In this section you will learn approaches to monitoring an EIA, who does it, when and why.
What is Monitoring?
Monitoring provides data on the environmental and social impacts of the project for the whole project lifecycle.
Monitoring provides data on the environmental and social impacts of the project for the whole project lifecycle. As part of their operations, most development projects involve regular monitoring of indicators (including such things as quantity of ores extracted, materials processed, energy used and sewage released, etc.). More specifically, the information collected during monitoring activities helps to ensure that the priorities listed in the Environmental Management Plan (EMP), mitigation measures, and contingency plans are properly implemented, and that these plans and measures are effective in addressing the project’s impacts.
Why conduct Monitoring?
Monitoring is critical to ensuring the fulfillment of all the commitments made in the approved EIA.
Monitoring is critical to ensuring the fulfillment of all the commitments made in the approved EIA. It is one of the ongoing outcomes of EIA for a given project. Monitoring is also important for keeping track of any changes that happen in the environment and in communities because of the project and other local and/or global events, such as changes in livelihoods due to economic crisis or migration, or differences in water availability due to drought. After the project is implemented, basic monitoring efforts will continue during project remediation.
What approaches exist?
Development BanksCentral AmericaExamplesDevelopment banks and national EIA legislation stipulate the basic requirements for monitoring actions; all emphasize the importance of conducting monitoring during the whole project lifecycle.
Development banks and national EIA legislation stipulate the basic requirements for monitoring actions; all emphasize the importance of conducting monitoring during the whole project lifecycle. The table below shows approaches to follow-up, monitoring and enforcement of EIA by major development banks.
Development BanksEnvironmental Assessment: Follow-up/Monitoring/Enforcement by Major Development Banks
| Development Bank | Follow-up/Monitoring/Enforcement requirements |
|---|---|
| World Bank | During project implementation, the borrower reports on compliance with measures agreed upon with the Bank, including implementation of any EMP; the status of mitigation measures; and the findings of monitoring programs. The Bank bases supervision on the findings and recommendations of the EA, including the legal agreements, any EMP, and other project documents. |
| Asian Development Bank (ADB) | Borrowers must submit semi-annual reports on implementation of EMPs. The bank will conduct annual environmental missions on all aspects of the EMP and environmental covenants; ADB creates a project completion report evaluating the EMP, loan covenants and assessing the performance of the executing agency. |
| European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) | EBRD sends missions to the project site, conducts environmental reporting and periodic environmental audits by independent experts. Includes environmental performance criteria in project completion exit audits. In most cases, project sponsors are required to do annual environmental reporting. Summary information is required to be published on the bank’s website, and the bank may require the results of ongoing monitoring be made available to the public. For a Category A project, the EBRD requires that the project proponent provide an annual environmental report to affected public, and periodic reports the environmental performance of their investment portfolios. |
| Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) | IDB incorporates into project preparation, approval and implementation the mechanisms necessary to assess compliance with the safeguard requirements of the operation, but leaves vague the actual steps it will take to achieve this end. The profile states that the IDB will specify in loan contract documents the responsibility and timing of project monitoring to be carried out by the executing agency but does not require that monitoring reports by executing agencies and project sponsors be made available to the public. |
Source: Adapted from Asia Pacific Environmental Exchange (APEX), 2004.
In the reviewed Central American countries, national legislation stipulates monitoring procedures such as supervision and site inspection, as well as who should carry it out.
Central AmericaApproaches to Monitoring in Selected Central American countries
| Country | Monitoring Requirement |
|---|---|
| Belize | Developers are required to prepare and submit a monitoring plan as part of the EIA report. |
| Costa Rica | SETENA establishes procedures for supervision and oversight, and is responsible for enforcing compliance with EIA licence. Developer’s environmental consultants must be registered with SETENA and must provide progress reports to this agency. SETENA can also make announced audits to the projects. |
| Dominican republic | Government agency conducts inspections and environmental audits to assure compliance with conditions attached to permit or licence. EMP must include an oversight subprogram and self-monitoring program. |
| Ecuador | Monitoring mechanisms include (i) self-monitoring by proponent, (ii) environmental control, (iii) environmental auditing and supervision by the community, and (iv) audits performed by consultants. In addition, the General Accounting Office can audit projects directly or through contractors. |
| El Salvador | Laws and regulations establish a process to ensure developer’s compliance with the conditions set in the environmental permit for the project. |
| Guatemala | Mandatory supervision by the national agency and voluntary audits done by proponent. |
| Honduras | DECA is in charge of monitoring and oversight of the project’s environmental performance through visits. The local municipality is responsible for supporting overall supervision. |
| Mexico | Responsible authorities must inspect and monitor compliance with regulations and environmental authorizations. |
| Nicaragua | The environmental permit defines monitoring requirements. Registered auditors paid by developer will perform environmental audits and report on compliance with environmental permits. |
Source: Tiffer-Sotomayor et al., 2015
To generalize, the approaches to monitoring involve three major groups of activities: indicator selection and prioritization, data collection, and reporting.
