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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT SYSTEM IN NEPAL - AN OVERVIEW OF POLICY, LEGAL INSTRUMENTS AND PROCESS

Authors:
  • Institute of Ecology and Environment
  • School of Environmental Science and Management (SchEMS) Pokhara University

Abstract

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is one of the major instruments integrated with a goal of making economic development project, environmentally sound and sustainable. The use of EIA began in 1970 in USA and spread rapidly throughout the world particularly after the UN Earth Summit held in 1992. To enable such issues to be taken into account in decision making it was necessary to introduce a systematic procedure of EIA. Therefore, to date many of the countries of world have a legal and institutionalized system of EIA. In the planning history of Nepal, the Sixth Plan (1980-'85), for the first time recognized the need for EIA integration for major infrastructure projects. The government of Nepal enunciated environment conservation related policies in the Seventh Plan (1985-90). In order to enforce this policy, a series of guidelines were developed incorporating the elements of environmental factors right from the project formulation stage of development plans. Environmental Assessment Guideline 1993 was the first "lesson learnt" document in Nepal which has played facilitation role in the EIA process. Until than, international obligations, conventions, guideline, treaties applied for the environmental and biodiversity conservation measures at the policy level. Inspired by the international conventions, treaties and planned EIA process internationally; Nepal government has established EIA system for developmental projects with the formulation of Environmental Protection Rules 1997 as well as sectoral policy, laws and guidelines. Based on the formulated Act, regulations, and guidelines, criteria for IEE/EIA has established that the development projects certainly require environmental assessment study as per the nature of the projects unless they cross the given threshold for the disruption of the environmentally sensitive areas and their natural environment. Leafing the policies and legal instruments of the country, now the ongoing EIA system has big challenge towards environmental management and biodiversity conservation for sustainable development.
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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT SYSTEM IN NEPAL - AN
OVERVIEW OF POLICY, LEGAL INSTRUMENTS AND PROCESS
Ramesh Prasad Bhatt*, Sanjay Nath Khanal
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering
School of Science, Kathmandu University
P.O. BOX NO. 6250, Kathmandu, NEPAL.
*Corresponding author: rameshbhatta@yahoo.com
Received 18 January, 2009; Revised 10 September, 2009
ABSTRACT
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is one of the major instruments integrated with a goal of
making economic development project, environmentally sound and sustainable. The use of EIA
began in 1970 in USA and spread rapidly throughout the world particularly after the UN Earth
Summit held in 1992. To enable such issues to be taken into account in decision making it was
necessary to introduce a systematic procedure of EIA. Therefore, to date many of the countries of
world have a legal and institutionalized system of EIA. In the planning history of Nepal, the Sixth
Plan (1980-'85), for the first time recognized the need for EIA integration for major infrastructure
projects. The government of Nepal enunciated environment conservation related policies in the
Seventh Plan (1985-90). In order to enforce this policy, a series of guidelines were developed
incorporating the elements of environmental factors right from the project formulation stage of
development plans. Environmental Assessment Guideline 1993 was the first “lesson learnt”
document in Nepal which has played facilitation role in the EIA process. Until than, international
obligations, conventions, guideline, treaties applied for the environmental and biodiversity
conservation measures at the policy level.
Inspired by the international conventions, treaties and planned EIA process internationally; Nepal
government has established EIA system for developmental projects with the formulation of
Environmental Protection Rules 1997 as well as sectoral policy, laws and guidelines. Based on the
formulated Act, regulations, and guidelines, criteria for IEE/EIA has established that the
development projects certainly require environmental assessment study as per the nature of the
projects unless they cross the given threshold for the disruption of the environmentally sensitive
areas and their natural environment. Leafing the policies and legal instruments of the country, now
the ongoing EIA system has big challenge towards environmental management and biodiversity
conservation for sustainable development.
Keywords: EIA- Environmental Impact Assessment, EPA- Environmental Protection Act, EPR-
Environmental Protection Regulation
INTRODUCTION
Depletion of natural resources induced by human activities and subsequent environmental
degradation has attracted steadily growing interests in the last few decades. Such concerns make it
evident the necessity for the planning authorities to count on sound information about the possible
environmental consequences of development actions. One of the tools available to satisfy this need is
represented by the procedure of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). This procedure involves
the systematic identification and evaluation of the impacts on the environment caused by a proposed
project. EIA is now applied worldwide in various forms. Its potential role in attaining the objective
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of sustainable development was explicitly recognized during the Earth Summit 1992 held in Rio de
Janeiro (United Nations 1992).
The EIA procedure generates a report and discusses the acceptability of the predicted environmental
impacts. Such a report is submitted to the authorities to support the decision-making related to the
approval of the development under consideration. The EIA is made up of a number of
multidisciplinary issues on biophysical, socioeconomic and cultural environment, each one
addressing specifically different category of impacts of each environmental component.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) emerged as a response to the concern expressed by the
environmental movements of 1960s; USA formulated National Environment Protection Act in 1969
with the requirement of Environmental Impact Statements (EIA) for major federal actions
significantly affecting the quality of human environment. Since the 1960s, growing environmental
awareness has focused attention on the interactions between development actions and their
environmental consequences. EIA has been a great interest in virtually of all of the industrialized
nations of the world, where it has now become major tool for environmentally sound management
practices and for the attainment of sustainable management goals.
