Appendices

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Appendix C - Module Assignment - Analysis of EIA for an energy

project

Introduction
This assignment accounts for 40% of the final assessment of the module. The complete
assignment should be returned to the course administrator along with a signed Declaration of
Authorship. The date of submission and Declaration of Authorship will be published on the
VISION (also known as Blackboard) at http://vision.hw.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp.
The aim of this assessment is for you to apply some of the knowledge and skills that you have
been developing throughout this module. It designed for you to choose the kinds of project that
really interest you. Projects chosen in the past include wind and wave farms, hydroelectric dams,
decommissioning, gas pipelines etc. There is no restriction on the country of origin of a project
so this assessment can also be used to gain more familiarity about the EIA legislation and
procedures in different countries.

In order to start this assessment; you need to select a project type. The project used can be a
real project that has already had an EIA producd, it can be a real project that has been
relocated, so that the specifications are the same but the location has been changed or it can
be a totally hypothetical project where you decide on both the location and the specifications.
However a word of warning it can be tempting to do this assessment on a project where the
EIA has been done and is available but the assessment is NOT about reading and summarizing
an EIS, the assessment requires you to think through project actions and do your own analysis.
ALL sources of information (diagrams, data, pictures, ideas, literature and any other external
material) must be referenced in the text AND at the end of your assessment according to
standard Harvard referencing procedures. The full details of which can be found in the following
useful guide:

http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/library/citing_references/docs/Citing_Refs.pdf

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Word limit: approximately 2500 (excluding diagrams, table contents and references). The word
limit is deliberately tight in order to make you think carefully about what information is relevant.
Please state your word limit on the coversheet of your assessment.
Instructions
You need to start of by thinking about what type of project you are interested in looking at in
more depth. You might have read about a proposed project in a newspaper or come across one
on the Internet. Once you have found a project type that you are interested in, you will need to
decide whether you want to use a real-life example or make up a hypothetical example (or you
can use a mixture of both e.g. an actual project that you move elsewhere). There are
advantages and disadvantages to both. Usually it is a good idea to do some research looking for
the type of projects that have been proposed in an area. You will also need to think about the
availability of information for all parts of the assessment.
Once you have decided on the project, you need to think about scale, location and surroundings.
If you are relocating your project, is the area that you have selected sensible in terms of natural
resources, local environment and infrastructure.
The assessment has been divided up into a number of sections to facilitate good time
management. Think carefully about the time and word allocation for each section. Remember to
note all your sources of information in a reference log as you find them (doing references at the
last minute is difficult and you are likely to make mistakes). Make sure that there is information
available for all parts of the assessment before you commit yourself to a particular project.

Part 1 (worth 30%)

1) A description of the project why is the development taking place? what does the
development consist of (do not assume that the person reading with know what a pipeline
or a nuclear plant consists of be specific)? What are the project timescales and projected
lifetime?
2) Maps and explanation of the location of the project (this can include sensitive surrounding
environments). REMEMBER to reference ALL diagrams unless you have drawn them
yourself. Make sure maps are legible and give scales.
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3) A brief scoping exercise to determine the main impacts you can use any of the methods
described in class or devise your own.
Part 2 (worth 50%)
Using your scoping exercise, choose one environmental parameter where there are likely to be
significant impacts. Generally the more specific that you make this area, the easier it is to stay
within word limits. For example air quality is a broad area, CO emissions is much more specific.
4) Explain what legislation and policy covers this particular parameter
5) Discuss and give examples of the baseline data that is available for this parameter and what
gaps there are in that data
6) Discuss the type of prediction methods that could be used for this parameter
7) Discuss possible mitigation measures for the significant impacts on this parameter

Part 3 (worth 20%)

8) Explain which agencies would be involved in the consultation exercises for this project and at
what stage(s) they would be involved.
9) Explain how the EIS would be used by competent authorities to make decisions about
whether to give development consent to the project.

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