Environmental impact assessment with rapid impact assessment matrix method: during disaster conditions

Abstract

In the last several decades, Iran’s ecosystem has suffered due to the careless usage of natural resources. Cities have grown in an uneven and non-normative way, and poor project management has been a major issue, particularly in large cities. An even greater number of environmental factors and engineering regulations are not relevant to projects. Because of this, in order to ascertain a project’s environmental impact, an environmental impact assessment (EIA), is required. Using the rapid impact assessment matrix (RIAM) is one method of applying it to EIA. Reducing subjectivity brings objectivity and transparency. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a thorough EIA was carried out for the Tehran project utilizing the RIAM and other possibilities. This research is the first to combine the methodology that was discussed during the incident. Through the use of the RIAM technique, the environmental impact of COVID-19 was to be quantified in this inquiry. The research examined lockdown procedures and the COVID-19 pandemic to create an EIA indicator. In a real-world case study conducted in Tehran, Iran, the impact of the initiative was evaluated using the RIAM methodology during the COVID-19 epidemic. The results demonstrated that COVID-19 had both beneficial and harmful effects. Decision-makers were effectively informed about the COVID-19 pandemic’s environmental consequences on people and the environment, as well as how to minimize negative effects, according to the EIA technique that used RIAM. This is the first research to integrate the EIA during a crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, with the RIAM approach.