Present is the key to the past, James Hutton (1785), Human activities decrease and increase the
magnitude and frequency of natural process. Examples are flooding, landslide, changes in
hydrological regime, environmental pollution, habitat fragmentation and species extension.
Maintaining the ecosystem is the sustainability of life and EIA tool is for decision making sound
environmental management practices (NEPA 1969).
EIA is a tool for environmental analysis in developing countries (Ahmad and Sammy 1985, 1985;
Biswas and Qu Geping.1987; UNEP, 1988).Any project entails a set of activities over period of time,
project activities occur either during the construction period or during the operations or in both
periods. Such activities generate some stresses, which may have impacts on the impacts. A)
Resource impacts b) human welfare impacts c) environmental impact and d) global impacts. The
pathway of impacts can be traced from three distinct sources: resource depletion or degradation,
pollution and human activities.
However, progress in adopting EIA as an environmental tool has been extremely slow in the
developing countries. Although these countries have always had general environment related laws
and regulations which can be exploited for EIA purposes, these have had very limited impacts as
environmental protection measures because of serious technical, administrative and political
constraints (Gamman, J.K.Mc Creary, S.T.1988, Fola S. Ebisemiju 1993), In fact, only a few
developing countries have used them to demand EIA.
At the beginning of the 1980s there was apprehensive pressure to introduce systematic assessment of
the environmental consequences of forestry and other development projects in the developing
countries. The sense of urgency comes from the fragility of the forest resources themselves and from
the establishment of regularity agencies in the developing countries, from the procedural
requirements of international funding and technical assistance agencies and individual donor
countries, and from the activism of the international conservation and scientific community (FAO
Conservation Guide, 1992).
BACKGROUND
The EA system of Nepal has introduced successfully after the enforcement of Environment
Protection Rules (EPR) 1997, which made IEE/EIA mandatory for the governmental as well as the
private sector. Prior to this, IEE/EIA was mandatory only for the governmental sector, ever since the
enforcement of the National Guidelines (1993). However, the historical establishment of EIA process
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began since late 1980s.The following sections gives an outline of the major achievements to
establish policy and legal instrument for the proper implementation of the EA system in Nepal.
EIA Policies in Nepal
First Five Year Plan (1956-1961), was the first planned process of development in Nepal while Sixth
Five Year Plan (1980-1985) had first mentioned the need for EIA for major infrastructure projects.
Government had established a project entitled “Environmental Impact Study Project” (EISP) under
the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation in 1982. During 1982 to 1988, EISP prepared draft
documents on environmental policy, environmental act and guidelines and conducted EIA on several
ongoing infrastructure projects. However, the efforts at project level became ineffective, due to lack
of interest of the decision-makers and the politicians (Bhattarai, 1999).
Seventh Five Year Plan (1985-1990), first time a national level policy on environment management
was incorporated. The policy emphasized to carry out EIA for all major development projects such
as tourism, water resources, infrastructure, forestry and industry. However, implementation of EIA
policy was not realized to the extent previewed. EIA was carried out in hydro-power development,
irrigation and drinking water and road construction without mandatory requirement of the
Government, though, but rather as a requirement stipulated by loan and donor agencies. The Nepal
Government/National Planning Commission (NPC) and IUCN developed and endorsed the National
Conservation Strategy (NCS) in this period for sustainable management of natural resources and the
protection of the environment. The NCS for Nepal was prepared jointly as an inter-sectoral umbrella
policy at the national level for addressing environmental issues during the development process.
Eighth Five Year Plan (1991-1995) and the Nepal Environmental Policy and Action Plan (1993) re-
emphasized the need for an EIA system to integrate environmental concerns into the development
process. The Eight Five Year Plan anticipated the establishment of a national system for EIA and
stipulated that EIA be conducted at the stage of feasibility study. Considering the NCS mandatory
and constraint on policy and plan for the preparation of EIAs in Seventh Five Year Plan., first
National EIA Guideline was endorsed in September 1992 and gazetted in July 1993.
Tenth Periodic Plan (2002-2007) the plan seeks to reduce poverty from 38% to 30% by 2007 through
emphasis on four key areas, high, sustainable, and broad based economic growth, social sector and
rural infrastructure development; targeted program for the ultra-poor, vulnerable and deprived
groups; and good governance. This plan includes genetic resources and biodiversity conservation
programs in sustainable manner.
Tenth Five Year Plan, 2003 Conservation of biodiversity through management of buffer zone
involving local user groups, promote & encourage Eco-tourism in the protected areas. Conservation
of biological diversity will be achieved through the utilization of landscape approach, community
participation, and soil conservation in sustainable way forming basis for development.
POLICIES RELATED TO DIFFERENT SECTOR
Besides these national level policies, sectoral development policies have also emphasized, the need
of environmental management, including the adoption of EIA process. For instance, the Hydropower
Development Policy (1992) has stated for a need to "render assistance in the conservation of
environment by supplying clean energy through the development of hydro-electric power". The
Irrigation Policy, 1993 (revision 1997) commitments are directed towards the design and
implementation of irrigation projects based on the recommendations of the EIA and IEE reports,
prepared as per the National EIA Guidelines, 1993. Similarly the sectoral policies of forests,
industry, tourism, and solid waste management have accorded high priority to integrate
environmental aspects in the respective development projects and programmes. The policy initiatives
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clearly indicate government’s commitment that opens a number of avenues to internalize and
institutionalize EIA system in decision-making process.
