What impacts does an environmental assessment establish?

An environmental assessment is a study required to establish three impacts of a project. These include economic, environmental and social impacts that a project would bring.

Social Impact Assessment       

Social impact assessment (SIA) can be defined in terms of efforts to assess or estimate the social impacts that are likely to follow a proposed project.  These are direct and indirect impacts that affect people and their communities during all stages of the project lifecycle.

Social impacts include changes in people’s way of life, their culture, community, political systems, environment, health and wellbeing, their personal and property rights and their fears and aspirations. Examples of projects with significant social impacts include: landfill and hazardous waste disposal sites (perceived health risks, loss of amenity); power and industrial plants (community stress from influx of work force, pressure on infrastructure); dams and reservoirs (lifestyle disruption resulting from relocation, land use alteration; and roads and linear developments (dislocation of activity networks and relationships).

The main types of social impacts that occur as a result of these projects can be grouped into five overlapping categories:

• Lifestyle impacts – on the way people behave and relate to family, friends and cohorts on a day-to-day basis
• Cultural impacts – on shared customs, obligations, values, language, religious belief and other elements which make a social or ethnic group distinct
• Community impacts – on infrastructure, services, voluntary organisations, activity networks and cohesion
• Quality of life impacts – on sense of place, aesthetics and heritage, perception of belonging, security and liveability, and aspirations for the future
• Health impacts – on mental, physical and social well being, although these aspects are also the subject of health impact assessment.

Some of the common questions in social assessment include:

 a) Who are the stakeholders of the project/proposed action?

b) Are project objectives consistent with their needs, interests and capacity?

 c) What social and cultural factors affect the ability of stakeholders to participate or benefit from the proposed policy or project?

d) What will be the impact of the project or program on the various stakeholders, especially women and vulnerable groups?

e) Are there plans to mitigate adverse impacts?

 f) What social risks might affect project or program success?

g) What institutional arrangements are needed for participation and project delivery?

 h) Are there plans to build capacity at appropriate levels?

The major advantages of undertaking a systematic SIA include:

• Identifying project/ programme stakeholders
• Identifying and prioritizing social issues associated with project
• Mitigating negative impact on communities or individuals
• Enhanced benefits to those affected
• Avoids delays and obstruction in gaining development approval
• Acts as a precautionary measure and avoids costly errors in the future
• Builds the trust and cooperation between community and stakeholders that is necessary for successful implementation of the project.

Environmental Impact Analysis

An environmental impact analysis is typically conducted to assess the potential impact a proposed development project will have on the natural and social environment. This may include an assessment of both the short- and long-term effects on the physical environment, such as air, water and/or noise pollution; as well as effects on local services, living and health standards, and aesthetics.

Economic Impact Assessment

Economic impact analysis examines the effect of a project on the economy in a given area.

The effects may be viewed in terms of:

• Business output (or sales volume).
• Value added (or gross regional product).
• Wealth (including property values).
• Personal income (including wages) or jobs.

Any of these measures can be an indicator of improvement in the economic well-being of area residents, which is usually the major goal of economic development efforts.

NEMA CONSULTANT

MERCY WANGUI

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