Potential Benefits and Challenges in Applying Regional EIA: A Case Study of Special Investment Regions in India

doi:10.4236/jep.2014.51004

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Journal of Environmental Protection, 2014, 5, 29-34

Published Online January 2014 (http://www.scirp.org/journal/jep)

http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jep.2014.51004

Potential Benefits and Challenges in Applying Regional

EIA: A Case Study of Special Investment Regions in India

Masoom Mallick1, A ditya Singh2

1Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation, Gandhinagar, India; 2University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK.

Email: [email protected], aadigeog@g mail.com

Received November 6th, 2013; revised December 5th, 2013; accepted J anuary 2nd , 2014

tion License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly

ABSTRACT

Development is an ever growing process and its impact is often detrimental to environment which in turn may

lead to adverse co nsequences for hu man life . Environme nt Impact Asse ssment (EIA) is an anticipa tory and pa r-

ticipatory environment management tool which helps in the decision-making process for different upcoming de-

velopment projects by analyzing the environmental consequences of the action. The large scale projects like set-

ting up of Special Investment Regions (SIR), Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and Industrial Estates (IE) have

cumulative impacts on the e nvironmental conditio n of the regio n. This paper inte nds to describe differe nt prac-

tices of impact a ssessment and seeks to direc t this debat e towar ds t he potential bene fits of applying R e gional EIA

over the project specific EIA to capture the cumulative impact of large development projects like SIRs and IE on

the environmental condition of the region and underline the challenges often faced during the study. Regional

EIA is a new concept in India and the process of development of an SIR is different from the other industrial

projec ts such as SE Z or IE. Unli ke SEZ whic h compri ses of only indust rial act ivity , SIR also includes re sidentia l

commercial and other amenities over an area of more than 100 square kilometers. Further, the implementation

of Reg ional EIA in Indian conte xt is also co nstrained by proble m in baseline da ta collection and la ck of exhaus-

tive ecological and socioeconomic indicators for impact assessment and restricted use of stat e of art technologies

such as Geographical Information System due to many factors such as cost involved and lack of awareness

among consultants. The whole proc e ss of Regional EIA should be made r apid a nd more participatory.

KEYWORDS

Regional Environmental Impact Assessment (REIA); Special Investment Region ( SIR); Spe cial Economic Zone

(SEZ); Cumulative Effects

1. Introduction

In 1960’s, economic development was given more

weightage over the environment. It was generally ac-

cepted that the benefits of economic development would

be more than enough to compensate for any deterio-

ration in environmental quality associated with these

developments. During this period, the project review was

mainl y based on the technical/engineering and economic

analysis. Environmental degradation and depletion of

natural resources induced by the human activities later

attracted steadily growing concerns and came into the

picture in the United Nations conference held at Stock-

holm in June 1972. This conference is widely recognized

as the beginning of modern political and public aware-

ness of global environmental problems wherein the focus

was to provide a framework for the comprehensive con-

sideration of the problems of human environment. In

parallel with and following the Stockholm conference,

there was a s urge of p olicy m aking a nd instit ution b uild-

ing in the developed world.

The National Environment Policy Act (NEPA) 1969,

which became effective on January 1, 1970, of the Unit-

ed States, was the first piece o f legislation that dea lt wit h

cross-sectoral issues and launched the word Environment

Impact Assessment (EIA) into the worldwide use. The

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Potential Benefits and Ch allenges in Applying Regional EI A: A Case Study of Special Investment Regions in India

act has been referred as the “Magna Carta for the Envi-

ronment” in the United States [1]. During this period,

basic principles, guidelines and procedures including the

public participation were instituted. It has since then

evolved considerably as it has been used increasingly in

many countries around the world in the decision-making

process. However, EIA, as it is practiced today, is being

used as a dec isio n -aiding tool rather than a decision-

making tool.

In India, many of the development projects till as re-

cently as the 1980’s were implemented keeping in mind

very little or no environmental concerns. The environ-

mental issues came into the picture when a national

committee on the environmental planning and coordina-

tion was set up under the 4th five year plan (1969-1978).