LAWS RELATED TO EIA
In the process of internalizing the Environmental Assessment System in development proposals, the
government of Nepal enacted the Environment Protection Act (EPA) 1997 and the Environment
Protection Rules (EPR), 1997, which makes the integration of IEE and EIA legally binding to the
prescribed projects. Proposals requiring IEE and EIA study are included in Schedules 1 and 2 of the
EPR, 1997 (amendment 1999) respectively.
The EPA, 1997 obliges the proponent to prepare IEE or EIA report on the prescribed proposals.
Implementation of such proposals is carried out after the approval of EIA by concerned agency
(sectoral ministry) and MoEST. The Act outlines the process for the submission of the proposal by
the proponent and approval of reports through the concerning authority. The EPR, 1997 elaborates
provisions to prepare and submit the scoping report, Terms of Reference (TOR), and IEE/EIA report
for approval and includes public consultation processes. As per the EPR 1997, the EA report, in
general, should include detail information on impacts and environmental protection measures,
including implementation plan, monitoring and evaluation and environmental auditing. Public
consultation has been a pre-requisite in all the prescribed projects.
PROVISIONS OF EIA IN SECTORAL LAWS
Some of the sectoral laws also provide opportunity to conduct environmental assessment studies. For
example, the Forest Act, 1993 calls for carrying out EIA of the development proposals if they are to
be implemented in the forest areas and/or passes through the forest area. Section (68) of the Act
empowers government to give consent to use any part or the any category of forest areas, in case of
absence of alternative, for the implementation of the national priority proposal with the assurance
that it does not pose any significant adverse effect in the environment. The National Parks and
Wildlife Conservation Act, 1973 contains a number of environment-friendly provisions and prohibit
activities that will have adverse impacts on the environment. The Forest Rules, National Parks Rules,
and Conservation Area Management Rules also contain a number of regulatory measures to
minimize environmental impacts within the forests, national parks, wildlife reserves and
conservation areas.
Aquatic Animal Protection Act, 1961 and First Amendment, 1998 (AAPA) promulgated for
protecting aquatic animals in natural water bodies like rivers, reservoirs and lakes has remained
virtually defunct due to lack of related bylaws/regulations. Its first amendment in 1998 section 5a
states for use of safe pesticides use for catching aquatic life. Section 4a, 4b and 5 empower the
government to prohibit catching, killing and harming certain kind of aquatic animals in different
scenario.
The Water Resources Act 1993 contains provisions to minimize environmental impacts, including
soil erosion, floods and landslides. This provision calls for carrying out EIA study prior to project
implementation (Section 20). The Act also empowers government to frame standards while utilizing
water resources (Section 18) and to frame rules on environment related matters and controlling
pollution (Section 24). The Water Resources Rules, 1993 oblige the proponent to analyze
environmental impacts of a proposal and state that such study should contain environmental control
and safety measures and other necessary arrangements to resettle people during hydro-electricity
development. Also, in a process for resolving any conflict, the Water Resources Utilization
Investigation Committee should consider environmental impacts likely to occur from a proposal
[Rule 28 (3)]. The Irrigation Rules, 1989, prohibits activities, which pollute the canal or irrigation
water (Rule 4.1).
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The Electricity Act, 1993 also contains provisions to minimize soil erosion, floods, air pollution and
damage to the environment while producing and transmitting electricity (Section 24). The Electricity
Rules, 1993 stresses environmental analysis, which should include environmental mitigation
measures to minimize adverse impacts likely to occur while developing hydro-electricity (Rule 12
and 13).
The Tourism Act, 1978 also contains provisions to minimize waste and environmental pollution in
the trekking areas. Scattered regulatory measures are also available in other sectoral laws but they do
not clearly spell out the need for EIA studies.
The Mines and Minerals Rules, 2000 obliges the proponent to adopt environmental protection
measures and ensure environmental conservation (Rule 19). Furthermore, the rules 32 and 33
elaborate provisions to minimize significant environmental impacts. This Rule provides an
opportunity to identify potential environmental impacts and implement mitigation measures, which is
a part of the EIA process.
Similarly, Explosive Material Act, 2018, Public Road Act, 2031, Road Board Act 2002, Land
Acquisition Act 2034 and Land Acquisition Regulations 2026, Local Self-Governance Act (1999)
and Rules (2000), Buffer Zone Management Regulation 1996, Himalayan National Park Regulations,
1979 have also emphasized EIA provision in particular article of the Laws.
GUIDELINES IN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
In the process of implementing National Conservation Strategy (NCS) in 1990, the government of
Nepal in collaboration with The World Conservation Union - IUCN developed a national system for
Environmental Impact Assessment. This was a significant contribution towards the preparation of
locally suitable environmental assessment guidelines. The National EIA Guidelines for Nepal was
drafted, tested and finalized through a participatory approach and within two years of continued
efforts the government endorsed the guidelines on 27 September 1992 through an administrative
decision (Cabinet decision) and gazetted it on 19 July 1993. Although National EIA guidelines are
procedural guidelines, it substantially encouraged the proponent to prepare an EIA report of the
prescribed development projects and programmes. It serves as the primary source of integrating
environmental aspects in major development projects.
