Environmental impact refers tohuman activity(economic, political and social activities) on the environment and the resulting environmental changes, as well as the resultinghuman beingsSocial and economic effects.The concept of environmental impact includes two levels: the effect of human activities on the environment and the reaction of the environment to human beings. It not only emphasizes the effect of human activities on the environment, that is, understanding and evaluating what changes human activities make or will make in the environment, but also emphasizes the reaction of such changes to human beings, that is, understanding and evaluating what effects these changes will have on human society.[1]
Chinese name
environmental effect
Foreign name
Environmental impact
Definition
It refers to the effect of human activities (economic activities, political activities and social activities) on the environment and the resulting environmental changes, as well as the resulting effects on human society and economy
Environmental impact refers to the environmental changes caused by human activities (economic, political and social activities) and the resulting effects on human society and economy.[2]
The concept of environmental impact includes two levels: the effect of human activities on the environment and the reaction of the environment to human beings. It not only emphasizes the effect of human activities on the environment, that is, understanding and evaluating what changes human activities make or will make in the environment, but also emphasizes the reaction of such changes to human beings, that is, understanding and evaluating what effects these changes will have on human society.Studying the effect of human activities on the environment is the basis and prerequisite for understanding and evaluating the reaction of the environment to human beings;The purpose of recognizing and evaluating the reaction of the environment to human beings is to formulate countermeasures to mitigate the adverse effects, improve the living environment, maintain human health, and ensure and promote the sustainable development of human society.[1]
classification
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Environmental impact classification includes:
① According to the source of impact, it can be divided intodirect influence 、Indirect impactAnd cumulative impacts.Direct impact and human activities at the same time and in the same place;The indirect impact is delayed in time and far in space, but within a reasonably foreseeable range;Cumulative impact refers to the cumulative effect of the past, present and foreseeable future impact of an activity, or the possible superimposed impact of multiple activities on the same region.[1]
② According to the effect of the impact, it can be divided into favorable impact and adverse impact.The beneficial impact refers to the impact that has a positive promoting effect on the health of the population, socio-economic development or other environmental conditions, and the adverse impact refers to the impact that has a negative blocking or destructive effect on the health of the population, socio-economic development or other environmental conditions. It should be noted that the adverse and beneficial are relative, can be transformed each other, and different individuals, groupsDue to different values and interests, organizations may have different assessments of the same environmental change, which may lead to different environmental impacts.Therefore, the determination of advantages and disadvantages of environmental impact should comprehensively consider various factors, which is a problem that often needs to be seriously considered, investigated and weighed in environmental impact assessment.
③ According to the degree of impact, it can be divided into recoverable impact and unrecoverable impact.Recoverable impact refers to the impact that can gradually recover to the previous appearance after human activities cause changes in certain characteristics of the environment or loss of value.For example, the oil spill event of an oil tanker may cause large-scale sea area pollution, but under the effect of human efforts and environmental self purification, it will return to the state before pollution after a period of time, which is a recoverable impact.Unrecoverable impact refers to the impact that can not be recovered after the change of certain characteristics or loss of value of the environment.It is generally believed that the impact on the environment within the range of environmental carrying capacity is recoverable;If the environmental bearing capacity is exceeded, the impact is unrecoverable.In addition, environmental impacts can also be divided into long-term impacts and short-term impacts according to time effects, and local, regional or national and global impacts according to space effects.[1]
④ According to the different stages of the construction project, the environmental impact can be divided into the impact of the construction stage, the impact of the operation stage and the impact after the service period.
The environmental impact in the construction phase refers to the environmental impact of the construction project during the development, construction and construction.It includes the impact of the transportation, loading and unloading, storage and other processes of building materials and equipment;Impact of dust, construction sewage and construction noise generated at the construction site;Impact of changes in land use, terrain and landform;The impact of resettlement on social, cultural and economic development.
The environmental impact in the operation phase of the construction project refers to the impact on the environment when the construction project is put into normal operation and normal production after completion.The environmental impact in this stage often lasts for a long time, which is the focus of environmental impact assessment and environmental management of construction projects.