When till 1980, the subjects of environment and forest

were the concern of Department of Science and Tech-

nology (DST) and Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), re-

spectively. Later, the issues were formally attended by

the Department of Environment (DoE) which was estab-

lished in 1980 which was later upgraded to the Ministry

of Environment and Forest (MoEF) in 1985.

The foundation of EIA in India was laid in (1976-77)

when the planning commission asked Department of

Science and Technology (DST) to examine the river-

valley projects from environmental angle. Later on, this

was subsequently extended to cover those projects which

required approvals from Public Investment Board. How-

ever, these were administrative decisions and lacked the

legislative support. To make it mandatory from the leg-

islative point of view, the Environment Protection Act

(EPA) was enacted by MoEF, Government of India on

23rd May 1986 which is known as Umbrella Act under

whic h EIA no ti ficati o n, 19 94 was e nacte d. The EIA no ti-

fication (1994) made Environmental Clearance (EC)

mandatory for expansion or modernization of any activity

or for setting up new projects listed in Schedule 1 of the

notification. Since then, there have been about twelve

amendments made in the EIA notification of 1994 [2-4].

The overall goal of EIA is to encourage the considera-

tion of enviro nmental is sues in the dec ision-making so to

“ultimately arrive at actions which are more environ-

mentally compatible”. Later on, EIA became so impor-

tant that e ven funding a gencies like the World Bank and

the Asian Development Bank (ADB) recognized the need

of EIA or IEE (Initial Environmental Examination) de-

pend i n g up o n t he t yp e o f the project before granting loans.

A number of bilateral agencies also have prescribed

guidelines for the environmental assessment of projects

for whic h they provide the financial assistance [5].

2. EIA Practice in Developed and

Developing Countries

In developed countries like United States and European,

there is a well framed EI A legislatio n to car ry out EC for

different projects whereas in developing countries there

is lack of formal EIA legislation. On the other hand, in

many African countries, EIA is not even mandatory. In

developed countries, there is active involvement of

people/competent authority/government agencies at ini-

tial as well as later stages of EIA whereas in developing

countries, there is limited involvement of public/gov-

ernment agencies during initial phases of EIA which re-

sults into poor prediction of impact. In developed coun-

tries, there is integrated approach to wherein social and

health aspects are taken into account whereas in devel-

oping countries, there is less stress on social and health

aspects. The screening process of EIA in developed

countries is decided by competent/authorized agencies

whereas in developing countries, the screening process is

decided as per the activity mentioned i n EIA notificatio n

without taking into account the threshold value of pollu-

tion load [6].

3. Different Paradigms of EIA

Tracing the environmental movement from its origin in

the 1960’s to the present day as it appears mainly three

main concepts has evolved.

3.1. EIA at the Project Level s

In many countries in the world where EIA is in place,

development projects undergo an environmental exami-

nation prior to being given clearance to establish and

operate. Present EIA practice in India is restricted to

project level, which recommends appropriate mitigation

measures or monitoring or management plans in the

project itse lf.

3.2. From Project to Regional EIA

The emphasis in environmental impact studies in the

early 1970’s was on the physical-chemical a nd biological

environ ments. Howeve r, ad d e d a tt enti o n was given t o t he

cultural and socioeconomic environments as the decade

progressed. In late 1970’s, the emergence of multidimen-

sional character in the project level EIA came into pic-

ture which involved inclusion of the social dimension

into the process. Social Impact Assessment (SIA) analy-

sis and risk analysis was incorporated into the process of

EIA [7]. T hi s turn i n t he co nc e p t o f EI A was t he r es ul t of

recognition of the fact that the different components of

the environment are interdependent. It was later on rea-

lized that the scope and level of EIA needs to be ex-

panded further where regional plans/master plans or de-

velopment plans are to be considered. An EIA, thus, can

be performed at various levels depending upon the scale

of the development activity. In a large industrial estate,

for example, while the individual industrial emission,

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Potential Benefits and Ch allenges in Applying Regional EI A: A Case Study of Special Investment Regions in India

effluent discharge etc. may be within the permissible

limit, the cumulative effect of the emission or effluent

discharge of different industrial units may lead to deteri-

oration of overall air/water q uality in the re gio n.