The National EIA Guidelines contains objectives, methods of screening projects requiring the level
of environmental assessment (IEE or EIA), scoping, impact identification and prediction, report
review, monitoring and evaluation and impact auditing. The guidelines also contain methods for
ensuring public participation during the preparation of the EIA report, including the need of impact
mitigation measures in the EIA report. It calls for identifying physical-chemical, biological, socio-
economic and cultural impacts and proposing mitigation measures to avoid, eliminate and/or
minimize or mitigate each adverse impact and to augment of beneficial impacts resulting from the
project. The guidelines also stresses on the inclusion of monitoring and evaluation and a framework
for environmental auditing in the EIA report.
Within the broad framework of the National EIA guidelines, two separate EIA guidelines of Forestry
and Industry Sector were prepared and the government endorsed them in 1995. These two guidelines
primarily differ on regulatory Schedules, which include projects and programmes requiring levels of
environmental assessment. In a process for facilitating the environmental consideration in
development project, government of Nepal as a part of the NCS Implementation Programme has also
drafted sectoral EIA guidelines.
OBLIGATIONS IN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
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Nepal has been a Party of 16-Environment related international legal instruments, the treaties,
conventions and agreements. Furthermore, Nepal has signed other four conventions and treaties,
which Nepal should implement based on moral obligation but not on legal ground. It is important to
note that conventions are more effective than the Nepalese legislation based on the Nepal's Treaty
Act of 1990. In view of the EIA requirements on international legal instruments, the Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD) is more important. This Convention obliges the Party countries to
introduce appropriate procedures for EIA, introduce appropriate arrangements to conduct EIA,
promote and exchange information with other States, notify immediately the potential affected
States in danger of biodiversity, promote national arrangement for emergency response on
conservation, and examine restoration and compensation for damage to biodiversity. Since 1975,
Nepal has been working as a party to the CITES. This has facilitated international cooperation to
stop or control international trade in endangered wild fauna and flora. The aim of CITES is to
reduce or eliminate trade in species whose numbers or conditions suggest that further removal
would cause extinction of that species.
This Convention on Biodiversity was signed by Nepal on 12 June 1992 during the Earth Summit at
Rio. Nepal ratified this Convention and deposited its instrument of ratification on 23 November 1993
and became a Party since 21 February 1994. Other Conventions to which Nepal is a Party do not
specifically mention about EIA requirements, however, there are opportunities to conduct EIA
studies so as to identify likely environmental impacts of the development projects, programmes and
minimize potential environmental impacts.
Besides, a regional Convention on EIA exists in the EU region. This was adopted at Espoo (Finland)
on 25 February 1991 as a regional Convention of EU. This Convention attempts to: link economic
activities and environmental consequences; ensure ESSD; and make EIA as means of national
procedure for evaluating the likely impact of a proposed activity on the environment. This
Convention contains 20 articles and focuses on preparation and consultation of EIA documentation,
post-project analysis, research programmes, bilateral and multilateral cooperation on strengthening
EIA system and so on. These framework guides the advancement of EIA system and lesson learnt
documents in Nepal’s EIA the perspectives.
Besides the international legally binding instruments, there are other instruments such as Stockholm
declaration, Rio declaration and also Agenda 21 - a blue print of action - for the 21
st
century, which
obliges the UN member states to adopt necessary measures on EIA application so as to minimize
potential environmental impacts and augment beneficial environmental impacts. The Stockholm and
Rio Declarations also encourage the UN member States to integrate EIA process in the overall
decision-making, planning and implementation of the development projects and programmes. In this
context, there are ample opportunities to internalize and institutionalize EA system in avoiding and
mitigating adverse environmental impacts and make the development initiatives environment-
friendly, economically beneficial and sustainable.
OPPORTUNITIES
A narrow definition of EIA describes it as a systematic process of identifying, predicting, analyzing,
evaluating and mitigating the direct and indirect environmental effects of a proposed activity before
permission is given for it to commence. A broader definition stresses the need to identify and assess
the potential impacts, not only of projects, but also of legislative proposals, policies, programmes and
operational procedures, on the environment, human health and well-being, and to communicate
information about those impacts to the general public. Within the context of this broader definition,
several studies on sustainable development (World Bank, 1991; UNEP, 1993; Glasson et al., 1996)
recommend that in addition to assessing impacts on the physical and biological environment, EIA
should address socio-economic impacts, including those on ethnic minorities, women, and
community governance.
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The immediate concerns of the sectoral EIA studies in Nepal will be dealt most effectively, if we
adopt the narrow definition of EIA: namely the assessment of environmental impacts caused by
economic activities such as infrastructural development projects, industry, hydropower, and road
expansion. EIA in this context only encompasses socio-economic impacts that relate to
environmental resource management in affected communities.
Early EIAs focused only or primarily on impacts on the natural or biophysical environment (such as
effects on air and water quality, flora and fauna, noise levels, climate and hydrological systems).
However, over time, increased consideration has been given to social, health and economic impacts.
