Executive Short Term Courses In Environmental Standards PDF

EXECUTIVE SHORT TERM COURSES IN ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS Steps for Conducting Environment and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) BY Dr. Jibril Mohammed (ESSO SPESSCE) Culled From Dr Sherif Arif, Ph D Senior Environment Consul...

EXECUTIVE SHORT TERM COURSES IN ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS Steps for Conducting Environment and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) BY Dr. Jibril Mohammed (ESSO SPESSCE) Culled From Dr Sherif Arif, Ph D Senior Environment Consultant to the Environment Global Practice of the West and Central Africa - SAWE4 September, 2024 1  Environment and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) ◼ Under the ESS 1 the Bank requires the borrower/client to undertake a full ESIA of a proposed Bank operation (public or private sector) that has been designated during the project screening stage as a High/Substantial Category , or a limited ESIA in the form of an ESMP in the case of a moderate category ◼ A full or partial ESIA is conducted in order to identify and assess the likely environmental and social impacts and risks of a proposed Bank operation, to determine their magnitude and significance, and to define mitigation, monitoring and institutional measures designed to avoid and minimize where possible, or if not, to offset or compensate for adverse impacts and risks. 2 Applicable E&S Instrument(s) to Prepare Impact Rating Instrument Low Environmental and Social Code of Practice Any of the relevant ESHS action plans, for example: Waste Management Plan ESHS guidelines for contractors OHS Pla Etc. Medium Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) Substantial Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) High Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA)  Risk management is important in ESIA Process? Managing project’s E&S risk is important, It is a process of anticipating the occurrence of negative/adverse events to the environment and people, Management of E&S risks is key to risk Based approach – helps consider proportional risk mitigation measures, unlike the consequence based approach It is key to minimizing, monitoring and controlling impact(s) of negative events while maximizing positive outcomes,.  Steps for Conducting an ESIA for High/Substantial risk ◼ The Key steps in conducting an ESIA for the High/Substantial risk is Screening Scoping. Stakeholder identification. Project definition. Analysis of alternatives. Baseline definition. Impact assessment. Preparation of an Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP), including mitigating , monitoring, institutional and reporting measures Consultation and Disclosure Grievance Redress Mechanism Environment and Social Commitment Plan 5 ◼ The Key steps in conducting a partial ESIA or ESMP report for moderate risk project is Screening Project definition. Analysis of technical alternatives including the “without project”. Baseline definition. Impact assessment. Preparation of an Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP), including mitigating , monitoring, institutional and reporting measures Consultation and Disclosure Grievance Redress Mechanism Environment and Social Commitment Plan 6  The Scoping Process : Purpose and Area of Influence ◼ The objective of the scoping step is to focus the remainder of the ESIA process on those environment and social impacts that are likely to result in significant effects. This is achieved through data collection and stakeholder engagement followed by analysis of the information gathered. Ideally, the scoping process should also identify the potential impacts that can be avoided through early stages of project design. ◼ To initiate scoping, it is necessary to identify, on a preliminary basis, the Area of Influence , or Associated Facilities for the project which are defined as follows: The area likely to be directly affected by the project and related facilities that the project proponent develops or controls (e.g. power transmission corridors, pipelines, tunnels, access roads, borrow and disposal and additional areas in which aspects of the environment could conceivably experience significant impacts and risks. Areas potentially affected by related or associated facilities dependent on the project and that would not have been implemented if the project did not exist, but that are not funded by the project. and, in the judgment of the Bank, are: (a) directly and significantly related to the project; and (b) carried out, or planned to be carried out, contemporaneously with the project; and (c) necessary for the project to be viable and would not have been constructed, expanded or conducted if the project did not exist Areas, including the communities within them potentially affected by unplanned but predictable activities likely to be induced by the project. In case Associated Facilities are being funded by other multilateral or bilateral funding agencies, the Bank may agree to apply the requirements of such other agencies for the assessment and management of environmental and social risks and impacts of the Associated Facilities, provided that such requirements will enable the project