Opportunities to Improve the Quality of Environmental Reports and the Effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment: A Case of Electric Power Transmission Systems in Brazil

A good quality Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is key for the effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) processes and consequently to the acceptability of projects subject to EIA. The international literature has contributed to the understanding of the essential aspects to be verified regarding the quality of EIS, offering a wide spectrum of good practice examples related to the content of the studies. Even so, there is a need for empirical studies that allow the identification of specific aspects related to the context of application of the EIS, which could lead to the identification of opportunities to improve both the quality of the reports and also the effectiveness of EIA. Therefore, the present paper is focused on the quality review of a number of EIS submitted to the Brazilian Federal Environmental Agency (Ibama) to instruct the assessment of electric power transmission systems. Based on the application of the EIS quality review package as proposed by Lee and Colley (1992), the outcomes reveal opportunities for improving the scope of EIA, analysis of alternatives, prediction of magnitude and the assessment of impact significance. Finally, the development and/or adaptation of a similar tool for the systematic review of the quality of EIA reports is recommended.

Environmental Impact Assessment of Onshore Wind Farms in the Region of Central Greece Using a Modified RIAM Method

Wind energy is one of the most basic forms of renewable energy,which shows an increasing rate of development worldwide and also at the European level.However,this rapid deployment of wind farms makes the need for an impact assessment of this type of projects on the natural and man-made environment imperative.The present paper aims to identify and assess the environmental impacts of wind farm projects in the Region of Central Greece.A modified Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix(RIAM)method is used for this purpose.The methodology includes the identification of the existing onshore wind farm projects in the study area,the appropriate modifications of the RIAM method to respond to the characteristics of the projects and the study area,the qualitative assessment of their potential impacts during construction and operational phases and the computation of the Environmental Performance Grade(EPG)of projects based on the pro-posed modified RIAM method.The results reveal that although there are some slight negative impacts on the natural environment of the study area,the examined wind farms contribute positively both to the atmosphere and to the socio-economic environment of the study.This study extends the potential for using RIAM as a tool in environmental impact assessment studies of renewable energy projects.

Comprehensive assessment method for environmental impact of railway based on geographic information system

By integrating the merits of the map overlay method and the geographic information system (GIS), a GIS based map overlay method was developed to analyze comprehensively the environmental vulnerability around railway and its impact on the environment, which is adapted for the comprehensive assessment of railway environmental impact and the optimization of railway alignments. The assessment process of the GIS based map overlay method was presented, which includes deciding the system structure and weights of assessment factors, making environmental vulnerability grade maps, and evaluating the alternative alignments comprehensively to obtain the best one. With the GIS functions of spatial analysis, such as overlay analysis and buffer analysis, and functions of handling attribute data, the GIS based map overlay method overcomes the shortcomings of the existing map overlay method and the conclusion is more reasonable. In the end, a detailed case study was illustrated to verify the efficiency of the method.

Game theoretic analysis of environmental impact assessment system in China

Environmental impact assessment(EIA)system has been established in China since 1973.In present EIA cases,there are four participants in general:governments,enterprises,EIA organizations and the public.The public has held responsible for both social costs and social duties.The public supervises social costs produced by enterprises discharging pollutant in EIA.However public participation is mostly deputized by governments,which severely weaken the independence of the public as one participant in EIA.In this paper,EIA refers to the different attitudes of the par-ticipants whose optional strategies may be described by a proper game model.According to disfigurements in EIA,three sides(governments,enterprises,and EIA organizations)dynamic iterative game theory of many phases is established referring to iterative game theory,dynamic game theory of incomplete information,and perfect Bayesian equilibrium theory to analyze the reciprocity relation among governments,EIA organizations and enterprises.The results show that in a short period,economic benefit is preponderant over social benefit.Governments and enterprises both do not want to take EIA to reveal social costs.EIA organizations’income comes from enterprises and the collusions are built between them to vindicate economic benefit.In a long run,social benefit loss caused by environmental pollution must be recuperated sooner or later and environmental deterioration will influence the achievements of economic benefit,so both governments and enterprises are certain to pursue high social benefit and willing to take EIA,helpful to increase private benefit.EIA organizations will make fair assessment when their economic benefit are ensured.At present,the public as silent victims can not take actual part in EIA.The EIA system must be improved to break the present equilibrium of three sides,bringing the public to the equilibrium to exert public supervision.

