Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 2.2
Environmental Impact Assessment -
Spatial Boundaries
SPATIAL
BOUNDARIES
Bo
ti
o
Although trans-boundary environ-
mental effects fi nd consideration,
environmental assessment is site based.
Since impacts extend beyond the areas
of physical changes, the geographic
boundary of an environmental assess-
ment study is larger than the actual
project area.
Project
Boundary
EXAMPLE
Social-economic
Boundary
Social-economic
Boundary
Ecological
Boundary
Project
Boundary
Study
Boundary
Administrative
Boundary
What time period should the EIA cover? In the case of the mining industry, an
EIA usually covers the life of the mine, but the actual mine life might be substantially
different from that assumed at the EIA stage. Commonly, mining projects are developed
when sufi cient ore reserves have been dei ned to support a particular level of investment.
Subsequent exploration carried out during the operating stage may identify much larger
ore reserves. Accordingly, EIA updates are common for big mines in order to accommo-
date changes in mine design, operation, or lessons learned. Raff (1997) refers to the 'rules'
Search WWH ::
Custom Search