to achieve objectives materially consistent with the ESSs 7  THE SCOPING PROCESS: DATA COLLECTION ◼ The aim of scoping is to collect sufficient information on environmental and social conditions and to invite stakeholder input to facilitate the identification of the potential interactions between the project and resources/ receptors within the likely Area of Influence/Associated facilities ◼ In addition, scoping should involve initial consultations with possible affected communities and stakeholders. ◼ Data should be collected for those resources/receptors which have a reasonable potential to experience significant impacts. Potential resources/receptors include physical (e.g. geology and soils, surface and groundwater resources, air resources and climate, noise and vibration, prominent landscape and aesthetic features), biological (flora, resident and migratory fauna, ecosystems, endangered and threatened species, their habitats and protected areas, poaching), and socio- economic and cultural features. ◼ (e.g. livelihood, resettlement, community social structure, gender, vulnerable groups, health, safety, cultural property, ecosystem services). ◼ Receptors/resources which may experience transboundary impacts and global impacts, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, vulnerability to climate-change and potential adaptation and mitigation measures should also be considered. ◼ During the scoping phase, an assessment should also be made of the risk of cumulative impacts – incremental impacts from other third party developments that are planned or probable at the time the impact assessment process). 8  THE SCOPING PROCESS; STAKEHOLDER IDENTIFICATION AND ENGAGEMENT ◼ Before initiating the ESIA, relevant stakeholders, especially potentially affected communities, should be identified through a stakeholder mapping analysis, so that adequate engagement and consultation can be carried out during the ESIA process ◼ This stakeholder mapping analysis should inform the development and implementation of a Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) that includes a detailed description of the plan for stakeholder engagement through the ESIA process ◼ Regular stakeholder engagement activities should be carried out in alignment with the various steps that constitute the ESIA process, and should directly inform the development of the ESIA. ◼ At a minimum, for Category High/Substantial projects, stakeholders should be engaged to obtain their input into the preparation of the draft Terms of Reference, the draft ESIA report and summary, and the draft ESMP. ◼ At minimum, for projects in a Moderate category , the affected communities and stakeholders should be consulted about the draft ESMP report ◼ Finally, all stakeholder engagement activities constituting part of the ESIA process should be adequately documented, so that such activities and their outcomes can be confirmed and verified. The required process for this should be set out in the ESIA ToR. 9  Scoping Phase: Requirements and Outputs ◼ Scoping is required for the projects in categories High and Substantial ◼ The output of the scoping phase is usually a final ToR for the ESIA of the project, including a schedule and implementation plan for the ESIA. Preparation of a ToR for approval by the national authorities and by the Bank 10  PROJECT DEFINITION for ESIA and ESMP ◼ The ESIA should start from a clear definition of the project to identify potential sources of impacts and risks. Project information should be collected in sufficient detail to: a) Describe, at a level that can be understood by a lay person, the features, location and activities proposed by the project proponent. b)Facilitate a comprehensive identification of the potential interactions between the project and resources/receptors, and the impacts that could result from the interactions. ◼ The Project Definition should be sufficient to convey an understanding of what is being proposed, and should focus on the elements of the project that can potentially interact with resources/receptors to produce significant impacts. Exhaustive descriptions of engineering or process details should be avoided unless warranted for one of these purposes. 11  ANALYSIS OF THE ALTERNATIVES for ESIA. ◼ An Analysis of Alternatives include: A systematic comparison feasible alternatives to the proposed project site, technology, design, and operation—including the “without project” situation—in terms of their potential environmental and social impacts and risks. An Assessment of the alternatives’ feasibility of mitigating the environmental and social impacts; the capital and recurrent costs of alternative mitigation measures, and their suitability under local conditions; and the institutional, training, and monitoring requirements for the alternative mitigation measures. A quantification for each of the alternatives, of the environmental and social impacts and risks to the extent possible, and including economic values where feasible 12  BASELINE DEFINITION for ESIA and ESMP ◼ The description of the baseline has the following objectives: Identify the key environmental, socio‐economic, cultural and health conditions in the Areas of Influence, focusing on the resources/receptors that may be