Environmental Impact Assessment Follow-Up of Seismic Survey Offshore Activities in Brazil

Follow-up of environmental impacts is an integral part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, closely related to the effectiveness of the instrument. EIA follow-up has been receiving a lot of interest from scientists and practitioners, though it is recognized as one of the weakest points of EIA systems globally. Also, EIA follow-up is influenced by the context, mainly in terms of the types of projects or activities and their related impacts on the environment. Therefore, the present paper is focused on the investigation of the follow-up stage applied to the activity of seismic survey coupled with offshore oil & gas exploitation in Brazil. Research was based on a qualitative approach that included document analysis and semi-structured interviews with analysts involved in EIA processes, and sought to generate evidence of effectiveness of the EIA follow-up as conducted by the Federal Environment Agency (Ibama) in order to situate the practice of follow-up in the broader context of international best practice principles. Based on the findings, it was concluded that, due to the peculiarities of offshore seismic survey, it is necessary to promote adaptations in the procedures for monitoring impacts in order to ensure proper alignment with the principles and conceptual foundations that guide EIA practice. Specifically, the timing of the execution of the activity imposes challenges for its integration into the “conventional” cycle that has guided the monitoring of the impacts in the EIA of projects.

Rural Impact Assessment of Agriculture Water Systems in a Climate Change Context

This study is a rapid appraisal procedure （RAP） of two forms of agriculture water delivery systems comprising two canal irrigation schemes and 26 Zimbabwean bush pumps in the Midlands and Masvingo Provinces. A longitudinal multiple data collection technique employed involved various primary and secondary sources including site visits, literature review, observation, interviews with key personnel and group discussions. General findings of this study indicate： （1） the available coping mechanisms in smallholder farming in a climate change context and （2） the challenges faced in the actual delivery of water in terms of design, management, physical and institutional factors. The study provides pragmatic recommendations for overall improvement and performance in a local, technical and socio-economic context through evaluation of the current situation, practices and processes. An integrated approach to addressing climate change impacts should include water management, rehabilitation, complete overhaul and introduction of other relevant water systems and water saving farming techniques. Yet, ownership of these technologies by communities remains instrumental. Rural development and agricultural policies that ensure maximum and full capacity utilisation of water systems to improve rural livelihoods, mitigation and adaptation to climate change are recommended.

Development of a Geographic Information Systems Baseline Spatial Geodatabase Template for Evaluating Potential and Predicted Environmental Impacts for Sustainable Environmental Impact Assessment of Mining in Sierra Leone

Baseline Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of mining projects in Sierra Leone creates a challenging environment for data collection and impact prediction. Application of geographic information systems provides suitable spatial analysis data collection methods to reduce the challenges created by mining environments. This research develops a baseline spatial geodatabase template for evaluating potential and predicted environmental impacts assessment of mining projects in Sierra Leone. It is observed that spatial analysis of impacts of mining projects on the environmental attributes, especially air, noise, water, land, and socio-economy in mining areas is largely unexplored in Sierra Leone. The literature review revealed that no complete GIS spatial data geodatabase collection template appears to have been developed to date to provide an integrated sustainable spatial analysis and modelling tool for EIA and environmental management of mining in Sierra Leone. Therefore developing a Geographic Information Systems baseline geodatabase template for the evaluation of potential and predicted environmental impact for sustainable environmental impact assessment of mining in Sierra Leone will: 1) provide support to the data acquisition process of environmental impact assessment, 2) offer a concept for developing analysis methods for environmental management of mining, 3) minimize the undesired environmental impacts of mining, and 4) give an optimal proposal for data collection and analysis of mining industry in attaining sustainable development in Sierra Leone. Due to the limited available data, a conceptual GIS database template has been developed rather than a database case study of a mining site. No site investigation and data collection were undertaken. The geospatial database template was designed using ArcCatalog, ArcGIS 10.7.1. software, through the following steps: exploration of the general data requirement of environmental impact assessment studies of mining, the definition of the general baseline datasets requirement of environmental impact assessment in mining, structuring of the environmental impact assessment baseline spatial geodatabase, creating the geographic geodatabase dictionary, selecting, matching geographic data with geodatabase structure, designing the feature class and attributes, creating the baseline GIS geodatabase template. The GIS spatial geodatabase template has several advantages for environmental impact assessment of mining including avoiding data redundancy, integrating data into a single database, creating uniformity in data collection, easy to find and track data, integrated spatial and non-spatial data, and reducing the volume of data.

