21/08/2022
The following two pictures show that 5 ASEAN countries only use the IEE type and among them, Singapore has no IEE and EIA requirements by law. It is not strange for late-comer countries in the EIA literature due to the level of EIA knowledge in the host countries and at that time, most countries have a few limitations to choose which EIA system is suitable for their countries and they didn't know whether those technical transfers by funding agencies are relevant or not in the past decade.
Under the legislative arrangements, Lohani et al. (1997) also argued that the substantial legal requirements for EIA institutions were a kind of determinants to measure the status of a country's obligation for achieving an effective EIA system.
Moreover, revising current EIA legislation is a significant activity to examine whether EIA legislation could be performed functionally and compatible with other relevant legal documents and contemporary country's situations.
Under the assessment of the Myanmar EIA system, one of the EIA consultants mentioned that annex (A) of the EIA procedure is very strict, and categorization for IEE and EIA type projects is too many to implement in current situations in Myanmar under the transitional period. Compared to other countries, Korea and Japan, where established substantial laws related to air and water quality for small projects. So, it is not necessary to conduct EIA for small projects, and project proponents need to follow those laws while EIA is just for large projects. In Myanmar, every project covers types of EIA and IEE.(Thu, 2018)
Similarly, the UNDP report (2016) suggested that the number of IEE and EIA type projects in Myanmar should have made a balance depending on the size of the projects and significance of environmental impacts to avoid reviewing the upcoming colossal number of backlogs.
Momtaz and Kabir (2013) reiterated that scanning the existing legislative arrangement was an essential role in EIA because insufficient and unclear legislation could give rise to significant costs, unpredictable outcomes for EIA implementation, and finally, delayed the process to attain expected goals.
In conclusion, every country needs to prepare robust and comprehensive EIA regulations to improve the EIA system, and the integration of policy, planning, and project levels should be involved in considering EIA legislation.
References
Lohani, B. N., Evans, J. W., Everitt, R. R., Ludwig, H., Carpenter, R. A., & Tu,S. L. (1997). Environmental Impact Assessment for Developing
Countries in Asia: Volume 1-Overview.
Momtaz, S., & Kabir, S. (2013). Evaluating environmental and social impactassessment in developing countries. Boston: Elsevier.
Thu. S.A. (2018). Improving the Effectiveness of Environmental Impact Assessment System in Myanmar Based on the Integrated Holistic Approach (Thesis Dissertation)
UNDP. (2016). Needs Assessment for Effective Implementation of theEnvironmental Conservation Law in Myanmar. Myanmar: Hildén, M.,Mäkinen, K., Jantunen, J., Jokinen, M., Lilja, R., Maung Maung, T., ...& Aung, T.
Photo crd to ONEP & PTT Public Company (Thailand)