This is the fairly latest extension of the impact assess-

ment which investigates the combined effects of the mul-

tiple activities instead of the effect of a specific devel-

opment project.

3.3. Policy Level Strategic EIA

The increasing scale of the global environmental prob-

lems was an indication that the environmental deteriora-

tion was accelerating and it is not restric ted to a specific

project or region. By late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the

experience of EIA over pro jects and re gional plans led to

the recognition that EIA of policies should be conducted

on a strategic level. Strategic Environmental Assessment

(SEA), basically inquires about the impact of an existing

plans, policies and programs on environment. It can be

applied both at the level of broad policy initiatives and to

more concrete programs and plans having physical and

spatial reference [8].

If policies at a generic level are evolved on an envi-

ronmentally sound basis then associated regional plans

and projects are expected to cause least conflict between

regional and local environmental pr iorities and issues.

4. Need of Regional EIA for SIRs

Regional EIA is more than expanding the boundaries of

EIA “up” to a higher tier or “out” to encompass a broader

geographic area, rather it represents a different way of

approaching the relationship between environment and

development decision making at a regional scale. A

project level impact assessment is limited to a specific

area and it does not ask whether the proposed undertak-

ing is the most appropriate form of development or

whether the cumulative effects of such development are

in conflict with broader environmental goals or desired

future conditions. It disregards the cumulative impacts i.e.

deforestation, depletion of the ozone layer, biodiversity

decline etc. No single project can be considered respon-

sible for the problems; however they do occur due to the

combination of several impact sources. When projects

are assessed individually, not much attention is paid to

other developments (existing or planned) affecting the

same area, consequently the decision makers are masked

the true nature of the problem under analysis and are

asked to assess the acceptability of individual impacts.

Such i mpacts oft en app ear negligible desp ite their poten-

tially harmful cumulative effect (e.g. loss of little wood-

land due to the construction o f an infrastructure) [9,10].

SIRs as compared to SEZ have larger spatial extent

and is not merely only export oriented. Instead, they offer

a range of other services and comprises of residential,

institutional etc. along with the industrial e states. Gujar at

is one of the first states to promote SIRs in India [11-13].

The concept of SIR came into the picture to control the

haphazard growth of industries outside existing notified

Industrial Estates (IE) for planned development. These

SIRs are having large spatial extent and includes residen-

tial, commercial and other amenities apart from existing

Industrial Estate. Thus, for such a large area containing

different land uses Regional EIA is needed for assessing

the cumulative impact of the proposed industries on the

region as a whole. These SIRs are undergoing regional

EIA study and approaching MoEF for EC under the cat-

egory 7(c)1.

5. Challenges Being Faced during the Study

5.1. SIR Being a New Concept as per the

EIA Notification

SIRs came into existence in 2009 with the advent of

Special Investment Region Act, 2009 [13]. As per the

EIA notification 2006 and 2009 under activity 7(c), only

terms like Industrial Estates/Export Processing Zones/

Special Economic Zones are mentioned. SIR is a new

concept which is nowhere mentioned in the notification.

Thus, the project proponent approaching MoEF for EC

under category 7(c) is required to give clear-cut picture

of difference between SEZ and SIR. Also MoEF is not

clear about the process of development of these SIRs as

they are being developed through Town Planning

Schemes (TPS) where there is no acquisition of land.

Thr ough thi s sche me, a smal l po rtion o f land i s ta ken fo r

developing trunk infrastructure and the rest major portion

is returned to owners as the final plot.

