Environmental Impact Assessment

Scope
Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is widely accepted as a tool to ensure that all environmental and social concerns are addressed early in the planning process of offshore developments. As already indicated by the 1st Expert Meeting, public perception and social acceptance are very important factors in meeting the environmental targets. An EIA is required by law in many countries and is also required in projects supported by, for example, the World Bank. The scope of EIA in a socioeconomic context will be presented and discussed.

Topics for Discussions

· What is the appropriate scope (or "level of ambition") of EIA for offshore oil and gas activities related to local conditions, regional/global impacts, socioeconomic context? How should EIA be related/integrated (theory and practice) in a companies EMS?

· What sort of strategic EIA should be developed in addition to project based EIA's, and how can these be interlinked?

· Are there suitable EIA guidelines available specifically for the offshore oil and gas industry? Is there a need for development of such specific guidelines? Can generic guidelines (World Bank etc.) be applied by this sector?

· What should be the aim of (baseline, impact or compliance) monitoring, and what is than is the appropriate scope of monitoring?

Presentations in the workshop: Kalsom A Ghani, Malaysia - Eleodoro M Alba, World Bank

Results from the Workshop on Environmental Impact Assessment

SCOPE OF EIA
Depends on project and social and environmental conditions and risks
. Include, among other things:
· "Cradle to grave" - all project phases and aspects · Decommissioning linked to best technology at time
· Social issues (e.g., health)
· Alternatives (may lead to decision not to go ahead with project)
· Consultation and participation
· Monitoring

EIA/EMS INTEGRATION
1-EIA should be fully integrated into EMS
· EMS/ISO 14001 would need expansion to include social and health aspects
· Include environmental auditing as part of EMS monitoring
2-EIA and EMS are also separate tools

STRATEGIC EIA
· Useful - complements project EIA
· Allow analysis and decisions before project investments
· Facilitates alternatives consideration
· Usually government responsibility
· But may require private sector involvement
· Challenges in defining scope, timing, and allocation of responsibilities

EIA GUIDELINES
· Strategic and project-specific EIA guidelines would be useful
· World Bank guidelines good start - but more work needed
· Need to collect and share best practices
· Link to Information Systems and Tools

MONITORING
1-Some key aims of monitoring are to:
· Identify pre-project state
· Identify changes to baseline, project impacts and mitigation effectiveness
· Look at post-project effects
2-Provides feedback information to adjust mitigation over time if needed
· EIA or other mechanisms provide legal authority
· Company EMS should also make it happen
3-Scope depends on activity
· Long-term baseline data may be needed (role for Strategic EIA to collect and make available?)
4-Can identify opportunities to incorporate new technology and best practice 5-Existing operations without EIA's can have poor practices or environmental damage
· EMS (e.g. ISO, EMAS) can be most useful driver to correct these
· Can be supported by regulatory measures
· However, "retrospective EIA" may not be best approach