Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management

Welcome to this special Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM) issue on environmental assessment (EA) research in South Asia, which besides this introductory paper includes seven papers contributing to a wider understanding of EA-related practices in the South Asian Region (SAR). Some of the papers are country-specific while others provide useful overviews of a region and/or parts of a region. The collection of papers is a result of a targeted call to researchers taking a special interest on EA issues within SAR. This special issue is timely considering the challenges and rapid growth this part of the world is currently facing. Furthermore, there is a perception that EA-related research in the region is less reported in the academic literature than others. Although this special issue cannot claim to represent all countries in South Asia, it is a step towards narrowing this perceived gap in the literature and in reporting on the emerging trends of EA within the region. It is hoped that this initiative will encourage further SAR EA-related research and publications in the future.

While the extant literature on environmental impact assessment (EIA) regulation in India largely focuses on evaluating implementation, this paper studies the political processes that shape the formulation of EIA regulation. Specifically, the aim of this study is to understand the political actors that participate in the formulation process and their influence on the process. To address this research question, this paper conducts a content analysis of the publicly available documents (e.g. regulatory documents, published news reports and reports of expert committees) related to the process of amending the EIA regulation in 2009. The results show that while the overall balance of power is in favour of the economic growth lobby, the environmental groups also appear to exert some influence at the formulation stage. Extrapolating from the findings, the paper then develops a general model of the formulation process of EIA regulation in India, which shows the influence of various actors at various stages of the process.

India is promoting the vast hydropower potential of the Himalayan region, and the northern states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh are encouraging small, medium and major hydro projects. Our research examined the approval processes for small hydro in these states with a view to making recommendations for policy improvements. We describe local understandings of project impacts, review public participation in project approvals, and discuss extending the national environmental assessment law to small hydro. We used a retrospective case study of three hydro projects, semi-structured qualitative interviews, a review of policy and project-specific case documents, and field observations. We found that residents of affected communities held similar views respecting the positive and negative impacts these projects might have, whether the impacts occurred or not. We canvassed predicted impacts such as job creation, increased access to electricity, improved local infrastructure, loss of cultural assets, and removal of trees. Further, the case study revealed opportunities for earlier, more decentralized, and more active participation in small hydro approval processes. We conclude that the legal exemption for small hydro has left an important gap in India’s environmental assessment regime. Improved project-level assessments, catchment-based cumulative effects assessments, and better local involvement are needed for small hydro development.

This paper is focused on a practice that has been widely noted in South Asia, i.e. employing extra-local methods to assess community resilience with no or minimal attempts on localising. The objective of this paper is to assess the consistency/inconsistency and concordance/discordance of resilience levels computed by different extra-local assessment methods with reference to a Sri Lankan case. Community resilience levels were computed for 40 localities with three methods utilising secondary data. Statistical analysis revealed neither strong correlation ($r\ge 0.574$), ($p<0.01$) or strong reliability (ICC $=0.481$) among the computed resilience levels, indicating inconsistency and discordance. The findings explained how the randomly selected extra-local assessment methods could produce different values. Hence, can the resilience building decisions based on such assessment methods also be inconsistent? This study suggests decision makers should revisit the practice of employing non-localised extra-local assessment methods without addressing the context-specific resilience building needs profoundly.

This paper examines China’s role in the regulatory framework for environmental assessment in the ‘Third Pole’ sub-region of South Asia: the Tibetan Plateau and related mountain ranges, in particular the Himalayas. To date development has been limited, partly as a result of poverty, conflict and relative inaccessibility. However, recent collaboration between China and Pakistan, improved communication between India and China, Chinese development of Tibet, and the export of Chinese development to other countries in the sub-region financed by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, is likely to change things dramatically. Major infrastructure development, such as railways and hydroelectric dams, will place the environment under considerable pressure in the future. Given the cross-border focus of this development, the paper examines transboundary solutions to environmental protection, in particular transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) under international law and the development of a new environmental safeguards policy.

This paper assesses the value of using Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to account for the spatially and temporally diverse and diffuse potential impacts of hydropower development in South Asia’s Koshi basin. A policy and practice review and key stakeholder interviews identified opportunities for SEA to improve existing planning procedures, and also barriers to effective adoption. Whilst stakeholders are interested in employing SEA to evaluate cumulative impacts, institutional blockages and an economic development imperative for power generation leave little space for consideration of alternative scenarios as part of SEA. The analysis is conducted through the formulation and application of a conceptual framework (CFW) for SEA best practice which is then used to identify priority next-steps for a more dynamic application of SEA in the region.

Lack of comprehensive land use planning in India has posed significant challenges in achieving more optimal utilisation of land resources. This has also limited the opportunities for developing land use plans that adequately reflect the rationale and objectives of planning. This calls for developing a comprehensive and holistic approach to review the compatibility of actions associated with development plans involving multiple sectors with the ground realities. This paper is an attempt to apply strategic environmental assessment (SEA) as a promising tool to identify environmental risks and deficiencies in the land use planning process in India. The paper draws on the experience of applying SEA to Gurgaon-Manesar Development Plan for 2031 and elaborates on the merits and usefulness of adopting SEA in land use planning in the Indian context.

Striking a balance between the need to achieve socio-economic growth and to conserve and sustainably use natural resources has become a pressing requirement globally, especially in developing nations. Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) that recognises and integrates environmental, social and economic considerations into policies, plans and programmes is a recognised and effective planning tool in more than 90 countries across the globe.

The paper reflects on changing trends in SEA uptake and increasing momentum for its application in South Asia. Evidence suggests that various drivers including voluntary practice and donor driven impact assessments are favouring the uptake of SEA as a robust and futuristic planning support tool for sustainable growth in multiple economic sectors.

The paper draws on numerous examples of SEA and ‘SEA-like’ instruments applied in different sectors in South Asia and identifies growth sectors where SEA has a significant potential to synchronise conservation and sustainable development objectives.