Leather/Skin/Hide Processing Industry - Environmental Clearance

Conceptual Facets of EIAProject level EIAProject level EIA refers to the developmental activity in isolation and the impacts that itexerts on the receiving environment. Thus, it may not effectively integrate the cumulativeeffects of the development in a region.From the above discussion, it is clear that EIA shall be integrated at all the levels i.e.,strategic, regional, sectoral and the project level. Whereas, the strategic EIA is astructural change in the way the things are evaluated for decision-making, the regionalEIA refers to substantial information processing and drawing complex inferences. Theproject-level EIA is relatively simple and reaches to meaningful conclusions. Thereforein India, project-level EIA studies take place as a large-scale and are being considered.However, in the re-engineered Notification, provisions have been incorporated for givinga single clearance for the entire industrial estate for e.g., Leather parks, pharma cities etc.,which is a step towards the regional approach.As we progress and the resource planning concepts emerge in our decision-makingprocess, the integration of overall regional issues will become part of the impactassessment studies.2.6 Basic EIA PrinciplesBy integrating the environmental impacts of the development activities and theirmitigation early in the project planning cycle, the benefits of EIA could be realized in allstages of a project, from exploration and planning, through construction, operations,decommissioning, and beyond site closure.A properly-conducted-EIA also lessens conflicts by promoting community participation,informing decision makers, and also helps in laying the base for environmentally soundprojects. An EIA should meet at least three core values:Integrity: The EIA process should be fair, objective, unbiased and balancedUtility: The EIA process should provide balanced, credible information for decisionmakingSustainability: The EIA process should result in environmental safeguardsIdeally an EIA process should be:Purposive- should inform decision makers and result in appropriate levels ofenvironmental protection and community well-being.Rigorous- should apply ‘best practicable’ science, employing methodologies andtechniques appropriate to address the problems being investigated.Practical- should result in providing information and acceptable and implementablesolutions for problems faced by proponents.Relevant- should provide sufficient, reliable and usable information for developmentplanning and decision making.Cost-effective-. should impose minimum cost burdens in terms of time and financeon proponents and participants consistent with meeting accepted requirements andobjectives of EIATGM for Tanneries August 20102-12