Summary

• The full EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) study is a more significant effort than the preliminary assessment.
• Preliminary assessment


  Only preliminary, not as detailed as the full EIA study
• Full EIA study


  More detailed, reserved for activities where screening or preliminary assessment shows significant impacts are likely
• Purpose of full EIA study

  Not to find impacts that will not be significant, but to allow an informed decision to be made about which significant environmental impacts may be acceptable to obtain a particular development objective
• Determining if the environment can hold/accumulate environmental impacts

  The main purpose of EIA is to predict and quantify the possible impact of a project or activity, and find ways to mitigate those impacts so the environment can still uphold its functions
• Example of environment not being able to hold impacts

  • A lake that cannot recycle pollution beyond a certain amount, becoming polluted
• Purpose of EIA


  To predict and quantify the possible impact of a project or activity, and find ways to mitigate those impacts so the environment can still uphold its functions
• Parties involved in EIA

  • Sponsor of the activity
  • Regulatory agencies/review authorities (DENR, EMB)
  • Broad-based public (communities, civil society, private sector, people's organizations)
• Effective EIA


  • Integral part of the project development cycle (pre-construction, construction, post-construction, abandonment)
  • Involves mitigation and monitoring
  • Honest in considering real alternatives and assessing impacts
  • Transparent and accessible to all stakeholders
• EIA should not end when the project is already built, but should integrate the project development cycle
• If impacts not predicted in the EIA study are encountered during implementation, they should be integrated into the mitigation and monitoring process
• EIA must be honest, considering real alternatives and assessing impacts truthfully
• EIA products must be clear, transparent, and accessible to all stakeholders