impacted by the project. Describe and, where possible, quantify the current characteristics (nature, condition, quality, extent, etc.) of resources/receptors, and predict their likely future characteristics in the absence of the project. Provide data to aid the prediction and modelling of impacts and effects. Help establish parameters for measuring impacts during pre construction , construction and implementation and commissioning Inform judgments about the sensitivity, vulnerability and/or importance of resources/receptors. ◼ The baseline should also take into consideration: current conditions, as well as changing conditions and trends apparent in the project area and Area of Influence (e.g. coastal erosion, depletion of fisheries, etc.). Other developments in the area that are underway or certain to be initiated in the near future. Developments which are planned or proposed but are not yet committed or certain (i.e, they are behind the project in the planning cycle) should be considered 13  Impact Assessment and Mitigation for ESIA and ESMP ◼ The steps involved in the impact assessment stage are: Identification of potential interactions between the project and the physical, biological, cultural or human environment (based on consideration of information gathered on the project, project alternatives and baseline conditions). Identification of the risk of cumulative impacts arising from the combination of the project’s impacts with the impacts of other developments. Prediction of impacts – determination of what could potentially happen as a result of the project’s interaction with the physical, biological, cultural or human environment, (the diverse range of impacts considered in the ESIA process may result in a wide range of prediction methods being used,including quantitative, semi‐quantitative and qualitative techniques). Definition of impact characteristics - type, extent, duration, scale and frequency of each impact Determination of impact magnitude - the degree of change that the impact is likely to impart upon the resource/receptor, based on its defined characteristics. Determination of impact significance– taking account of the sensitivity/vulnerability/importance of the resource/receptor and the magnitude and irreversibility of the impact.( if any) Identification of measures to avoid, minimize and mitigate impacts, following a mitigation hierarchy. Identification of residual impacts (i.e. after mitigation) and measures to offset/compensate for residual impacts. 14  Use of Interaction Matrix ◼ At the scoping stage ( for high/substantial project category) and.or at the impact assessment stage ( for moderate risk project) an “interaction matrix can be developed as a tool to identify possible interactions between project components and resources/receptors (air quality, water quality, land degradation, wildlife, vegetation, health. etc ◼ The matrix assists with a methodical identification of the potential interactions each project activity may have with the range of resources/ receptors within the Area of Influence ◼ The matrix consists of a list of resources/receptors that could be affected by the project activities, set against a list of project activities. Entries in the matrix cells can then be colored to indicate whether: An interaction is not reasonably expected (e.g. Green). An interaction is reasonably possible but none of the resulting impacts are likely to lead to significant effects (e.g. yellow). The interaction is reasonably possible and at least one of the resulting impacts is likely to lead to an effect that is significant (e.g. Red). 15  THE ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL MANAGEMENT PLAN (ESMP) For Projects in Categories High, Substantial and Moderate ◼ An ESMP defines the basic management and monitoring measures that are needed to identify whether: a)impacts remain in conformance with predictions and applicable standards; and b) mitigation and monitoring and institutional measures are effectively addressing impacts and risks ,and compensatory measures and offsets are reducing effects to the extent predicted ◼ An ESMP should set out: (i) actions to implement mitigation measures; (ii) a monitoring and reporting program, based on agreed performance indicators; (iii) emergency response procedures; (iv) institutional and organizational arrangements; (v) capacity development and training; (vi) implementation schedule; and (vii) cost estimates. ◼ An ESMP should also address the measures for information disclosure, the grievance redress mechanism, and the process for continued consultation with and participation of affected people during project implementation. ◼ ESMP is normally: (i) a condition of project approval by the Bank issued by the borrower; (ii) a condition incorporated into the bidding documents, project construction contracts and operation and maintenance contracts; and (iii) a covenant in the Bank’s loan agreement. ◼ An ESMP should be subject to amendment during project implementation if any changes occur to the project’s design and performance or the relevant environmental and social conditions ◼ DETAILS ON THE ESMP WILL BE PRESENTED IN SUBSEQUENT SESSION 16  ◼ ANY QUESTIONS ◼ THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION 17