Consider the following statements regarding EIA basics:

Question

Consider the following statements regarding EIA basics:

1. EIA aims to predict environmental impacts at an early stage in project planning

and design.

II. EIA is only a technical document with no legal or policy implications.

III. Public participation is an important part of the EIA process in many national

legislations.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. A. I and II only
2. B. I and III only (Correct answer)
3. C. II and III only
4. D. I, II and III

Correct Answer

Option B — I and III only

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is I and III only.

Key Points

• Statement I is correct. EIA is anticipatory: it predicts impacts at an early stage of project planning and design, when the project can still be modified cheaply. That is the whole point of assessing before approving.
• Statement II is incorrect, and it is the error the question turns on. EIA is emphatically not merely technical. In India it carries statutory force through the EIA Notification, 2006 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, and clearance conditions are legally binding.
• Statement III is correct. Public participation is a formal requirement of EIA in most national legislations, and in India it is the mandatory public consultation stage.

Additional Information

• The legal consequence of statement II being false is substantial: a project operating without or in breach of environmental clearance can be shut down, and the matter is actionable before the National Green Tribunal.
• EIA's preventive logic reflects the precautionary principle, one of the three principles the NGT is statutorily directed to apply.
• The early-stage requirement is why clearance must be obtained prior to commencement of construction — retrospective or *ex post facto* clearance has been repeatedly disapproved by the courts.
• Statement questions in this topic almost always plant the error in a claim that the process is optional, technical-only, or without legal effect.