What does the environmental impact assessment consist of?

Environmental impact assessment is one of the preventative management tools that enables the implementation of environmental policy measures and also ensures that they are included in the development and decision-making process at an early stage. Therefore, it evaluates and corrects human actions and avoids, mitigates or compensates for possible negative impacts on the environment.

One of the greatest challenges facing local governments today is the design and implementation of policies that make the economic and social development of the community compatible with the guiding principles of environmental protection and conservation that modern society demands.

To adequately solve this problem, a global view of the municipality’s environmental problems and its future prospects is required, which allows the establishment of an appropriate environmental management policy aimed at achieving the ultimate goal, namely the sustainable and sustainable development of the area.

The aim of environmental impact management is to reduce our interventions to a minimum, to maximize the chances of survival of all life forms, no matter how small and insignificant they may be from our point of view, and most often not out of a kind of magnanimity weak, but out of true intellectual humility, because we recognize that we do not really know what the loss of a living species can mean for biological balance.

Environmental impact assessment

Environmental impact assessment is one of the preventative management tools that enables the implementation of environmental policy measures and also ensures that they are included in the development and decision-making process at an early stage. Therefore, it evaluates and corrects human actions and avoids, mitigates or compensates for possible negative impacts on the environment.

This study allows us to document the entire analysis of the environmental impact of a given measure, as well as the various alternatives for its implementation, the mitigation and/or compensatory measures, as well as the follow-up, monitoring and control plans. In addition, they represent the primary source of information for those institutions that have to decide on a proposed action.

On the other hand, an environmental impact assessment is a series of technical-scientific, systematic and interrelated studies whose objective is to identify, predict and evaluate the positive or negative effects that one or more actions of human origin may have, the physical, biological or human Environment. The information provided by the study must enable us to draw conclusions about the impact that the introduction and development of a measure or project may have on the environment, to determine the measures to be taken to mitigate and monitor the impacts, and propose the necessary emergency plans.

An environmental impact assessment procedure offers a number of advantages that must be respected and taken into account, making it an appropriate tool for achieving adequate environmental protection. When it is included in the decision-making process about a particular action, variables are included that are not otherwise considered. Traditionally, decisions have been made based on, among other things, immediate economic costs, profitability and short-term needs. However, it is recognized that these must take into account the relationships between humans and nature, the rational use of resources and ultimately the sustainability of human activity.

In this sense, the inclusion of an environmental impact assessment process in the management of a proposed action complements the decisions and allows for their transparency, information and consensus, which must meet the following requirements:

1) Conform to the government’s own mandate and not take space away from the community or the private sector.
2) Integration with other policies into a consistent, hierarchical and financeable program.
3) Clarifying the responsibilities of the public sector, but also opening up community and private sector participation on a variety of issues.
4) Management must be best fit for purpose, creating greater responsibilities among executors, leading to greater transparency and accountability.
5) Be clear and quick about internal and external controls.
6) Be evaluated in every case.
7) Enable smooth communication between the public sector and the community at every stage.

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The term “environmental impact assessment” is currently reserved for studies relating to specific phases in the life of the company or company, such as: B. its location or installation, as it is usually necessary to obtain operating permits before the company is put into operation.

These studies are currently requested to carry out the environmental impact assessment administrative procedure. The implementation of these studies, in turn, has become a frequently used modality, as part of the administrative procedure for decision-making regarding productive activities in operation or for the approval of projects or investment plans for the installation and operation of production and production facilities/or service activities, as well as under among other things, for the construction of buildings and systems for various commercial and industrial activities.

Before the start of certain public works or projects or activities that may have a significant impact on the environment, the legislation requires an environmental impact assessment to be carried out in the event of their implementation. The purpose of the studies is to identify, predict and interpret the impact that this activity will have if carried out.

Environmental impacts are the consequences of an action that changes the living conditions or sustainability of an ecosystem, part of it, or the individuals that compose it. There is no generally accepted quantitative assessment to determine the magnitude of an impact, except in cases where the action causing it is associated with a measurable quantity; For example, the concentration of a certain pollutant in the water.

We know that the provision of drinking water for the consumption of the population and the supply of this element to the industries and businesses that need it is one of the greatest tasks of municipalities.

The high level of pollution detected in the water supply layers of most cities of our country, as well as in surface waters, is essentially due to the lack of adequate services in human concentrations and to industrial activities that are marginalized in compliance with environmental standards that Municipalities need to strengthen controls on water quality for human consumption.

One of the fundamental purposes of environmental impact assessment is to ensure that a project does not cause significant environmental impacts that affect environmental variables beyond the value that society seeks to protect. To make this purpose feasible, it is important to have an appropriate legal framework that includes the policies and laws protecting the environment to which the project or action must adapt.

In environmental impact assessment, the main problem for the efficient application of this tool is the low compliance and effectiveness of environmental management plans, largely due to the weakness of monitoring and control mechanisms and the timely application of corrective measures. www.

* Cristian Frers – Senior Environmental Management Technician and Senior Social Communications Technician.

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