This trend has been driven partly by public involvement in the EIA process. It is reflected by the
evolving definition of the term ‘environment’ in EIA legislation, guidance and practice. In many EIA
systems, a broad definition of ‘environment’ is adopted. This can include effects on:
Human health and safety;
Flora, fauna, ecosystems and biological diversity;
Soil, water, air, climate and landscape;
Use of land, natural resources and raw materials;
Protected areas and designated sites of scientific, historical and cultural significance;
Heritage, recreation and amenity assets; and
Livelihood, lifestyle and well being of those affected by a proposal.
Depending on the EIA system, some or all of these impacts may require analysis and evaluation.
However, health, social and other non biophysical impacts are either not considered or are
inadequately addressed. An alternative approach is undertaken separately, but parallel assessments of
social, health and other impacts when they are considered to be particularly important for decision-
making and not adequately addressed by EIA or other similar processes (such as risk assessment).
The preferable approach is to undertake an integrated analysis.
CHALLENGES
In the past, the implementation of EIA in the project planning used to be a closed door approach.
However with the enforcement of EPR 1997, the opportunity for the involvement of stakeholders has
increased. Nepal has not introduced the concept of accrediting the experts and consulting firms to
prepare the EIA report. Experiences from review of EIA reports shows that any person can prepare
such report and hence, the quality of EIA report is still in doubt. Influence of non-professionals in
developing and enforcing the legal regime on EIAs and in preparing the EA report prevail in many
sectors. Because of this, the benefits of EA tool have largely been boiled down to legal complication
and the effectiveness of this tool has been diluted in project planning and implementation.
Furthermore, many of the developers (which have resulted in) consider that once the EIA report is
approved, environment is adequately managed. The entire omission or negligence of the EIA,
findings and recommendations in the process of project implementation cannot be fully reflected for
sound environmental management. Furthermore, the agencies responsible for environmental
monitoring are not adequately addressed with the importance of EIA study, so monitoring aspect is
totally neglected.
Effective implementation of EA tool has been limited due to lack of trained human resources and
practice of not mobilizing the available human resources in environmental monitoring, lack of
information dissemination and database systems, ad hoc procedure and criteria for reviewing the EA
reports and lack of integrating EA recommendations into design and contract documents.
Furthermore, monitoring and evaluation are grossly inadequate. Thus, assessments of EIA studies
strategically should be appropriate and emerged for policy and decision making process as well as
trend developed in developed countries.
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CONCLUSIONS
The existing policy and legal instruments since beginning of the late 1980s has a big deal for the
development of EIA system in Nepal.
EIAs have been integrated in major development projects since the early 1980s. In the planning
history of Nepal, the Sixth Plan (1980-'85), for the first time, recognized the need for EIA integration
for major infrastructure projects. In 1982, an Environmental Impact Study Project was established
under the Department of Soil Conservation to develop necessary instruments for the integration of
EIA in infrastructure development projects. The government of Nepal enunciated environment
conservation related policies in the Seventh Plan (1985-90). In order to enforce this policy, and to
make necessary arrangements, a series of guidelines were developed incorporating the elements of
environmental factors right from the project formulation stage of development plans and projects and
to avoid or minimize adverse effects on the ecological system. In addition, it has also emphasized to
conduct EIAs of industry, tourism, water resources, transportation, urbanization, agriculture, forest
and other developmental projects.
Government of Nepal has endorsed the National Conservation Strategy (NCS) and the Master Plan
for Forestry Sector (MPFS) for implementation. An EIA study was also carried out in 1987 to
identify the likely environmental impacts of the activities proposed in the forestry Master Plan before
its adoption. The NCS also emphasized the need to internalize the EIA system in resource
management and development planning in Nepal.
Government of Nepal continued its efforts to internalize EA system during the interim period (1990-
1991). One of the basic policies of the Interim Government was to carry out EIA prior to the
implementation of any major development project and programmes. The Interim Government issued
directives to implement EIA in any project, which would have adverse affects on the natural balance.
The Eighth Plan period (1992-1997) has made a contribution remarkable and notable in
institutionalizing EIA system in Nepal's development planning and administration. During this
period, Government of Nepal adopted and implemented the National EIA Guidelines, 1993, and two
separate EIA Guidelines for Forestry and Industry Sector in 1995 through administrative decisions,
and also continued the preparation of the sectoral EIA guidelines. During the Plan period, the
Environment Protection Act, 1996 and the Environment Protection Rules, 1997 were enacted and
enforced.
Although, EIA is one of the powerful tools to assess the project on environmental grounds, the
present practice of EIA report preparation generally overlooks the impacts of macro-level policy,
plan and programs, and assessment of cumulative impacts. Because of delay in decision process,
many stakeholders think that EIA process is time-consuming and is not necessary.
In the past, the implementation of EIA in the project planning used to be a closed door approach.
