Starting up; early stages - Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment - page 101

themselves to the clear presentation of the alternatives in question, and none of them
clearly states who will be affected by the different alternatives.
4.6 Understanding the project/development action
4.6.1 Understanding the dimensions of the project
At first glance, this description of a proposed development would appear to be one of the
more straightforward steps in the EIA process. However, projects have many dimensions,
and relevant information may be limited. As a consequence, this first step may pose some
challenges. Crucial dimensions to be clarified include the purpose of the project, its life
cycle, physical presence, process(es), policy context and associated policies.
Schedule 3 of the T&CP (EIA) (England and Wales) Regulations 1999 requires “a
description of the development proposed, comprising information about the site and the
design and scale or size of the development” and “the data necessary to identify and
assess the main effects which that development is likely to have on the environment”. It
also requires:
• a description of the physical characteristics of the whole development and the land-use
requirements during the construction and operational phases;
• a description of the main characteristics of the production processes, for instance, nature
and quantity of the materials used;
• an estimate, by type and quantity, of expected residues and emissions (water, air and
soil pollution, noise, vibration, light, heat, radiation, etc.) resulting from the operation
of the proposed development;
where such information may be “reasonably required to assess the environmental effects
of the development and which the applicant can, having regard in particular to current
knowledge and methods of assessment, reasonably be required to compile”.
Environmental impact assessment: guide to the procedures (ODPM 2003a) provides a
longer checklist of information that may be used to describe the project (see Table 3.5).
An outline of the purpose and rationale of a project provides a useful introduction to
the project description. This may, for example, set the particular project in a wider
context—the missing section of a major motorway, a power station in a programme of
developments, a new settlement in an area of major population growth. A discussion of
purpose may include the rationale for the particular type of project, for the choice of the
project's location and for the timing of the development. It may also provide background
information on planning and design activities to date.
As we noted in Section 1.5, all projects have a life cycle of activities, and a project
description should clarify the various stages in the life cycle, and their relative duration,
of the project under consideration. A minimum description would usually involve the
identification of construction and operational stages and associated activities. Further
refinement might include planning and design, project commissioning, expansion, close-
down and site rehabilitation stages. The size of the development at various stages in its
life cycle should also be specified. This can include reference to inputs, outputs, physical
size and the number of people to be employed.