Ecosystem health: ecological sustainability target of strategic environment assessment

Strategic environment assessment (SEA) and ecosystem health are two new ideas on environmental management. On the basis of reviewing some relevant literature, this paper made discussions on the ecological sustainability target of SEA, the content of ecosystem health as well as the interrelations between SEA and ecosystem health. For a good SEA, its ecological sustainability principles should be provided with distinct content and a general assessment system. A framework for ecosystem health assessment was established according to the content of ecosystem health, and combined into SEA as SEA抯 ecological sustainability target, we can effectively guide decision-makers to make suitable indigenous means and local solutions. , The basic principles and procedure of SEA for ecosystem health are also discussed in the paper.

Grey-theory based algorithm for impact assessment of green design

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is an important content of green design;the major phase of LCA is impact assessment. After classifying the impact factors, with grey-system theory, the evaluating grey-groups and their whitening weighing functions are defined;the grey-cluster analysis of each classified impact is performed;based on analyzing results, the calculating method of classified impact index is given. By range of action, the impact classes are grouped to three groups - global impact, regional impact, and local impact;the calculating methods of grouped and overall impact index are presented. Finally, an application example of comparative choice of a category of products - three materials, steel, aluminum and engineering plastics is given.

Ecological impact assessment method of highways in Tibetan Plateau:A Case study of Gonghe-Yushu Expressway

In recent years,the ecological environment along highways in Tibetan Plateau has been severely affected due to the rapid construction of highways.In order to solve the problems of multiple indicators and inconsistent criteria in the ecological impact assessment of highways,and to scientifically screen assessment indicators,the paper proposes a multi-round indicator screening method,which combines literature analysis,expert rating,and statistical analysis.Based on this screening method,normalized difference vegetation index,land surface temperature,elevation,and normalized difference soil index are screened out.Combined with multiple linear regression,an ecological impact assessment model is established and applied to ecological impact assessment of Gonghe-Yushu Expressway.The results show that the expressway construction is the first driving force for the deterioration of the ecological environment along the roadside,and its interference range on the desert grassland ecosystem is greater than that on the agroforestry system.The ecological environment within 150 m on both sides of the expressway should be protected.

A Model for Environmental Impact Assessment of Land Reclamation

Land reclamation is a complex marine environmental engineering and has a huge impact on social, economic, and physical environment. Reclamation environmental impact assessment （REIA） is also a complicated project, including the assessment of social economic background, ocean engineering, coastal geomorphology, sediment transportation, marine hydrodynamics and marine ecosystem and so on. Nowadays, a large number of land reclaimed projects have been carried out or in the process of construction along the coastal zone, thus, it is necessary to build up a fnmlework on REIA to evaluate and quantify the environmental changes, to contribute to reclamation program, to reduce marine environmental disasters, and to sustain development of coastal zone. This article focuses on the research of REIA framework theory and puts forward a REIA model on land reclaimed evaluation, at the same time, applies this assessment system in Shenzhen City, which is a highly developed coastal city with an expectation of land reclamation. By use of the Remote Sensing （RS） and Geographic Information System （GIS） techniques, along with the topographic map and in situ survey in recla- mation area, it concludes that the area of 2680 hectares in total has been reclaimed in Shenzhen city by the end of the year 2000. Thus, reclamation is usually applied to meet the needs for infrastructure, such as harbors, industries and highways in Shenzhen City. However, some serious negative impacts have been created to the coastal environment shown clearly in the following aspects. Firstly, it caused the dramatic changes of tidal flat and channels along the western coast, made this area more unstable, which is threatening the function of the harbor in this area. Secondly, Tidal prism has decreased rapidly. During the 20 years of reclamation, the tidal prism has been reduced by 20% - 30% along the western coast in the Lingdingyang Estuary, and 15.6% in the Shenzhen Bay. As a result, the velocity of the tidal current has also declined, and the direction of the tidal current has changed, which is harmfid to the dilution and diffusion process of the contaminants. Thirdly, it has threatened the eco-environment finally. More than 147 hectares of mangrove area along the coast of Shenzhen Bay, accounting for 48.8% of the total mangrove reserve area in this region, has been reclaimed only during the short period from 1988 to 2000. Thus, the biodiversity is decreasing, and more and more plants and animals are disappearing. Based on the above analyses of the environmental impacts, strategies and suggestions for the future reclamation in this area have been put forward in order to support the sustainable development of the coastal zone.

