Key Element of an EIA Report: Part 1

Introduction

Join me as we commence this series in reviewing an EIA report from Preliminary Pages to Appendix using EIA reports on Display June/July 2020 as a case study. 

If you have questions relating to Environmental Impact Assessment, you can check 10 Basic questions on EIA Approval in Nigeria or drop a comment in the comment section.

The Preliminary pages start from the cover page to the Acknowledgement Page of the report. You might wonder if it’s essential when other Chapters contain detailed information on the report.   

Most busy executives and decision-makers might not have the luxury of time to go through the entire report at most they might just skim through the pages, and they spend most of their time on the preliminary pages, especially on the table of content and executive summary.

In chronological order, using the Federal Ministry of Environment Report Writing Format, the following should be taken into consideration.

Cover Page of EIA Reports

This is the first point of contact for the reader, and the cover page should contain the following Information

Title of the Project

• The title of the project should indicate either “Draft” or “Final”(A Draft report is submitted for review and approval by regulatory authorities while the Final report has addressed all comments, suggestions from the regulating authority)
• The title of the project should also indicate project location, such as Host Community (if more than one lists them or just used the host LGA), Local Government Area(s), State and Country (applicable for international reviewers)

The name of the project proponent (company logo if available)

The regulatory Body the Report is being submitted to

The Month and Year the report was submitted

Status/Authorization Page

This page is not mandatory but important and shows the professionalism of the preparer. This page contains the following:

• Authorized signatories of the report or internal reviewers.
• Report copyright information
• Document tag/number
• The number of reviews/updates etc.

Table of Content

 This should highlight

• Chapters and titles
• Corresponding page numbers
• List of Map, Illustrations, and Figures  
• This should occupy separate pages

List of Tables

This should occupy separate pages

• Page numbers should correspond to the main report

List of Acronyms

The list should include all Acronyms used in the report. Don’t be tempted to copy List from similar reports (it’s risky because it will contain acronyms that were not used in the body of the report, thereby affecting the integrity of the report).

• For better clarity, Chemical Symbols/Formulas, Units of Measurement should be captured separately.
• The list should be written in alphabetical order
• List of EIA Preparers
• This should include the name of each member of the team
• The role played in the Study
• Academic Qualifications
• Email Address/contact information as recommended by WorldBank for verification  
• The name of the consultancy firm can also be indicated

Executive Summary

This is a nontechnical and concise chapter wise summary of the entire report for busy executives to become familiar with the project EIA. the following should be taken into consideration:

1. As much as possible, avoid the temptation to copy and paste from the main body of the report.
2. Let the discussions flow and appear suited for an executive summary in a reported speech.  
3. Devoid of table and illustration for easy understanding
4. Not too bulky and not too scanty
5. Sections and Subsections should be numbered for easy referencing.
6. Section numbers should be different from the numbering in the main report.

Acknowledgement

This is the last section before Chapter one of the report.

This should be written by the Project Proponent to appreciate all that contributed to the study including the Consultant and not vice versa.

Conclusion

The report used is currently on display, click here to download the report for your personal review and comment. Kindly subscribe to notification updates and add your email address to our mailing list so you won’t miss the second part which is Reviewing an EIA Report: Chapter One – Introduction