5.2. Delineation of the Boundary of an SIR

The concept of SIR came into existence to restrict the

haphazard growth of the industries beyond the existing

boundary of notified IE. The state of Gujarat is the first

state among Indian states to have passed SIR ordinance

[14]. These IE have been recognized as Industrial Nodes

along the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. The SIRs

are generally spread over an area of more than 100

square kilometers. The boundary of an SIR includes not

only full-fledged existing industrial areas but also indus-

tries/IEs which are not yet established but have already

taken NOC and EC from the concerned authorities. Apart

from that, it al so includes areas (r esidential or industrial)

under development for which zonal plans has been made

under broader development plans. An EIA study being

1As per the EIA notification 2006 from MoEF category 7(c) is for

Industrial Estates/ P

ar ks/Complexes /

Areas, Export Processing Zones

(EPZs), Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Biotech Parks, Leather

Complexes.

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Potential Benefits and Ch allenges in Applying Regional EI A: A Case Study of Special Investment Regions in India

carried out for such area development projects comprises

of both situations (existing and proposed) within the SIR

boundary. The baseline data collection of existing indus-

trial units is easily ge nerated from primar y surve y as well

as secondary sources like audit reports of individual in-

dustries. However, the baseline data generation for the

proposed industries is a major challenge being faced by

consultants as it is entirely based on assumptions taking

into account d ifferent case studies from India or abroad.

5.3. Comprehensive Baseline Data Collection

Regional EIA study as compared to project level EIA

takes more time as it entails comprehensive data collec-

tion which req uires se tting up adequa te number of moni-

toring stations for a considerable period of time (for in-

stance, pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon pe-

riods) in order to assess the cumulative effects in the

whole region. Since the validity of the Terms of Refer-

ence (ToR) issued by MoEF for conducting the EIA

study is only for two years, it is often difficult to com-

plete the entire study within this given time period. The

delay in baseline data collection compels individual in-

dustries within proposed SIR to approach the ministry for

EC without taking into consideration the conditions of

EC of t he region a s a whole. On the other hand, the SIR,

at the same time, also undergoes EC from the Ministry

without taking in-principal approval from Individual

Units. This defeats the purpose of obtaining EC for the

SIR as a whole.

5.4. Insufficient Baseline Data for

Impact Prediction

Insufficient baseline data is a major challenge being

faced by consultants while preparing good quality EIA

reports. Lack of sampling networks and ill-defined sam-

pling a nd analysis procedures also add to the problem of

inconsistenc y. Althou gh all maj or industries s ubmit half -

yearly monitoring data to State Pollution Control Board

(SPCB), but the reliability of such data is doubtful.

Therefore, it is very hard to predict the pollution poten-

tial for proposed industries.

Additionally, the lack of proper guidelines on the use

of available modeling approaches put a question mark on

their application to the Indian conditions and on their

level of accuracy in predictions. Most of the mathemati-

cal models being used are not developed for Indian con-

ditions, so validation is necessary each time, thus the

accuracy of modeling depends on knowledge and exper-

tise o f t he a nal yst [15]. EIA practice in I ndia still c onsid-

ers impacts of individual activity/projects and the cumu-

lative impact o f the individual activity on the whole SIR

region is a major challenge before consultant as it re-

quires comprehensive baseline data collection.

5.5. Environment Management Plan (EMP)

EMP is one of the crucial parts of any EIA study wherein

detail descr iption is needed for proper implementation of

the same. However, for large projects, it is often difficult

to provide a detailed description. For example, the

greenbelt development is one of the mitigation measures

to reduce the adverse impact of pollution on the envi-

ronment but it is often quite challenging to mention in

the EIA report the type of plants to be planted consider-

ing the type of soil, agro climatic region and the type of

pollutant emitted by the industry. Also, the total cost for

implementing the mitigation plan is often hard to work

out.

5.6. Public Hearing Proceedings

Earlier, there was no accreditation of consultants for

sector specific projects, as a result of which the quality of

EIA reports deteriorated. At a later stage, the accredita-

tion of these consultants started through National Accre-

ditation Board for Education and Training (NABET).

Generally, for large scale projects, only sector specific

NABET accredited consultants can carry out EIA study.

