Università di Padova
SECOND CYCLE DEGREE PROGRAMME (MSC
LEVEL) IN ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT ASSESSMENT
A.A. 2014-2015
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Environmental Impact
The 'environmental impact' can be defined as
the effect of an anthropic intervention
which caused deterioration of individual
environmental components or an environmental
system as a whole.
More precisely, an environmental impact is:
the result of interferences caused by a initial
source, through chains of more or less
complex events, generating pressures on
significant environmental targets
with the potential to alter them
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Environmental Impact
SOURCE
Elementary
action
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Direct
Interference
Environmental
System
Primary environmental
target
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Environmental categories
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• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
Atmosphere
Water Environment
Soil and subsoil
Vegetation, flora and fauna
Ecosystems
Public Health
Noise and vibration
Landscape
Ionizing and non-ionizing radiations
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Environmental risk
Linked with the concept of impact is also, from a
technical viewpoint, that of
RISK
an environmental risk may be in some ways
considered a potential impact
IInd PART of the COURSE
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Identification of impacts
•  Be consistent with the regulations
•  Provide a comprehensive picture of the impacts
•  Distinguish between impacts that are:
• 
• 
• 
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positive and negative,
extended or limited,
long-term or short-term,
reversible or irreversible,
significant or not,
direct or secondary
•  Allow comparison between alternatives
•  Incorporate information both qualitative and
quantitative
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA)
Administrative and technical procedure aimed at
formulating an assessment of compatibility of a new
construction and / or substantial changes to the
environment, understood as the set of human activities
and natural resources.
The EIA identifies and describes the status of fact and
evaluates the design stage. It is based on a forecast of
possible disruptive effects of the initial environmental
situation, i.e. the impacts generated by the achievement
of the project.
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Objectives of the EIA
The EIA aims at assessing and comparing solutions
through analyses of different alternatives allowing to
achieve the goal targeted by the work.
Its purpose is the prevention and protection of the
environment, consistent with the needs of
economic development.
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Brief History (I)
!  The EIA was introduced as an instrument of environmental policy
in U.S. law with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in
1969
!  In 1976 were introduced in France “les études d'impact” for
operations that can have disruptive effects on the environment
!  In the European legislation is the second program of Community
environmental action of 1977 to indicate as an objective the
creation of mechanisms to ensure preventive actions
!  In 1985 the EEC adopted the first EIA Directive (Directive85/337/
EEC: Environmental impact assessment of certain projects, public
or private), to be implemented by 1988
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Brief History (II)
!  In 1997 was issued a second Directive (97/11/EC) refering only
to projects of works. The most important innovation is the
inclusion of the screening phase (selection), which allows to
decide which of the projects for which EIA is not mandatory,
should however be submitted to the procedure
!  In 2001 was issued a third directive (2001/42/EC), not related to
projects of individual works but to the assessment of the effects
of particular plans and programs (SEA)
!  The EIA has been implemented in Italy by Law 349/1986, which
addressed the issue in general terms, leaving the definition of
the details to subsequent legislation
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Involved Subjects
The EIA is a procedure that involves three major players:
!  The proposer or the developer of the work: requests the
authorization to make it and justifies the choice through the
production of the EIS (Environmental Impact Study ). Law
tends to distinguish between the developer and proponent, eg.
Regional Veneto’s Law states that the developer is the private
entity, while the proposing authority is the public subject.