Assessment of impact of water diversion projects on ecological water uses in arid region

In arid regions, large-scale water diversion from rivers leads to significant changes in river flow regimes, which may have large impacts on ecological water uses of river-dependent ecosystems, such as river, lake, wetland, and riparian ecosystems. To assess the integrated impact of water diversion on ecological water uses, we proposed a hierarchy evaluation model composed of four layers representing the evaluation goal, sub-areas of the influenced region, evaluation criteria, and water diversion schemes, respectively. The evaluation criteria for different types of ecological water uses were proposed, and the analytical hierarchy process was used for the integrated assessment. For a river ecosystem, the percentage of mean annual flow was used to define the grade of environmental flow. For a lake ecosystem, water recharge to the lake to compensate the lake water losses was used to assess the ecological water use of a lake. The flooding level of the wetland and the groundwater level in the riparian plain were used to assess the wetland and riparian ecological water uses, respectively. The proposed model was applied to a basin in northern Xinjiang in northwest China, where both water diversion and inter-basin water transfer projects were planned to be carried out. Based on assessment results for the whole study area and two sub-areas, an appropriate scheme was recommended from four planning schemes. With the recommended scheme, ecological water uses of the influenced ecosystems can be maintained at an acceptable level. Meanwhile, economical water requirements can be met to a great extent.

Life cycle environmental impact assessment of biochar-based bioenergy production and utilization in Northwestern Ontario,Canada

Biochar-based bioenergy production and sub- sequent land application of biochar can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by fixing atmospheric carbon into the soil for a long period of time. A thorough life cycle assessment of biochar-based bioenergy production and biochar land application in Northwestern Ontario is conducted using SimaPro Ver. 8.1. The results of energy consumption and potential environmental impact of biochar-based bioenergy production system are compared with those of conventional coal-based system. Results show that biocbar land application consumes 4847.61 MJ per tonne dry feedstock more energy than conventional system, but reduces the GHG emissions by 68.19 kg CO2e per tonne of dry feed- stock in its life cycle. Biochar land application improves ecosystem quality by 18 %, reduces climate change by 15 %, and resource use by 13 % but may adversely impact on human health by increasing disability adjusted life years by 1.7 % if biomass availability is low to medium. Replacing fossil fuel with woody biomass has a positiveimpact on the environment, as one tonne of dry biomass feedstock when converted to biochar reduces up to 38 kg CO2e with biochar land application despite using more energy. These results will help understand a comprehensive picture of the new interventions in forestry businesses, which are promoting biochar-based bioenergy production.

A Review of Assessment and Adaptation Strategy to Climate Change Impacts on the Coastal Areas in South China

This paper reviews assessment of climate change impacts on economy, society and ecological environment in the coastal areas of South China based on published literatures; it also proposes suitable adaptation strategies and counter- measures. Review shows that climate change has resulted in sea level rise in the coastal areas of South China, increasing the occurrence and intensity of storm surges, aggravating the influence of saltwater intrusion, coastal erosion, urban drainage and flood control, threatening the coastal facility and infrastructures, inundating lowland areas, offsetting mudflat silting, and degrading mangroves and corm reef ecosystem. Therefore, in order to reduce the adverse effects of climate change and to support the sustainable development in the coastal areas of South China, it is critical to improve the monitoring and early warning system, enhance prevention criteria, fortify coastal protection engineering, strengthen saltwater prevention, and reinforce the ecological restoration and protection.

Practice and Thinking on Current Planning Environmental Impact Assessment of Transmission and Transformation Power Grid in Jiangsu Province

The planning environmental impact assessment （EIA） of transmission and transformation power grid at levels of 500 and 220 kV had been finished completely in the 13 municipalities of Jiangsu Province by the end of 2012, which played important roles in guiding and planning the following transmission and transformation projects in environmental protection. In this paper, through the detail analysis on the objective and significance of the planning EIA of transmission and transformation power grid, legal basis and planning EIA practices, some suggestions and thinking about the planning EIA of transmission and transformation power grid were put forward.

