What is the purpose of the Scoping phase in the EIA?

• A. To gather post-implementation data.
• B. To define the scope of assessment and identify key issues to allocate resources effectively.
• C. To approve the budget.
• D. To select contractors.

Answer: (B)

In EIA, the Scoping phase centers on deciding what will be examined and which issues matter most. It sets the boundaries of the assessment—what parts of the project, which geographic area, and what time frame are relevant—and identifies the key environmental issues and potential impacts to focus on. This helps determine how detailed the study needs to be and where to allocate resources, data collection, and expert effort so the assessment stays focused on the most significant concerns. Post-implementation data collection belongs to monitoring and later evaluation, not scoping, while budget approval and contractor selection are project-management tasks outside this phase.