confrontation,public controversy(Rega and Baldizzone 2015). It is supportive of making the EIA a positive and
5 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT successful initiative. The public participation is necessary in each stage of the Environmental impact assessment process.The public participation will help in the identification of the public interest and the values. It will also help in the identification of priorities for the assessment. In the scoping stage, it encourages the public understanding of the proposed project. In the assessment stage, people can contribute to the local values and knowledge, the assessment and the mitigation of the issues. It subsequently improves the acceptability and quality of the EIA report in the EIA report review stage(Anuar and Saruwono 2018). In the decision stage, people are allowed to comment on the acceptability of the projects. The monitoring stage is supported by the public evaluation of the impacts which occur in the environmental management process. The formal opportunities for the public participation related to EI are defined best in the legislation. In many countries, the rights related to people’s participation are limited to the public consultation, finalized report and the participation can happen in each stage of the EIA. The existing literature shows that there are several advantages of the public participation in the EIA process(Benham 2017).It should also be noted that when the public participation occur early based on the interaction between the public, the decision –making body and the developers should continue the process of EIA in order to see the full benefits. There are some of the basic principles of public involvement.The public involvement can be enhanced with providing sufficient relevant information. A sufficient time period must be allowed for the stakeholders to understand and consider the information and its implications.The views of the stakeholders must be considered and welcome. The issues raised by the stakeholders by their comments should be responded. It helps to maintain the EIA process. The public bodies can be engaged through various means such as the public meetings,the open houses, the advisory panels, the interviews, the participatory appraisal technique and the questionnaires. The public meetings are
6 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT the open houses without any restriction. The advisory panels are a group of people which are selected for representing the stakeholder group. The group meets periodically for the purpose of assessing the work done and what suggestion can be made for the future.The open houses are on the other hand, accessible local places where the information display on the project is connected. The questionnaires are the structured written series of questions for identifying their opinions and viewpoints. Through the participatory appraisal techniques, the inputs can be gained by the group inquiry, analysis. Q4.Consider a development activity in a square kilometre area (pick up any site using Googlemap,excepttheoneusedintheworkshop)withinAustraliaandconduct environmental impact assessment. Ans.The thought of environmental impact is shaped by one’s perspective of on the components of an environment which values. The environmental impact assessment estimates the impacts on more than one environmental indicators such as water, air, land, soil, and others. There are few groups which are concerned with measuring the way the different components of the environment are being changed(Kolk 2016). Different groups may have different interests on few specific components of the environment. In the environmental impact assessment, there are 10 main stages. A development activity can be a construction project in a square kilometre area of Perth (WA). The steps through which the EIA of the project will be examined are as follows: 1.The identification stage- This is the first step which helps to define the project. All likely activities involved in the construction project will be studied for understanding the reach and range of the project. The possible zones of the environmental impacts can be decided in this stage.
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7 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2.The screening stage- The screening stage is purported to see whether a particular project needs the environmental clearance according to the statutory notification.The screening criteria for the construction project will be the scales of investment, the location of development and the type of development.There are few ramifications the project will have such as the economic, the environmental, the social and the biophysical.The laws related to EIA are different in different countries and the screening shows that when a project requires the EIA, it moves to the next stage(Lange and Meyer 2018). The size of the construction project that is a square kilometre will determine whether it is founded on the site-specific data.The screening process provides an output of a document which is known as “initial environmental examination or the IEE.It shapes the decision of whether an EIA is required and if required, how much necessary it is. 3.The scoping stage - The scoping isthe process where the identificationof the environmental issues are done. It is considered as the most important step in the EIA. It can be referred to as the scope or range of the EIA report.The constriction project’s effects on the air, water, soil, air-quality and noise level will be assessed in this stage through the scoping process.The issue and concerns are identified in this stage along with deciding the assessment method(Steffen et al. 2015).It will also identify the affected parties and invites the public participation on debatable issues for agreement. The interaction of all the stakeholders such as the local people, the project beneficiaries, the NGOs, the private sectors and others will be done as involvements of the public. It is rather an on –going process which requires the design and planning phases of the project. 4.In the impact prediction stage, the mapping of the environmental consequences will be done both of the project and the alternatives.There will be two stage of the impact