!  The public administration: is called to verify the adequacy of
the project and to evaluate the EIS submitted by the proposer
!  The population involved: both directly and through
representatives of political parties, associations, their
delegates or consultants involved in various ways in the
decision to reject, approve or request changes to the draft
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Environmental Impact Study (EIS)
!  Documents the studies conducted by the
proposer in order to assess the effects of the
proposed work on the environmental system with
reference to components, factors, relations
between them and quality state of the concerned
area
!  Must be drawn up in accordance with the
requirements of the following frameworks:
1.  Planning or programmatic,
2.  designing (project) and
3.  environmental
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Discussion of alternatives
•  Strategic: the search for design alternatives
for the realization of the same objective
•  Localization, necessary in the planning work
•  Process or structural, only useful in the
general or executive design
•  Clearing and Mitigation, useful during the
executive design
•  Zero, valid only in the feasibility study: in
practice indicates the need of the project
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Possible goals of the EIS
•  Choose the minimum impact of the work among more than one project and
more than one site (Allocation and optimal choice);
•  Choose the work with a minimal impact among more than one project for a
single site (Optimal choice of project)
•  Choose between a single project and more than one site (optimal
allocation);
•  Assess the environmental eligibility of a single project for a single site
(Remediableness of the project)
•  Rate the level of environmental acceptability of a work already allocated or
for which has already been decided on the creation or allocation
(Remediableness of the work with subsequent amendments)
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
General structure of the EIS
•  Pogrammatic framework
•  Design framework
•  Environmental framework
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Programmatic Framework
• Reconstructs the programmatic and planning
scenario in the project area
• Analyzes the relationship between the
proposed intervention and the territorial and
sectorial planning and scheduling acts (GUP,
etc. ..).
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Designing Framework
•  Discusses the reasons assumed by the
proposer in the definition of the initiative
•  Evaluates the technological choices of the
project
•  Identifies the causes of interference with the
environment (as measured in various stages of the project:
construction, operation, malfunction and disposal or
decommissioning)
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Environmental Framework
Analyze the natural and anthropic components affected
by the project and the interactions between them and the
environmental system taken as a whole.
Also to be described:
•  Impacts of different nature related to the new infrastructures
•  Measures for a correct integration into the landscape and the
ecosystem
•  Containment measures of the possible impacts related to
emissions of pollutants
•  Measures of compensation and restoration of sites
•  Monitoring measures and established control procedures
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Information
The organization of an EIS requires a rational
managing of the information flows.
These should be:
–  quantitatively important
–  qualitatively consistent
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Documentation
•  Technical documents (EIS and design scripts)
•  Non technical documents aimed at informing the public
(non-technical summary and documentation certifying
the publication of the acts)
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Terminology
The adoption of a clear terminology (semantics
associated with the jargon) is particularly
important because, especially in this sector, the
use of an understandable but precise technical
language is a definite priority.
must create between disciplines
“a common language”
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Impacts (I)
Interferences on the system may be:
direct or indirect
The former are Primary impacts;
The latter, impacts that are induced elsewhere in
space and/or later in time,
these are Secondary impacts.
eg. The removal of soil for the construction of an
incinerator and the effects of traffic generated by waste
transport
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Impacts (II)
Another important distinction is that related to:
-  Long-term impacts vs short
-  Reversible vs irreversible impacts
-  Impacts on individual components vs cumulative and
synergistic
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Impacts (III)
Synergetic
Elements or environmental conditions able to
destroy or enhance the environmental effects of a
work
Sensitive target
Sensitive element thought to be subject to
significant disruption
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Leopold Matrix
Componenti
ambientali
Environmental
components
Attività AriaAir
Acqua
Suolo
Soil
Water
Activities
Produzi
Energy
one
di
Producti
on
energia
Costruzi
Road
constructi
one di
on
strade
Biosfera
Biosphere …..
……
1 ..10
+ o-
……
……
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Environmental study (I)
Model
Synthetic representation of a given reality or schematic
representation in order to explicitate real situations
Environmental Component
Item or category of elements that costitute the environment
and that are physically definable
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Environmental study (II)
Environmental Variable
Element that characterizes the state and dynamics of
environmental components that varies in space and
time
Environmental Indicator
Environmental Variable capable of representing
environmental situations not directly measurable
through physical units
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Environmental study (III)
Environmental Parameter
Conventional quantity that measures the value taken
by a given environmental variable (e.g. dissolved
oxygen, hourly traffic ...)
Environmental Factor
Environmental component that interacts with others
conditioning its state or evolution (e.g. the
chemical-physical state of water, [acidification])
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015
Environmental study (IV)
Environmental Process
Transformation of a given environmental reality,
through intermediate stages more or less
recognizable, determined by a series of internal or
external factors
Complex Environmental System
Real environment resulting from the interaction of
more environmental factors both natural and
anthropogenic
Università di Padova
LASA - DII
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Engineering
a.a. 2014/2015