ENE4042 - Environmental impact and risk assessment

Overview

This unit aims to develop an understanding of the role and basis for environmental impact assessment (EIA), environmental risk assessment (ERA) and environmental management systems (EMS). The unit focuses on the processes involved in producing a comprehensive approach to identifying, assessing and planning management processes, with a particular emphasis on synthesising technical, regulatory and community issues. The unit aims to encourage you to integrate your existing knowledge in environmental engineering, applying it to real projects. Through lectures, practice classes, individual assignments and group project work, you should develop skills and knowledge in preparing major EIA, ERA and EMS reports, your presentation and communication as well as your engineering context.

Offerings

S1-01-CLAYTON-ON-CAMPUS

Requisites

Prohibition

Rules

Enrolment Rule

Contacts

Chief Examiner(s)

Professor Victor Chang

Unit Coordinator(s)

Professor Victor Chang

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:

describe the concepts of EIA, ERA and EMS

determine the role of these assessments and management systems in society, especially the relevant environmental legislation, policies, codes of practice and local/international standards

comprehend the government, industry and community perspectives on engineering projects

apply key concepts of life cycle analysis, environmental auditing, waste prevention, cleaner production, community consultation, and economic analysis in engineering projects

assess various types of environmental impact assessment, risk evaluation and environmental management system methodologies

prepare and present a group project based on the knowledge derived in EIA/ERA and EMS.

Teaching approach

Active learning

Assessment summary

Continuous assessment: 50%

Final assessment: 50%

This unit contains threshold hurdle requirements that you must achieve to be able to pass the unit. You are required to achieve at least 45% in the total continuous assessment component and at least 45% in the final assessment component. The consequence of not achieving a hurdle requirement is a fail grade (NH) and a maximum mark of 45 for the unit.

Assessment

1 - Daily risk assessment

2 - Environmental policy for project

3 - First version of EIS/ERS/EMS

4 - Final version of EIS/EMS

5 - Weekly activities and quizzes

6 - Final assessment

Scheduled and non-scheduled teaching activities

Practical activities

Workshops

Workload requirements

Workload

The minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of 3-6 hours of scheduled learning activities and 6-9 hours of independent study per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher-directed learning, peer-directed learning and online engagement. Independent study may include associated readings, assessment and preparation for scheduled activities.

Availability in areas of study

E3001 Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) - Specialisation: Environmental engineering
Minor: Environmental engineering
Minor: Sustainable engineering
Minor: Transport