Environmental Impact Assessment for Construction Project in Perth

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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Environmental Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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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

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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
McDonald 2014). There are various waste management regulations imposed on the
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
domestic environmental policies. It has resulted in the formation of the Commonwealth
Environmental Act 1999. The country has also imposed the Environmental Impact Assessment
in every project of the country.

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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
administrative process has been updated. The EPA has prepared for an updated
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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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
protect the environment from the decisions which are politically motivated. The public
participation is highly necessary to minimizer or avoid the delay, confrontation, public
controversy (Rega and Baldizzone 2015). It is supportive of making the EIA a positive and

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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

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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
Google map, except the one used in the workshop) within Australia and conduct
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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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 is the process where the identification of 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

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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
documents are the detailed project report, the filled in questionnaire and the
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

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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
answer should include research on strategies adopted in other countries of similar
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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 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.

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