The environmental impact after the service period of the construction project expires refers to the impact on the environment or the pollution impact of residual pollution sources on the environment at the end of the service life of the construction project.For example, the impact on geological environment, terrain, landform, vegetation, landscape and ecological resources after the expiration of mining and oilfield development services.[1]
In addition, environmental impact can also be divided into short-term impact and long-term impact;Local, regional or national and global impacts;Atmospheric environmental impact, water environmental impact, acoustic environmental impact, soil environmental impact, marine environmental impact, etc.[2]
mitigating measures
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Environmental impact mitigation countermeasures and measures include three aspects: impact prevention, impact minimization and comprehensive remediation of the resulting impact:
① Preventive countermeasures and measures can be proposed from the aspects of establishing and improving the environmental management system, proposing to issue management rules and regulations, delimiting prohibited and restricted development areas, setting environmental conditions for people, and establishing environmental risk prevention and emergency plans.
② Countermeasures and measures for impact minimization can be proposed from the aspects of environmental protection, infrastructure and pollution control facilities construction plan, cleaner production and circular economy implementation plan, etc.
③ Remedial measures mainly include ecological restoration and construction, ecological compensation, environmental governance, clean energy and resource substitution.If the planning scheme includes specific construction projects, the key contents and basic requirements of the environmental impact assessment of the construction projects should also be proposed according to the characteristics of the industry to which the construction projects belong and their environmental impact characteristics,According to the main assessment conclusions of the environmental impact assessment of this plan, the corresponding requirements for environmental standards (including site selection or route selection, scale, cleaner production level, energy conservation and emission reduction, total amount control and ecological protection requirements, etc.), pollution prevention measures and environmental management are proposed.At the same time, in full consideration of the changes of certain resources and environmental basic conditions set in the preparation of the plan with the regional development, specific suggestions on simplifying the contents of the environmental impact assessment of the construction project are proposed.[3]
Project classification management
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For construction projects, according to the degree of their impact on the environment, classified management of environmental protection shall be carried out according to the following provisions:
① If a construction project may cause significant adverse effects on the environment, an environmental impact report shall be prepared.Comprehensive and detailed environmental impact assessment shall be conducted for such projects.Such projects include: construction projects involving raw materials, products or pollutants in the production process with many types, large quantities or high toxicity, which are difficult to be degraded in the environment, and may causeEcosystem structureConstruction projects with significant changes, changes in important ecological functions or significant reduction in biodiversity, construction projects that may have a greater impact on fragile ecosystems or may cause and exacerbate natural disasters, construction projects that are prone to cause disputes over environmental impacts across administrative regions, all regional development, development zone constructionRegional development activities or construction projects such as the construction of new urban areas and old urban areas.
② If the construction project may cause slight impact on the environment, it shall be preparedEnvironmental Impact ReportSpecial environmental impact assessment shall be carried out for such projects.Such projects include: construction projects with single pollution factor, few pollutant types, small production or low toxicity;It has certain impact on topography, landform, hydrology, soil, biodiversity, etc., but does not changeEcosystem structureAnd functional construction projects, and small construction projects that have little impact on environmentally sensitive areas.
③ If a construction project has little impact on the environment, it shall fill in and submit an environmental impact registration form.Such projects include: construction projects that basically do not produce wastewater, waste gas, waste residue, dust, odor, noise, thermal pollution, radioactivity, electromagnetic waves and other adverse environmental impacts, and basically do not change the terrain, landform, hydrology, soil, biodiversity, etc.Construction projects that do not change the structure and function of the ecosystem;Small construction projects that do not affect environmentally sensitive areas.
