Distillieries - Environmental Clearance

Operational Aspects of an EIAHowever, the method adopted should be able to provide a meaningful conclusion fromwhich it would be possible to develop, where necessary, mitigation measures andmonitoring. Key points to consider when choosing the method(s) include:Nature of the impact(s)Availability and quality of dataAvailability of resources (time, finance and staff)The method chosen should not be complex, but should aim at presenting the results in away that can be easily understood by the developer, decision maker and the public. Acomparative analysis of major impact identification methods is given in the followingTable 4-1.ChecklistsMatricesNetworksOverlaysTable 4-1: Advantages and Disadvantages of Impact Identification MethodsDescription Advantages Disadvantages Annotate the environmentalfeatures that need to beaddressed when identifyingthe impacts of activities in theproject Identify the interactionbetween project activities(along one axis) andenvironmental characteristics(along other axis) using a gridlike table Entries are made in the cellswhich highlights impactseverity in the form ofsymbols or numbers ordescriptive comments Illustrate cause effectrelationship of projectactivities and environmentalcharacteristics Useful in identifyingsecondary impacts Useful for establishing impacthypothesis and otherstructured science basedapproaches to EIA Map the impacts spatially anddisplay them pictorially Useful for comparing site andplanning alternatives forrouting linear developments Can address cumulativeeffects Information incentive Simple tounderstand anduse Good for siteselection andpriority setting Simple rankingand weighting Link action toimpact Good method fordisplaying EIAresults Link action toimpact Useful insimplified formfor checking forsecond orderimpacts Handles directand indirectimpacts Easy tounderstand Good to displaymethod Good siting tool Do not distinguishbetween direct andindirect impacts Do not link actionand impact The process ofincorporatingvalues can becontroversial Difficult todistinguish directand indirectimpacts Significantpotential fordouble-counting ofimpacts Can become verycomplex if usedbeyond simplifiedversion Address only directimpacts Do not addressimpact duration orprobabilityGIS Maps the impacts spatially Easy to Do not addressTGM for Distillery Industry 4-11 August 2010