However with the enforcement of EPR, the opportunity for the involvement of stakeholders has
increased. Nepal has not introduced the concept of accrediting the experts and consulting firms to
prepare the EIA report. Any person can prepare such report and hence, the quality of EIA report is
still doubt. Influence of non-professionals in developing and enforcing the legal regime on EIAs and
in preparing the EA report prevail in many sectors. Because of this, the benefits of EA tool have
largely been boiled down to legal complication and the effectiveness of this tool has been diluted in
project planning and implementation. Furthermore, many of the developers (which have resulted in)
consider that once the EIA report is approved, environment is adequately managed. Furthermore, the
agencies responsible for environmental monitoring are not adequately addressed with the importance
of EIA study, so monitoring aspect is totally neglected.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
All possible impacts of the project activities caused environmental stress which could be properly
managed or mitigated as per the nature, magnitude and duration of the impacts by adopting policy
and legal instruments in EIA practices. The major point to be highlighted in the policy and legal
instruments towards effective implementation of EIA system are:
Resource impact regarding change in forest, river and freshwater ecosystem as well as from
changes in plant and animal habitats due to pollution generated from project activities can be
measured through changes in the level of water and air pollution resulting from project
activities.
For effective EIA implementation, international standards and requirements of EIA is
necessarily required.
Human interest impacts can be measured through change in the economic activity due to
deteriorating environmental condition and through changes in the institution of a society. Any
scoring system can be incorporated all these aspects of environment.
Furthermore, a broader consultation is required among the professionals, government
agencies and concerned stakeholders towards the effective implementation EIA approach and
review of existing policy and legal instruments.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Authors would like to acknowledge the financial support received from Nepal Academy of Science
and Technology, Kathmandu Nepal.
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... Extension of protected areas has bound local communities to follow international policies and procedures of biodiversity conservation for their daily business and local development [126]. The government, for example, has introduced laws to enforce the guidelines of the Convention on International Trade In Endangered Species (CITIES). ...
... Regulating agencies very often hold the vehicles carrying the products in the checking posts for weeks unless they get bribes or pressures from politically powerful people [127]. The conservation policy has made environmental impact assessment (EIA) mandatory for carrying out any local development activities [126]. Completing the EIA is a big hurdle for communities for local development due to the difficulty in dealing with conservative and corrupt forestry bureaucrats. ...
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Many measures of international policies and support have dictated developing countries to upscale land areas of intact forestry, special biodiversity conservation site, and other wild reserves to half the land territory of the nation by 2050 for resulting environmental, and other benefits to global societies. The international initiations and work urged scholars to assess the potential impacts of the aggressive policy on forest-based communities and especially those living in institutionally and geo ecologically vulnerable areas. This study compiled the impacts of such international policy interventions on diverse affairs of the local community and national economies in Nepal and drew some conclusions on the well-being future of such forest-based communities. It explained that the international interventions in managing community-based resources induced serious disturbances in many local systems and resulted in vicious circles of emigration, income losses, social problems, psychological stresses, and food insecurities. The interventions have placed some communities and especially endogenous ethnic groups in the position either to be displaced from their ancestors’ homelands or suffer for generations. This study also explained some reinforcing phenomena that emerged from the external interventions which have placed situations of the resource impacting local communities adversely for years. It also investigated whether support of international agencies in policy formation and implementation for resource management safeguards the well-being of the resource-based communities. The agencies resulted in the best environmental and other benefits to foreign societies which have aggravated the misery of local communities, particularly the poor people, women, and indigenous ethnic communities. The adverse impacts on the societies are not repercussions (accidentally or unknowingly happened). All these findings infer that the international policies of upscaling forests and wilderness areas or making conservation areas in half of their land territory, especially in developing societies for the global benefit, may place the lives of the forest-based communities in peril of suffering for generations or extirpating.
... Understanding the presence and distribution of any species in a given area is a fundamental first step toward biodiversity conservation (Salafsky et al., 2019). Nepal, being a signatory party to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), has also established an EIA system for developmental projects with the formulation of the Environmental Protection Rules 1997 (Bhatt & Khanal, 2009). ...
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The rate of hydropower dam construction on rivers is increasing in emerging economies in South Asia, to achieve economic development goals. These large infrastructure projects are likely to have many negative consequences on freshwater species but have not yet received much consideration. Among freshwater small mammalian species, water shrews are seriously impacted by these large structures. This paper aims to determine if water shrews have been considered during the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of these hydro dam project sites, as well as present the sightings of the water shrews from Nepalese rivers with hydropower potential. We reviewed 44 EIA reports of such projects in Nepal using a set of four criteria and 15 questions to analyze the methods of impact assessment for mammals and the reports on the presence of water shrews in each built area. The study found that the number of mammal species reported during the EIA varied from five to 55 species but no relationships between the hydropower structure's size and any water shrew species were considered in the studies. In almost all EIA reports, the term aquatic ecosystem was prioritized over the term aquatic small mammals, and the latter was not considered in the assessment. The major reason for not considering these species is probably due to the lack of robust methods to capture small mammals such as shrews, or due to survey methods focused only on terrestrial mammals. The Aquatic Animal Protection Act was fully reviewed and assured to be followed in a majority of the reports, yet the monitoring parameters and indicators were not available for aquatic small mammals. Ignoring the presence of these mammals while constructing hydropower plants is a serious threat to their persistence. We also reported the Himalayan water shrew in the Barun River and the elegant water shrew in the Upper Tamakoshi River of Nepal. Therefore, a better understanding of these species among hydropower developers, and all concerned agencies, is essential.
... The Environmental Protection Act stipulates that Environmental Assessments must be conducted on projects likely to impact physical, biological, socioeconomic, and cultural environments, to determine the scales of impact and possible mitigation (Bhatt and Khanal, 2009). Assessments are thus required for extractive activities, including timber and NTFP harvest, and the development of plantations and medicinal plant nurseries and processing units. ...
