Integration of the Standalone ‘Risk Assessment’ Section in Project Level Environmental Impact Assessment Reports for Value Addition: An Indian Case Analysis

Abstract

Both environmental impact assessment (EIA) and risk assessment (RA) instituted some 50 years ago are interdisciplinary and decision-support tools and have analogies in their procedural steps. Environmental risk assessment could be employed as such or as complementary to EIA for environmental management. This study aims to examine how RA is dealt with in the EIA reports of greenfield projects. The investigation reveals that RA is treated as a standalone exercise and too inadequately in EIA studies. There is a lack of well-defined criteria and methodologies for RA in different contexts, evaluation of prediction uncertainties, residual risks, assimilating RA in EIA, regulatory framework to strengthen RA integration in EIA, objective review of RA by the competent authority, and EIA follow-up. Unambiguous terms of reference are proposed for RA in EIA under the prevailing regulation for immediate implementation. The duration and cost of preparing and reviewing EIA reports integrated with RA would increase but there would be more value addition to the EIA studies. Comprehensive EIA regulation, RA-related scoping, and institutional capacity building could help promote such integration that is crucial for assessing industrial and other anthropogenic calamities at the project development stage.