8 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT analysis such as he identification stage and the prediction of the impacts. The prediction of the impact can be both quantitative and qualitative. The severity and the scale of an impact are shaped by the measurement of whether it is reversible or irreversible. The duration of the impact is equally essential to understand. The chronological aspect of the impacts are also to be taken into account.Three are categories of the duration of the impact. These are the short-term (3-9 years), the medium (10-20 years) and the long term ( beyond 20 years). 5.The Mitigation stage – In the mitigation stage the recommended actions which can offset the adverse impacts of the construction project.It is designed to reduce the negative effects of the project and improving the scope for the benefits of the project.The mitigation measures can be preventive including the public awareness programs, can be compensatory for reducing the potential reactions or corrective for putting into place the devices and the installations. 6.The reporting to decision –making body stage- The construction project authorities will have to furnish few documents in order to have the environmental appraisal.The documentsarethedetailedprojectreport,thefilledinquestionnaireandthe environmental impact statement or the EIS. 7.The public hearing - The law wants the public to be aware that a construction project is taking place after the completion of the EIA report.If someone among the public is likely to be affected by the project he/she will be entitled to have the access to the executive summary the EIA(Sumardi 2017).The affected person may be a bonafide local resident, have local associations, among an environmental groups active in the area or any other person who is located at the site of the project. They are eligible for making
9 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT an oral or written suggestion to the state pollution control board according to the schedule IV f the Act. 8.The review stage – In this stage, the final report of the construction project will be prepared and reviewed founded on the inputs and comments of the stakeholders. 9.The decision –making stage- The final decision will be based on the EIA to approve or reject the project. 10.The post project monitoring stage- After the approval of the construction project in Perth , the environmental clearance related conditions must be adhered to. The conditions must be implemented and monitored too. 5. Design a strategy (especially one or more soft tools and associated modifications) to control the following behaviour of Encouraging the purchase of green products. Your answershouldincluderesearchonstrategiesadoptedinothercountriesofsimilar socioeconomic status to the country you are designing the strategy. Ans. The consumers can be attracted to buy green products by using the soft tools like encouragement, conversation, interaction and trust. The product manufacturers should use the packaging system which highlights the warm relations build through the green consumption. The consumers must be communicated and conversed about why they should buy the green products(Ameen, Mourshed and Li 2015). In retail stores, the videos playing must make people aware of the environmental and social welfare resulted by their activities. The consumer education is highly necessary and plays an important role in changing the buyer’s decisions.The natural ingredients and their benefits can easily drive the customers towards the green products.
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10 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT The encouragement of the consumers is also necessary because it leads them to keep more sustainable behaviour. The arrangement of ad campaigns can show that the improvement of the environment is possible if every consumer make the difference. The regular feedbacks provided to the consumers can make them understand the current scenario, what role they play in the environment and what difference they can make on earth(Baland, Bardhan and Bowles 2018).It will make the consumers consider the environment while making their buying decisions. The environmental concerns can change the buying decisions of the consumers. They will have to be aware of the disadvantages of consuming products which are not sustainable. They should be motivated to accept the green products and make them their own choice(Banister and Button 2015). The knowledge can drive the consumers towards reducing the unsustainable use of products. The knowledge of the situation can best shape the consumer buying behaviour.
11 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT References Ameen, R.F.M., Mourshed, M. and Li, H., 2015. A critical review of environmental assessment tools for sustainable urban design.Environmental Impact Assessment Review,55, pp.110-125. Anuar, M.I.N.M. and Saruwono, M., 2018. Obstacles of public participation in the design process of public parks.Journal of Asian Behavioural Studies,3(6), pp.147-155. Baland, J.M., Bardhan, P. and Bowles, S. eds., 2018.Inequality, cooperation, and environmental sustainability. Princeton University Press. Banister, D. and Button, K. eds., 2015.Transport, the environment and sustainable development. Routledge. Benham, C.F., 2017. Aligning public participation with local environmental knowledge in complex marine social-ecological systems.Marine Policy,82, pp.16-24. Hall, C.A. and Day, J.W., 2009. Revisiting the Limits to Growth After Peak Oil: In the 1970s a rising world population and the finite resources available to support it were hot topics. Interest faded—but it's time to take another look.American scientist,97(3), pp.230-237. Hobday, A.J. and McDonald, J., 2014. Environmental issues in Australia.Annual Review of Environment and Resources,39, pp.1-28. Kolk,A., 2016. Thesocialresponsibilityof internationalbusiness: Fromethicsandthe environment to CSR and sustainable development.Journal of World Business,51(1), pp.23-34. Lange, L. and Meyer, A.S., 2018. Potentials and possible safety issues of using biorefinery products in food value chains.Trends in Food Science & Technology. Morgan, R.K., 2012. Environmental impact assessment: the state of the art.Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal,30(1), pp.5-14.
12 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT Rega, C. and Baldizzone, G., 2015. Public participation in Strategic Environmental Assessment: A practitioners' perspective.Environmental Impact Assessment Review,50, pp.105-115. Ricci, C., Marinelli, N. and Puliti, L., 2016. The consumer as citizen: the role of ethics for a sustainable consumption.Agriculture and agricultural science procedia,8, pp.395-401. Sinclair, A.J. and Diduck, A.P., 2017. Reconceptualizing public participation in environmental assessment as EA civics.Environmental Impact Assessment Review,62, pp.174-182. Steffen, W., Richardson, K., Rockström, J., Cornell, S.E., Fetzer, I., Bennett, E.M., Biggs, R., Carpenter, S.R., De Vries, W., De Wit, C.A. and Folke, C., 2015. Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet.Science,347(6223), p.1259855. Sumardi,A.,2017.THEEFFECTOFMOTIVATIONONSUSTAINABLEBUSINESS PERFORMANCEDEVELOPMENTANDTHEMEDIATINGRULEOF ENTREPRENEURIAL ORIENTATION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN CIPADU GARMENT SE's-TANGERANG.Business and Entrepreneurial Review (BER),11(2), pp.173- 208. Thomas, I., 1998.Environmental impact assessment in Australia. Sydney: Federation Press.