Annex 3

Steps to identify the environmental aspects and the associated impacts

The environmental impacts of the bureau/department refer to the changes which take place in the environment as a result of the activities and programmes of the bureau/department. For example, an activity of handling of hazardous materials, which has potential for accidental spillage, may have an environmental impact on contamination of soil or water.

The identification of significant environmental impacts can be dealt with in the following three steps:

• Among the activities and programmes, select those which are large enough for meaningful examination and small enough to be sufficiently understood.
  
• Identify as many environmental aspects as possible associated with the selected activities or programmes. (Note: an environmental aspect refers to an element of the bureau/department's activities and programmes which can have a beneficial or adverse impact on the environment.)
  
• Identify as many actual and potential environmental impacts as possible associated with each identified aspect.

Examples from the three steps above are shown as follows.