Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Another analogy that is sometimes helpful in understanding envi-
ronmental impact evaluation is economic analysis. If an entrepreneur is
contemplating starting a retail, manufacturing, software, or some other
business venture, to be successful she or he must first conduct some form
of economic analysis. This entails understanding what is already in place
related to the proposed business, such as the competition, market, and
availability of resources (e.g., real estate, raw materials, and labor). A next
step in the economic analysis might be to develop the costs associated with
producing the envisioned goods or services and based on the understand-
ing of what is already in place, an expected return from the proposed busi-
ness can be predicted. Foolish and slated for failure is the entity that starts
a business without understanding the financial consequences of their
investment before they launch, and as described below, an environmental
impact analysis has many similarities. First there is a need to know what is
currently present, then what is proposed to be implemented, what are the
implications of the implementation, and finally how will existing condi-
tions be altered by the direct action and its implications? But as opposed
to a business endeavor, in the case of environmental analysis it is gener-
ally not the entity taking action that experiences the consequences, but the
environment and society.
Understanding the consequences and their environmental impacts is all
about predicting change. A consequence or an impact is a change from the
existing situation or the future conditions that will develop if not for the
proposed action under analysis. Similar to the economic analysis analogy
mentioned earlier, the first step is to develop a preliminary understand-
ing of what currently exists with respect to each environmental resource
potentially affected, which is commonly termed the affected environment,
existing conditions, or baseline conditions. Then each alternative for accom-
plishing the purpose and need of the project, plan, or policy can be projected
on the existing conditions, and the intersection of these two is the area of
impact (Figure 4.1). This intersection should be the area of focus both for
investigation and analysis. It is also the critical area used in the comparison
of alternatives and development of mitigation measures.
This simplistic depiction of impact analysis is obviously not a detailed
guide to predicting impacts, but it should be kept in mind while planning
and conducting the analysis and used to stay on track. If the evaluation
approaches the fringes of the “credit card” diagram (Figure 4.1) and details of
the proposed action are being developed which have no interaction with the
existing conditions of relevant environmental resources, the analysis is off
course. Similarly, if biological investigations are proposed that detail breed-
ing activities of a species, which migrates far from the project area to breed,
the goal of environmental impact prediction will not be advanced. In both
cases not only do the investigations not advance the process, they consume
valuable resources and time and give fodder to critics who view environ-
mental impact analysis as a useless process which delays important actions.
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