GATE — Environmental Science and Engineering (ES) · India · IITs and IISc on rotation (2026: IIT Guwahati)
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersThe full EIA process as a practitioner runs it: screening, scoping, baseline studies, impact prediction, significance, mitigation hierarchy, environmental management plans, public consultation, review and follow-up, plus SEA and social impact assessment. The Agribusiness subject natural-resource-environmental-economics and the Agricultural Engineering waste subject each carry a one-unit introduction to EIA; this is the full subject.
In the exams: GATE ES Section 9; ICAR AICE subject 71 Unit 3; UGC NET Unit 8; China EIA engineer licence; EIANZ Impact Assessment specialist; NABET EIA coordinator roles
GATE — Environmental Science and Engineering (ES), Section 9
EIA process steps, screening and scoping, methods (checklists, Leopold matrix, networks, overlays, Battelle), impact prediction numericals (noise attenuation and decibel addition, mixing, dispersion), significance, EMP and Indian EIA Notification 2006 categories and stages.
How our questions for GATE spread across the units of Environmental Impact Assessment & Strategic Environmental Assessment. Difficulty: 16 easy, 18 medium, 5 hard.
| Impact identification: checklists, matrices, networks, overlays | 9 | |
| Impact prediction and evaluation of significance | 6 | |
| Screening and categorisation of projects | 4 | |
| History, purpose and principles of EIA | 3 | |
| Legal frameworks: NEPA, EU EIA Directive, India EIA Notification and others | 3 | |
| Scoping and terms of reference | 3 | |
| Baseline data collection | 3 | |
| Environmental management plans and monitoring | 2 | |
| Cumulative impact assessment | 2 | |
| Strategic environmental assessment | 2 | |
| Mitigation hierarchy: avoid, minimise, restore, offset | 1 | |
| Public consultation and hearings | 1 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
Which law, signed on 1 January 1970, was the first to require environmental impact assessment?
A. The US National Environmental Policy Act
NEPA (1969, signed 1 January 1970) introduced the environmental impact statement for major federal actions. The UK planning act predates EIA, India's Act dates from 1986 and the EU Directive from 1985.
Further reading: Glasson and Therivel, Introduction to EIA
What role does the 'no-project' (no action) alternative play in EIA?
D. It describes the future without the project and serves as the reference for comparison
The no-action alternative is the baseline against which other alternatives' impacts are measured. It need not be chosen, it is expected in good practice and required under NEPA, and the mitigated project is a separate alternative.
Further reading: NEPA; GT
In the Leopold matrix, what two values are entered in each relevant cell?
D. Magnitude and importance, each on a scale of 1 to 10
Leopold et al. (1971) asked for magnitude (extent or degree, a factual estimate) and importance (significance, a judgement), each scored 1–10. The matrix does not record costs, probabilities or area-duration pairs.
Further reading: Leopold et al., USGS Circular 645, 1971
In the Battelle Environmental Evaluation System, how many parameter importance units (PIU) are distributed among the parameters?
A. 1000
Battelle distributes 1000 PIU among 78 parameters in four categories (ecology, environmental pollution, aesthetics, human interest). 100 is a scale, 78 is the number of parameters.
Further reading: Dee et al. 1973
Which identification method traces chains of primary, secondary and tertiary impacts from a project action?
B. Impact network
Networks such as the Sorensen network (1971) trace cause-effect chains, capturing indirect impacts. Checklists list items without chains; overlays show spatial patterns. An impact network is also called an impact tree.
Further reading: Sorensen 1971; GT
What distinguishes a scaling checklist from a simple checklist?
C. It adds a scale for rating the magnitude of each impact
Simple checklists list items; descriptive checklists add guidance; scaling checklists add magnitude ratings; questionnaire checklists pose structured questions. Chains are networks and maps are overlays.
Further reading: Canter, EIA
Settlement and roadside businesses springing up along a new rural road are an example of what kind of impact?
C. Induced impact
Induced impacts arise from activities the project stimulates. Direct impacts are caused by the project itself (land take for the road); residual impacts remain after mitigation; transboundary impacts cross borders.
Further reading: Glasson and Therivel, Introduction to EIA
Monitoring stack emissions to check that they meet the limits in a permit is which type of monitoring?
D. Compliance monitoring
Compliance monitoring checks conformity with standards and conditions. Baseline monitoring precedes the project; effects (impact) monitoring measures changes in the receiving environment to test predictions.
Further reading: Glasson and Therivel, Introduction to EIA
Baseline PM10 at a village is 72 µg/m³ against a standard of 100 µg/m³. Three proposed plants are each predicted to add 10 µg/m³ there. What is the cumulative concentration?
D. 102 µg/m³, which exceeds the standard
Cumulative = 72 + 3 × 10 = 102 µg/m³ > 100: each plant alone (82) appears acceptable but together they breach the standard. 30 ignores the baseline; 172 adds the standard.
Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is applied to what?
C. Policies, plans and programmes
SEA assesses policies, plans and programmes (PPPs) early in decision-making; project EIA covers individual projects. Vehicles and households are not SEA subjects.
Further reading: Directive 2001/42/EC
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