The planning shall be managed by category according to the nature of the planning: ① The planning with relevant chapters or descriptions of environmental impact shall be prepared, including the relevant plans for land use organized by the relevant departments of the State Council, the local people's governments at or above the level of cities divided into districts and their relevant departments, and the plans for the construction, development and utilization of regions, river basins and sea areas,Guiding planning in special planning. ②The planning for the environmental impact statement should be prepared, including the relevant special plans for industry, agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry, energy, water conservancy, transportation, urban construction, tourism, and natural resources development organized and prepared by the relevant departments of the State Council, the local people's governments at or above the level of cities divided into districts and their relevant departments.[4]
recognition methods
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Inventory method
The inventory method is also called the checklist method.As early as 1971, some experts proposed to identify the environmental factors that may be affected by the development plan and the nature of the possible impact by checking the identification method listed one by one on a table, also known as“List method”Or "list method".Although this method was developed earlier, it is still widely used and has many forms.(1) Simple list.It is only a table of environmental factors that may be affected, without any other explanation, and can be used for qualitative environmental impact identification analysis, but cannot be used as a basis for decision-making.(2) Descriptive list.Compared with the simple list, the descriptive list adds the criteria of how to measure the environmental factors.(3) Hierarchical list.On the basis of the descriptive list, the classification of environmental impact is added.A descriptive list is commonly used for environmental impact identification.There are two types of descriptive lists.The more popular is the classified list of environmental resources, that is, a simple division of the affected environmental factors (environmental resources) to highlight valuable environmental factors.Through environmental impact identification, environmental factors with significant impact will be taken as the main content of subsequent assessment.This list has prepared the main environmental impact identification forms according to industrial, energy, water conservancy, transportation, agricultural engineering, forest resources, municipal engineering, etc., which can be found in the World Bank's Environmental Assessment Resource Manual and other documents.These compiled environmental impact identification tables can be used as reference for environmental impact identification of specific construction projects.
The other type of descriptive list is the traditional questionnaire list.In the list, carefully list the questions to be asked about the "project - environmental impact", and ask about the "activities" and environmental impact of the project.The answer can be "Yes" or "No".If the answer is that there is an impact, the note column in the table will describe the extent of the impact, the conditions under which the impact occurs, and the way of environmental impact, rather than simply answering that an activity will have an impact.[5]
matrix method
The matrix method is developed from the inventory method, which not only has the function of impact identification, but also has the function of impact comprehensive analysis and evaluation.It systematically arranges the contents listed in the list.The "activities" of the proposed project and the affected environmental elements form a matrix, establish a direct causal relationship between the "activities" of the proposed project and the environmental impact, and describe the environmental impact of the proposed project in a qualitative or semi quantitative way.
This kind of method mainly includes correlation matrix method and iterative matrix method.
In environmental impact identification, correlation matrix method is generally used.That is, by systematically listing the various "activities" of each stage of the proposed project, as well as the environmental elements that may be affected by the various "activities" of the proposed project, a matrix is constructed to determine the interaction between various "activities" and environmental elements and environmental factors.
If it is considered that an "activity" may have an impact on an environmental element, the environmental impact shall be marked at the grid point corresponding to the intersection of the matrix.The impact of various "activities" on environmental elements can be divided into several levels, such as three levels or five levels.In order to reflect the different importance of each environmental element in the environment, the method of weighting is usually used to assign different weights to different environmental elements.Various attributes of environmental impact can be represented by various symbols.[5]
Other identification methods
There are other methods with the function of environmental impact identification, including manual mapping andGISOverlay method under support) and influence network method.
The application of overlay method in environmental impact assessment includes identifying and predicting environmental impacts by applying a series of overlays of environmental and resource maps, marking the relative importance of environmental elements and different regions, and characterizing the impact on different regions and different environmental elements.The overlay method is used for construction projects involving large geographical space, such as "linear" impact projects (roads, railways, pipelines, etc.) and regional development projects.
The network method uses the causality analysis network to explain and describe the relationship between various "activities" of the proposed project and environmental factors.In addition to the function of correlation matrix method, indirect and cumulative impacts can also be identified.[5]
significance
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With the development of industrial civilization, exploring the social causes of worsening environmental problems has become a hot topic in academic circles. The debate has expanded from the single factor debate on population size and technical level to the discussion on cultural background, government type, consumption concept and other multi factor theories, and from the macro social level to the micro individual level in the horizontal, finally forming the classic IPAT model of environmental impact,The evolution of IPAT model shows that the relationship between environmental protection and economic development is gradually moving from a pessimistic "zero sum" conflict to a coordinated development path, which is conducive to exploring more effective measures to deal with complex and severe global environmental problems, and has important theoretical and practical significance for China to promote ecological civilization construction under the new normal.[6]
The population is a major driving factor of the current environmental impact. The environmental impact changes in nearly the same proportion as the population, and the increase in wealth or modernization will also aggravate the impact of human beings on the environment.[7]