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Governing wildlife resources is a global challenge, with illegal domestic and international trade emerging as a leading threat to biodiversity. This has prompted a range of international conservation commitments and domestic legislation, including protected species lists and legislation associated with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Despite their importance, heavy focus on national-level legislation potentially belies the complex networks of sub-national legislation that often inform on-the-ground wildlife management decisions. We highlight the need for a detailed understanding of sub-national legislation in order to meaningfully understand legal and illegal wildlife trade. We demonstrate this using the example of orchids – representing >70 % of all CITES-listed species – and focus on Nepal, a wildlife trade hotspot. We describe the available evidence on the country's overlapping legal and illegal orchid trade and provide a structured analysis of 55 pieces of domestic legislation that govern the country's orchid resources. It is likely that other countries and taxa face similar levels of complexity, and we propose an approach for more thorough and systematic evaluations of sub-national legislation – across areas of law, hierarchical levels of governance, and types of legislation.
... It prompted researchers to find alternative approaches for the adoption of effective and transparent mosquito management methods including public education, monitoring and surveillance, source reduction, and environment-friendly larval control. The application of ecofriendly, alternative biological control measures for the management of mosquitoes has become the focus of the vector control program (Bhatt and Khanal, 2009;Ghosh et al., 2012). Under the biological control program, one of the most effective alternative approach is the use of green insecticides, which are obtained from plants; it is a simple but sustainable method for mosquito management. ...
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... It is due to lack of novel insecticides, high cost of synthetic insecticides, concern for environmental sustainability, harmful effect on human health, other non-target populations, their nonbiodegradable nature, higher rate of biological magnification through ecosystem and increasing insecticide resistance on a global scale [4,5]. Thus, the environmental protection act in 1969 has framed a number of rules and regulations to check the application of chemical control agents in nature [6]. It has prompted researchers to look for alternative approaches ranging from provision of or promoting the adoption of effective and transparent mosquito management strategies that focus on public education, monitoring and surveillance, source reduction and environment friendly leasttoxic larval control. ...
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... In addition, hydropower projects are necessary for national development ( Dincer, 2000 ), so their construction is necessary and urgent for countries such as Nepal. To minimize the environmental impact of hydropower projects, environmental studies are conducted before the implementation of the projects; however, these studies are not sufficient to analyze the impacts of these projects in Nepal or in other countries ( Agrawal et al., 2010 ;Bhatt and Khanal, 2009 ;Erlewein, 2013 ;Pinho et al., 2007 ). As environmental assessments (such as Environmental Impact Assessments) are short-term analytical studies that depend on scientific evidence and information; a lack of information degrades the quality of the environmental assessment ( Cashmore, 2004 ;McManamay et al., 2015 ). ...
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... In addition, hydropower projects are necessary for national development [65], so their construction is necessary and urgent for countries such as Nepal. To minimize the environmental impact of hydropower projects, environmental studies are conducted before the implementation of the projects; however, these studies are not su cient to analyze the impacts of these projects in Nepal or in other countries [68][69][70][71]. As environmental studies are short-term analytical studies that depend on scienti c evidence and information, a lack of information degrades the quality of environmental studies [32,72]. ...
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Hydropower project construction is increasing, which can affect the terrestrial environment. Hydropower projects located in environmentally sensitive areas have higher environmental impacts, so I analyzed the spatiotemporal interaction between hydropower project locations and terrestrial environmentally sensitive areas of Nepal to visualize the probable environmental impacts. Most of the existing projects lie on the hill; however, future projects are moving northward. Among the 12 eco-regions of Nepal, hydropower projects are located in 10 eco-regions. Hydropower projects were found to interact with more than half of the biodiverse areas of the country (28 out of 45), and more than five thousand megawatts of hydropower projects are located completely inside these biodiverse areas. The study suggests that the interaction between hydropower projects and environmentally sensitive areas might increase in the future. Hydropower projects should avoid environmentally sensitive areas such as biodiverse areas and protected areas as much as possible to minimize the impacts. Rapid hydropower development is a necessity in countries such as Nepal, so further studies on the effects of hydropower projects on environmentally sensitive areas as well as improvement of the quality of the environmental assessment of the projects are necessary for environmentally friendly development.
Chapter
Nepal’s evaluation system has been aligned with the contemporary global evaluation systems. A significant share of the development budget in Nepal comes from the donor agencies either in the form of grant or loan projects. Nepal has achieved several accomplishments regarding the institutionalization of evaluation in the political structures. The Constitution of Nepal, various acts, regulations, and policies are integrated in M&E. The M&E bill has been drafted in 2016 to provide the legal base for strengthening the M&E system. Nepal is the only country in Asia Pacific region and one of the few countries around the world to have evaluation embedded in the national constitution. The National Planning Commission is the specialized and apex body for evaluation in Nepal. In practice, the NPC M&E Division manages the overall M&E system (including information systems and capacities) and undertakes evaluations of programmes and projects. The demand side agencies such as the government, UN bodies, NGOs/ INGOs, and donors are the users of evaluation.
