Scoping in EIA

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Scoping in EIA

• theoretical strengths and practical weaknesses
• Paulo PinhoJoão MargalhaFaculty of
  EngineeringUniversity of OportoPortugal

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1. Concept

• Scoping set of procedural steps designed to
  support the preparation of an EIA report tailored
  to decision making needs and objectives
• Scoping objectives
• identify the most significant environmental
  issues from a decision point of view
• eliminate irrelevant subject matters and
  irrelevant project alternatives
• suggest the most appropriate methods and
  techniques
• allow an early involvement of the public,
  identifying target groups and responsive
  participation methods
• define the terms of reference of the EIA report

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2. Context

• in line with EU Directives, scoping is a recent
  legal requirement of the Portuguese EIA system
  (Decree-law no. 69/2000 from the 3rd of May and
  Ministerial Order no. 330/2001 from the 2nd of
  April)
• in theory, it may lead to positive improvements
  in EIA effectiveness (consensual view in the
  international literature)
• nevertheless, short experience of statutory and
  non statutory scoping procedures (at least in
  Portugal)

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3. Scoping in Portugal

• the proponent as the right (but not the duty) to
  present a scoping proposal to the EIA authority
• the EIA authority has the duty to analyze the
  scoping proposal (an EIA Commission is
  constituted for this purpose)
• institutional and public consultation is optional
  (it is a proponents decision)
• based on the EIA Commissions appraisal, the EIA
  authority issue a position on each and every
  scoping proposal received, and a detailed
  recommendation on the contents of the subsequent
  EIS (within 30 working days, or 60-70 working
  days if public participation took place)

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3. Scoping in Portugal (cont.)

Scoping proposal Statement of investment
commitment
The proponent submits to the EIA Authority a
scoping proposal and a statement of investment
commitment
EIA Authority calls for written advices by public
agencies
The EIA Authority designates the EIA Commission
Public agencies written advices
15 days
Scoping proposal is analysed by the EIA Commission
30 or 60 -70 days
outputs
Following proponents initiative and EIA
Commission decision, the IPAMB promotes the
Public Consultation
10-20 days
IPAMB prepares the Public Consultation Report
Public consultation report
10 days
EIA Commission decides over the scoping proposal
and notifies the proponent
Scoping statement
adapted from Partidário and Pinho (2000)
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4. Research objectives

• verify to what extent scoping is improving the
  contents of EIA reports and the effectiveness of
  EIA decision making
• investigate the operational dimension of the
  scoping concept
• verify if the Portuguese EIA system offers sound
  scoping procedures
• assess recent scoping practice in Portugal

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5. Methodology
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6. Study period case analysis

• 2000.05.03 2001.04.02 (11 months) 17 sp DL
  69/2000
• 2001.04.03 2001.11.01 ( 7 months) 10 sp DL
  69/2000 MO 330/2000
• (18
  months) sp scoping proposals
• no. of sp / no. of project EIAs 27/108 25
• Typology of projects with scoping proposals
  submitted
• Agriculture 1
• Fuel Storage 1 22 Annex I, 78
  Annex II
• Dams 3 37 public,
  63 private
• Energy production 5 78 accepted,
  22 not accepted
• Pipelines 3 15 beyond deadline,
  85 in time
• Manufacturing 3 22 with public
  part. 78 without p.p.
• Extractive ind. 5
• Transports 2
• Urban / tourist 4
• TOTAL 27

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7. Evaluation

• evaluation factors for a scoping proposal
• characterizes the project
• presents alternatives
• describes project actions
• Identifies impacts
• defines impact significance
• proposes the exclusion of particular impacts
• addresses key issues (impacts)
• plans the EIA report
• evaluation criteria
• Not considered
• Considered standard
• 3 - High well developed and technically solid
• 2 - Medium less developed and/or technically
  fair
• 1 - Low incomplete and/or technically poor

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8. Results
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9. Conclusions

• the practice of scoping - revealed by the
  analysis of the technical quality of scoping
  proposals - has steadily improved throughout the
  study period
• our research shows the positive impact of the
  detailed regulations of 2001, that intended to
  complement the general legislation of 2000
• generally speaking, the present legal framework
  seems fairly balanced and comprehensive
• nevertheless, sufficient evidence was gathered to
  suggest that there is still a large room for the
  improvement of scoping practice in Portugal

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9. Conclusions (cont.)

• much of the potential (theoretical) benefits of
  scoping are still to be realised in practice, in
  particular when it comes
• to eliminate irrelevant subjects from EIA
  reports, and
• to open a window of public participation early on
  in the EIA process
• indeed, two of the major stakeholders involved in
  the scoping process prefer to adopt a rather
  defensive standing
• the proponents postponing, as much as possible,
  the disclosure of information on the
  environmental consequences of their development
  proposals,
• the environmental authorities avoiding clear cut
  decisions to reduce (and focus) the contents of
  subsequent EIA reports

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10. Recommendations

• a more pro-active standing by the Portuguese
  environmental authorities in favour of scoping
• the EIA authorities at national and regional
  level should encourage the adoption of scoping,
  particularly in public sector projects subject to
  EIA (as an example to be followed by the private
  sector)
• better coordination of EIA Commissions' work to
  enable consistent evaluations of scoping
  proposals and to avoid some delays still
  occurring in the final approval of scoping
  proposals

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10. Recommendations (cont.)

• environmental authorities should explore the
  benefits of the generalisation of public
  participation in scoping, encouraging the
  adoption of participation practices in all public
  sector projects
• preparation of a Manual of Good Practices (and
  Case Studies) to back the work of environmental
  consultants and officials, to make possible the
  adoption of more open, ambitious and far-reaching
  positions on both sides
• further research linking scoping to the contents
  of the EIA report and the Final Decision
  Statement (equivalent to the EIS)