An impact assessment of sea ice on ocean optics observations in the marginal ice zone of the Arctic

Diffuse attenuation coefficient （DAC） of sea water is an important parameter in ocean thermodynamics and biology, reflecting the absorption capability of sea water in different layers. In the Arctic Ocean, however, sea ice affects the radiance/irradiance measurements of upper ocean, which results in obvious errors in the DAC calculation. To better understand the impacts of sea ice on the ocean optics observations, a series ofin situ experiments were carried out in the summer of 2009 in the southern Beaufort Sea. Observational results show that the profiles of spectral diffuse attenuation coefficients of seawater near ice cover within upper surface of 50 m were not contaminated by the sea ice with a solar zenith angle of 55＆#176;, relative azimuth angle of 110＆#176;≤φ≤115＆#176; and horizontal distance between the sensors and ice edge of greater than 25 m. Based on geometric optics theory, the impact of ice cover could be avoided by adjusting the relative solar azimuth angle in a particular distance between the instrument and ice. Under an overcast sky, ice cover being 25 m away from sensors did not affect the profiles of spectral DACs within the upper 50 m either. Moreover, reli-able spectral DACs of seawater could be obtained with sensors completely covered by sea ice.

Land Use Change and Its Impact on Values of Ecosystem Services in the West of Jilin Province

According to interpreting the LANDSAT TM/ETM images of 1986 and 2002, the spatial-temporal characteristics of land use changes were analyzed during 16 years base on GIS. In addition, the change of ecosystem services due to land use change was estimated by the method of vaulting global ecosystem services. The result shows that there were rapid increases in the area of cropland, saline-alkaline land, and dramatic decreases in grassland, water area and wetland between 1986 and 2002. The annual value of the ecosystem services was declined from 767.1 ×10s Yuan/a in 1986 to 624.1 × 10s Yuan/a in 2002, the estimated annual ecosystem service value declined by 18. 6 % （i. e. 1.6% per year） between 1986 and 2002. It indicates that there had been a sever harm to ecosystem functions and services, which results from the deterioration of ecological environment and the adjustment of land use that aim to currently economic benefit.

Prioritization of Water Resources Management Problems in North Central Nigeria Using Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM)

This study employed the Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM) to prioritize the water resources management problems in the North Central Nigeria. This was done through the assessment of the status of water resources management in the region, evaluation of existing policy and strategy of water management, identification of the management problems and the prioritization with RIAM. The stakeholders identified water resources management problems, ranked them in other of severity in different categories and also evaluated them using the RIAM techniques in the administered questionnaire. Eleven problems were analyzed based on the physical/chemical, biological/ecological, social/cultural and economic/operational factors using several impact indicators. Scores were assigned, the RIAM models applied and the averages taken to arrive at the final assessment scores. The two major water resources management problems identified are: 1) inadequate funds for further agricultural, hydroelectric, navigation and industrial development;2) poor data collection and banking. These problems were prioritized by RIAM in order of severity for urgent intervention. The RIAM technique has made a key contribution to the prioritization of water resources management by providing insights into urgent problems according to stakeholders and thus guides the policy maker in appropriate decision making.

Visual Impact Assessment: Where Have We Come from and Where Are We Going?

This paper is a historical overview of the development of visual impact assessment (VIA) methodology as implemented by US Federal agencies from the 1960s until the current time. VIA methods are to be used as part of environmental impact assessment for projects which could have significant impact on landscape aesthetics. Also included are methodological challenges with current large-scale renewable energy development in the US and Europe.

Practice and Thinking of Plan Environmental Impact Assessment of Power Transmission and Transformation Grid in Nanjing

At present,the plan environmental impact assessment of power transmission and transformation grid is relatively mature. How to further improve the quality of plan environmental impact assessment of power grid during the "14^(th) Five-Year Plan" period is very important. In this paper,the plan environmental impact assessment of power grid in the Development Plan for Power Grid in Nanjing during the "13^(th) Five-Year Plan" Period is studied to further discuss the ideas,evaluation system and content framework of plan environmental impact assessment of power grid.