An environment impact assessment (EIA) is an assessment of
the potential impacts whether positive or negative, of a proposed project on
the natural environment the E.I.A. Act, as it is informally called, deals with
the considerations of environmental impact in respect of public and private
projects.
Sections relevant to
environmental emergency prevention under the EIA include:-
1. Section
2(1): requires an assessment of public or private projects likely to have a
significant (negative) impact on the environment.
2. Section
2(4): requires an application in writing to the agency before embarking on
projects for their environmental assessment to determine approval.
3. Section 13:
establishes cases whereby an EIA is required and
4. Section
60: creates a legal liability for contravention of any provision
ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT ASSESSMENT: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE
The act is basically divided
into form parts
Part1- General Principles
of Environmental Impact Assessment with broad objectives of:
·
Determination
of environmental impacts of activities likely to negatively affect the environment;
[s1(a)]
·
Promotion
of implementation mechanism at the federal, state and local government levels;
[s1(b)]
·
To
encourage exchange of data and information as well as consultation and
notification of alerts across boundaries to other states, towns and
villages[s1(c)]
Other Provision
Include: (10)
·
Mandatory Assessment
– (ss2-3)
These sections make
it mandatory that an assessment be made of likely environmental impact or
effect an activity would have. This assessment should be made prior to approval
of final decision and at the very early stages of the activity.
·
Disclosure –(ss3,4
and 5)
Section 3 prescribes
that significances environment issues shall be identified (disclosed) and
studied while sections 4 specify the minimum matters that the environment
assessment report must contain:
·
Consultation [(ss7and
9(2), (3) and (4)]
Prior to giving a
decision on any proposed activity, FEPA shall afford concerned professional,
government agencies and other stake-holders opportunity to make an input.The
consequential report or decisions shall be public
·
Approval Procedure –[ss6,8,9
(1),10,11(2) and 13)]
The decision of FEPA
shall be impartial and given after a minimum time has elapsed, it should also
be writing and supported by reasons and details such as conditions for project executions,
to any directive for mitigating or that the project should be carried out under
supervisions. It may order further investigations into possible hazards.
·
Participations
[s11(1)]
Any parson or community
to be affected directly or remotely shall be notified and there shall be
“consultations” which in effect means that the parson or community shall have a
say in the final decision of FEPA.
PART
II- ENVIRONMENT ASSESSMENT OF PROJECTS
This part basically
covers the environment assessment process which
includes:
- Screening and review and matters incidental hereto (ss16-22)
- Mandatory study, notices and council’s decisions- (ss23-26)
- Discretionary powers of the agency,
mediation and constitutions of review panel and matters incidental thereto
(ss27-39) .
- Decision of the agency including
implementation of mitigation measure follow up programmes and certification
(ss40-42)
- Tran-border matter both domestic and
international; international agreements and arrangement; access to information
etc. (ss49-59).
PART
III MISCELLANEOUS
This covers the agency’s
power to issue guidelines, codes of practice and facilitating regulations,
offence and penalty; interpretation etc. The final part is the schedule which
contains the mandatory study activists.
These Include
Potential Project in:
·
Agriculture
·
Airport
·
Drainage
and irrigation
·
Land
reclamation
·
Fisheries
·
Forestry
·
Housing
·
Inducing
·
Infrastructure
·
Ports
·
Mining
·
Petroleum
·
Power
generation and transmission
·
Durries.
·
Rail
ways
·
Transportation
·
Resort
and recreational development
·
West
treatment and disposal
·
Water
supply.
Legislation that
should drive sustainable development. Further more, FEPA has developed detailed
procedural sectoral guidelines for case of preparation and assessment of
environmental impact report .
This Guidelines
Categorised Activates into:
- Project requiring public review panels
extensive public consultation etc. (FULL
EIA)
- Projects with limited potential
environmental impact eg electricity transmission; small scale agro based
industries, tourism, rehabilitation of roads etc.
