The Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry has issued new procedures for evaluating the environmental impact of local projects, as well as new guidelines on emissions.
The Environmental Impact Assessment Procedure – approved by the cabinet in November – was drafted with support from the Asian Development Bank and based on guidelines from the International Finance Corporation. They are tailored for Myanmar, with the government also drawing conclusions from the experiences of its neighbours, the Myanmar Times reported on Friday. The procedures were issued in Nay Pyi Taw on Thursday, it added.
Deputy Environmental Conservation and Forestry Minister Thet Then Zin said the EIA process helps identify possible consequences of projects on socioeconomic development and minimise their impact on the environment. EIA systems would be applied in Myanmar as they have been across Asean countries, she added.
“It is becoming a must when investing in Myanmar to keep the economy and social and environmental conservation in balance,” she said. “It is a priority to control water pollution, air pollution and soil pollution on projects.”
Hla Maung Thein, the deputy director-general of the Department of Environmental Conservation, said that putting the rules into practice would result in effective environmental management.
Environmental impact assessments focus on project transparency, stakeholder acceptance and environmental conservation at a minimal cost among other factors.
Project investors will need to publicise relevant information in real time, as well. The deputy minister added investors will be required to self-monitor projects and report back to concerned government departments.
If a company fails to communicate the necessary project information, it will be fined between US$1000 and $5000, or the equivalent in Myanmar kyat, according to the EIA procedure.
Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business director Vicky Bowman welcomed the launch of the EIA Procedures.
“This removes some of the grey area in which companies have been operating for the last few years,” she wrote in an email. “It makes clear what consultation and disclosure companies need to undertake and what issues and impacts should be covered in the assessments and management plans. If the Procedures are properly implemented, the disclosure requirements should help to raise the quality of the EIAs.”
“What’s needed now is continued strengthening and expert advice to be provided to MOECAF (the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry) so that they can process these assessments to their own deadlines.”
Thet Then Zin said the rules would lead to significant results but also challenges. In other countries, some companies spent too much time and money and had a hard time accessing secure data, submitting reports, and obtaining the public’s cooperation.
But if government departments, investors and people can work together according to the guidelines, environmental and social impacts caused by the development process can be effectively prevented, she said.