Indicator selection and prioritization: The identified environmental and social impacts and mitigation measures should be the core part of monitoring efforts. It is critical to select indicators that:
- Capture the most important impacts
- Measure the effectiveness of the mitigation measures to ensure that these indeed reduce the impacts
- Monitor actions in the contingency plans
Data collection: once the indicators are selected; it is important to define data collection protocols for the indicators. Such protocols need to cover key aspects of data collection, including:
- The name and specific definition of the indicator
- Units used to measure the indicator
- Frequency of data collection (hourly, monthly, yearly)
- Methods and tools used for data collection
- People, departments responsible for data collection
Data collection can be carried out by both the project’s proponents and by local communities/surrounding municipalities.
Data interpretation and reporting: Once the data has been collected it is important to make it available to the designated authorities, communities and other stakeholders (such as local municipalities) so that it can be used for planning purposes and for cumulative assessments, and to help ensure that the commitments agreed upon in the EIA are being met. A central part of this reporting is providing an interpretation of the indicator trends. This includes describing the key factors that influenced the trends (even if these factors are beyond the control of the project) and identifying possible additional corrective measures and indicators needed to address any negative trends.
Examples
Learn more about monitoring, indicators, data collection, interpretation and reporting:
- This List of Monitoring Indicators provides 35 key indicators for monitoring environmental, sectoral and socioeconomic impacts of development projects.
- This case study describes Indicators, Monitoring and Pollution Mitigation in the Red River Delta of Vietnam.
- This Indicators Case Study describes indicators used in the China Hai Basin Integrated Water and Environmental Management project.
How is Monitoring conducted?
Monitoring is usually carried out by the project proponent, under the supervision of independent agencies and/or government agencies.
Monitoring is usually carried out by the project proponent, under the supervision of independent agencies and/or government agencies. The key steps in creating a monitoring plan are:
- Identify the focus areas to be considered for the plan (based on the impacts, mitigation measures and other issues from the contingency plans).
- Select of a long list of indicators for the focus areas, such as those on population, health, and natural elements used by the population (soil, drinking water, etc.).
- Prioritize a core set of indicators based upon agreed criteria.
- Identify data collection protocols.
- Develop data interpretation methods and create a reporting template.
- Schedule activities, evaluate program and personnel costs, define personnel responsibilities.
In Honduras, environmental monitoring is carried out during the stages of site preparation, construction, operation and closure (if applicable). It should aim to ensure the efficiency of the proposed actions, allowing regular assessment of the implementation, and the adoption of corrective measures if required. The frequency of monitoring activities is determined by the nature of the project. The proposed monitoring plan should be detailed by stages, according to the information specified in the table below.
Organization monitoring program implementation of planned measures in Honduras
| Stage of Implementation | Mitigation Measure | Control Settings | Monitoring | Monitoring Frequency | Method | Person/Organization Responsible for Measuring | Interpretation | Feedback | Description of the Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Site preparation | Prevention | ||||||||
| Minimization | |||||||||
| Compensation | |||||||||
| Construction | Prevention | ||||||||
| Minimization | |||||||||
| Compensation | |||||||||
| Performance | Current | ||||||||
| Previous | |||||||||
| Closing | Current | ||||||||
| Previous |
According to Honduran regulations, SINEIA oversees the autoregulation of environmental projects and activities. Environmental licences may have different instruments and means for enforcement. These must be expressly requested by MiAmbiente or the appropriate authority as part the process of granting and renewing the environmental licence, inspection and audit.