- Projects likely to have negligible or no
potential environmental impacts such as education, family planning, health,
nutrition etc. (11)
Approval
procedure
As outlined in the procedural
guidelines approval procedure
involved (12)
a) NOTIFICATION TO FEPA:
This basically
starts with a notification in writing by the submission of the project proposal
and completion of the relevant fom (EIA notification form) and payment of N10,000 ($100)
b) INITIAL EXAMINATION BY
FEPA
FEPA then conducts
an initial environmental examination (IEE) by considering all relevant
information. The project is assigned a category and a screening report is
issued and sent to the project proponent.
c) SUBMISSION OF TERM OF
REFERENCE
The project
proponent in turn submit its term of
reference covering the environment issues based on site scoping, this is sent back
of FEPA.
d) REVIEW AND HEARING
If FEPA is not
satisfied with any issue, it may call for public hearing or ask for further studies.
e) DRAFT EIA REPORT
When FEPA is finally
satisfied the draft EIA report is prepared by the project proponent and
submitted to FEPA with a review fee of N240,000 ($2,400)
f) APPROVAL / “NO PROJECT
–DECISION”
If FEPA is satisfied
with the EIA report it may either approved or decline approval. If approval is
declined, there may be a review process (with a review panel sitting and
evidence called by both sides). The review panel will make recommendations on
the basis of the hearing.
g) FINAL EIA REPORT
If approval is given
or the review process is in favour of a approval, a final EIA report is submitted
to FEPA within 6 months
h CERTIFICATION
FEPA’s technical
committee then issues an environmental impact statement (EIS) along with a
certificate
i) FOLLOW-UP
Some conditions of
approval may specify that the project be executed under supervision such
supervision and the monitory functions of FEPA will continue possible
commissioning.
CHALLENGES
AND CONSTRAINTS
The basic challenge
confronting FEPA (now federal ministry of environment), is how to translate the
laudable provisions of the act into an effective tool for managing the environment.
The challenge is crucial because Nigeria, like most developing
countries, has world class legislation on various issues, which nevertheless
suffers failures at the implementation state.
Experience
especially in respect of infrastructure projects has shown that environmental
impact assessment is hardly under taken prior to the approval of any project.
The case of national stadium Abuja
is typical.
The principle
enshrined in the act, of pro-active integration of development programme and environmental
–friendly projects is observed more in the breach.
The key defaulter in
this exercise are the various levels of government; federal, state and local.
These levels of government routinely approve projects within the mandatory
study list, before any kind of impact assessment is made. For eg Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC)
in a recent press release had already decided to dredge Ayetoro canal prior to
any EIA (13) therefore most EIA reports are actually “post mortem” documents contrived
to “fulfil all righteousness” and fence –of resistance from concerned
non-governmental organization and affected host communities.
Even where the
requisite impact assessments were done the detailed procedure laid down in the
act /guidelines were usually forted especially in respect of consultation.
Insufficient consultations usually raises anxieties or premature expectations
which often manifested in unsubstantiated fears that project may cause adverse
impacts or false hopes that projects will bring benefits (14) this is usually
“mother” of most community unrest.
A matter currently
in the Nigeria
high court involves the federal ministry of environment and some coastal
communities along the Imo
River. The federal
government awarded the contract for the dredging of the river, to Nation’s only
Aluminium smelting factory at Ikot Abasi. The affected coastal communities
stiffly resisted the project on the ground that the draft EIA report was unfavourable
to the project. Unknown to them however, the final report got the approval of
the ministry and so the dredging project commenced. This represents a classic failure of consultations and so
today the matter is subjudice.
Further more, the proposal to dredge the river Niger to improve
in land water ways, is currently facing resistance from the coastal communities
who are demanding compensation for the potential impacts of the project. The
federal government only recently declined payment of compensation since it
said, the project holds potential economic benefits to the affected
communities.
Finally, the investment climate in Nigeria today
is completely receptive of all kinds of investments considered as accessory
drive economic growth. This us unwittingly made the country a dumping ground
for all kinds of obsolete technologies.
Poverty and prohibitive costs are often cited as disincentives
to importing clean technologies that meet international environmental standards.
Governmental for social reasons, appear willing to grant waivers thus diluting
the effect of EIA act.