These consultants are based anywhere in India and thus

language constrain is the main problem faced by these

consultants during public hearings proceeding as the ex-

ecutive summary and presentations are to be made

available in local language for the convenience of the

local people residing in the project area. Also, during the

proceedings, it is hard to convince people regarding the

project as they are very often ignorant about the concept.

What actually happens in such area development projects

is that the land is acquired from people and is developed

through town planning schemes wherein some percen-

tage of land is deducted for developing trunk infrastruc-

ture like road, street light, storm water drainage etcetera

and the remaini ng majo r portio n is given to the owner o f

land as a final plot of the land.

5.7. Lack of Exhaustive Ecological and

Socioeconomic Ind ica tors for

Impact Assessment

Ecological and socioeconomic assessments are often

marginalized within the impact study. One of the reasons

for such marginalization could be lack of a common

framework to support the impact assessment on ecologi-

cal and socioeconomic components. Only a few analyses

can be considered as standard and are found to have been

applied in most of the studies. In general, there does not

exist a common type of data, a common way of proc-

essing and organizing the information, of selecting the

evaluation criteria, of expressing the impacts and so on.

Contrary to this, air or noise pollution assessments ap-

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Potential Benefits and Ch allenges in Applying Regional EI A: A Case Study of Special Investment Regions in India

pear to be much more structured. They follow well- es-

tablished procedures that guide the entire assessment

right from data collection to discussion of the relevance

of the impacts.

5.8. Restricted Use of Geographic Information

Syste m (GI S) fo r Impact Prediction

GIS is a tool which can be applied for a project where the

spatial distribution of impact is relevant. The application

of this software is restricted to wider use mainly because

of cost associated with the development of GIS database.

However, the cost of the development of GIS database is

actually negligible when compared with the cost of im-

pact mitigation measures [16]. It is a significant tool

which can be used to make decision making process rap-

id and spatially accurate. Currently, even the MoEF de-

sires to have a satellite imagery based land use c la ssi fica-

tion for about three consecutive years for any project area.

By doing this, it want to ensure that the green areas and

drainage pattern are not adversely affected by the pro-

posed activity in the study region. However, the fact of

the matter is that not many EIA consultants are using

GIS during impact prediction probably because they are

not familiar wit h the utility of the software in this field.

6. Conclusions

Regional EIA came into the light to address the cumula-

tive impact of upco ming projects on the whole region. It

is significant especially for the projects having large spa-

tial extent which consists of industrial estates as well as

other areas such as residential, commercial and other like,

for example, SIR and large industrial estates which can

have irreversible impacts on the region as a whole.

Ho wever , the diffe rent up coming i ndustries i n the regio n

approach MoEF for EC as per the schedule of list of

projects or activities requiring prior EC mentioned in

EIA notification 2006 and 2009 and these projects are

not taking into consideration the terms and condition on

which the region as a whole is approaching for EC to

MoEF. Thus, to make Regional EIA more effective for

such large area projects like SIR, it is necessary to make

the process rapid so that different upcoming industries

can co me up with the pr ior ter ms and co ndition gi ven b y

MoEF for sustainable development.

The whole process of Regional EIA should be made

more participatory so that people can become aware of

the mechanism on which these area development pro-

jects/SIR are developing. Also, the application of the

new tools like GIS should be broaden for impact predic-

tion whic h is based o n the spa tial distrib ution o f impacts.

Efforts should also be targeted to include environmental

conservation concerns at policy and planning level so

that the environmental factors can be taken into consid-

eration well in advance at the policy level. As per the

new environment ministry policy for the national manu-

facturing and investment zone (NMIZs), the individual

units within the proposed NMIZs will be exempted from

public hearings, once a public hearing has been con-

ducted for the entire NMIZ, provided that these zones are

notified as industrial estates by the state governments

concerned. Thus, this will help in expediting the process

of EC of t he whole region which will faci litate to add ress

the environmental issues in advance for sustainable de-

velopment.

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