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Geographical applications in EIA studies is appropriate to build up and extend their knowledge and skills in using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), and obtain practical experience in the application of GIS technologies and disciplines. This article highlights emerging topics related to the principles and practice of EIA, including concepts, tools and methods, and related issues. GIS as a tool will be used to visually illustrate the implications of spatial decisions. GIS is applied in all EIA stages: from the acquisition, storage and display of thematic information relative to the vulnerability of the affected resources, to impact prediction and qualification, evaluation, and finally, presentation. This paper highlights how GIS applications using in EIA process in different countries and find out possibility to incorporate those applications in EIA studies in Nepal.
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Conflicts between economic development and fragile natural resources represent a growing problem among the islands of the Caribbean. Relatively simple methods exist to incorporate environmental impact assessment (EIA) into development planning and review. These methods can save scarce financial resources for island nations, increase their control over the development process, and possibly forestall widespread environmental deterioration and its attendant public cost. Island nations have more power as negotiating partners in the development process than is generally realized. This power can be exercised if EIA is integrated into the national planning process, giving ministries a stronger bargaining position when negotiating with development interests.This paper begins with a discussion of the most prevalent environmental concerns in the region, including oil development, water supply, beach erosion and fisheries depletion, and proceeds to discuss practical solutions to improve local control over economic development and environmental resource management. A hypothetical case study is used to illustrate major obstacles to effective integration of economic development and EIA. Recommendations are included to advance the state-of-the-art of EIA using joint fact-finding, expanding participation in EIA, evaluating cumulative impacts and project alternatives, and conducting post-projecting monitoring.
Chapter
The introduction of a large infrastructure of marine energy technology along coastal environments raises some concern on how this will impact on the marine environment. While there are a number of potential environmental impacts of wave energy devices (eg, collision) the focus of this chapter is on the primary ecological processes that may be influenced by changes in the hydrodynamics as a direct result of the installation of wave energy converters (WECs). These processes include sediment transport, organism transport, pollution, and biogeochemical processes. While full-scale wave energy farms are still in the development phase, the most effective way to predict the environmental impacts of large infrastructure in the coastal marine environment is by coupling ecological with hydrodynamic modelling. This chapter therefore is designed to provide guidance on what factors should be considered when developing a coupled hydrodynamic-ecological model when modelling WEC arrays.
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In this paper, the main roles of Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) are identified; aspects which are necessary features of a satisfactory EIS are discussed; and the roles of EIS evaluators are identified. The EIS is the basis for the public hearings and plays a substantial role in helping the Panel determine its conclusions and recommendations and write its report. The role of the EIS continues, however, to help guide environmental management of the project. In deciding whether the EIS is satisfactory, one should consider 3 aspects which will determine its suitability for the 3 roles indicated. These are is focus (does it address all of the important issues?), its scientific and technical soundness (does it provide credible and useful results?), and its clarity of presentation (is it succinct, well organized and clear?).-from Authors
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Progress in adopting EIA as an environmental management tool has been extremely slow in developing countries, with only nine of the 121 countries having established frameworks for its implementation. Even in these few countries, after more than a decade of EIA implementation, the performance of EIA has been dismally poor in spite of considerable efforts, especially in the Asian and Pacific region, devoted to the development of cost-effective EIA methods and techniques. This poor performance is attributed to serious flaws in their legislative, administrative, institutional and procedural frameworks. These are discussed and illustrated with specific examples. Suggestions for improvement include the use of a legislative rather than an administrative option to establish authority for EIA; establishment of an independent environmental agency with considerable political influence over sectoral agencies through placement in the office of the President or Prime Minister or a high-profile ministry with responsibility for national economic planning and budgetary control; the decentralization of EIA activities among tiers of government or sectoral agencies; mandatory involvement of the local people, the public and concerned agencies in scoping, reviewing, monitoring and auditing; a procedural arrangement characterized by two-stage assessment, mandatory scoping and preparation of terms of reference, use of registered consultants for EIA studies, provision for public hearings and time limits for review, and the conduct of EIA as a fully-internalized element of the planning process rather than a separate exercise divorced from the technical and economic aspects of project planning and design. EIA guidelines should contain these conditions and there should be adequate provision for judicial involvement in reviewing the actions of environmental agencies and project proponents.
A tool Kit for Effective EIA Practice Review of Methods and Perspectives on their Application; Chief Executive
  • Barry Sadler
Barry Sadler June 1997, A tool Kit for Effective EIA Practice Review of Methods and Perspectives on their Application; Chief Executive, Institute of Environmental Assessment Lincoln, UK
Initial Environmental Examination of twelve sub projects of seven districts, Rural Access Improvement and Decentralization Project
  • R P Bhatta
Bhatta R.P. March 2005, February 2006, Initial Environmental Examination of twelve sub projects of seven districts, Rural Access Improvement and Decentralization Project/ Department of Local Infrastructure Development and Agricultural Roads, Lailitpur, Nepal.
Environmental Assessment Sourcebook: Policies, Procedures and Cross-Sectoral Issues
  • World Bank
World Bank (1991), Environmental Assessment Sourcebook: Policies, Procedures and Cross-Sectoral Issues. The World Bank Technical Paper No. 139, Vol. I. Washington, D.C.: Environmental Department, the World Bank.
Nepal Biodiversity Strategy, Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation
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GoN 2002. Nepal Biodiversity Strategy, Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation, Kathmandu.