Environmental Impact Assessment (Eia) On Project Design: An Emperical Approach

Abstract

The concept of EIA in Nigeria, after its introduction in 1992 via EIA Act No 82, has not really been given its place as a standard enforcement tool in the areas of project development; such that lobbying is better preferred by both project proponents and environmental regulating agencies. This makes it difficult for the emergence of environmental conscious or sensitive project designs. The research work, studied and exposed the nature, concept and composition of both project design and EIA, and as such anchored centrally on the level of impacts of EIA exercise on the design stage of a project. F-test (one way ANOVA) statistical tool were used to analyze the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance; and in the presentation of the field survey data, simple percentage were employed while considering 89 respondents out of the sample size of 100. The phases in project design were analyzed as to the impacts of EIA exercise on their different processes. Also, four key effects of EIA exercise on project design were established, such as development of design alternatives, identification of risk(s) in the design, and design recap or modification. A relationship between the cost of EIA exercise and the cost of design was established, thereby revealing that the exercise cannot for any reason create a scenario which supports project delay, due to delay in the final design (detailed design). The research work dissuades the speculations that EIA exercise is an add-on exercise (inconsequential) for project design.

Key words: EIA, Project Design, Project appraisal, baseline information