A case study on an environmental impact ... - WIT Press

1 A case study on an environmental impactassessment in MalaysiaS. Yusoff, R. HashimDepartment of Civil Engineering, University of Malaya, KualaLumpur, MalaysiaAbstractThe environmental impact Assessment (EIA) procedure in Malaysia has beendeveloped primarily as an aid to the environmental planning of new or existingdevelopment projects. The pollution control which have been promoted forquite some time in Malaysia is essentially a curative process where else theimplementation of the mandatory EIA procedures is more of a preventivemeasure to avoid costly mistakes in planning and development. All activitieslisted under the environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities) (EnvironmentalImpact Assessment) Order 1987 have to undergo an EIA before commencementof paper describes the EIA process in Malaysia with a particularreference to a proposed new road which has undergone an EIA study .

2 The EIAprocedure as outlined in the environmental Quality Act, Malaysia (1974) isdiscussed and several aspects of the EIA process is IntroductionMalaysia today is a modern progressive country with high economic growthwith industrialisation and urbanisation being the key development priority ofthe country. However, with the rapid development activities comes theenvironmental problems associated with it. In the recent years, the increasingawareness for the concept of sustainable development has come to sustainable development is a pattern of social and structural economictransformations, that is development which optimises the existing socialbenefits, without endangering the potential of such benefits in the future. Thesupport for sustainable development especially in developing countries is dueto the increasing concern over the often deleterious environmental , health,social and economic consequences of inappropriate large scale the manifestations of this concern is the environmental ImpactAssessment (EIA) legislation which became a mandatory requirement undersection 34A of the environmental Quality (amendment) Act, 1985.

3 It empowersthe Minister of Science, Technology and Environment to prescribe any Transactions on Ecology and the Environment vol 11, 1996 WIT Press , , ISSN 1743-3541

4 162 environmental Engineering Educationactivities which is likely to have significant impacts on the environment. Thesubsequent EIA Order was gazzeted on Nov. 1987 and finally enforced sinceApril 1, environmental impact Assessment procedure in Malaysia wasdeveloped primarily as an aid to the environmental planning of newdevelopment projects or to the expansion of existing development projects. Theprocedure and guidelines have been tailored specifically to the assessment ofdevelopment project control which has been promoted for several years inMalaysia, has essentially been a curative process. The Act and the variousregulations under it are directed mainly towards the control of industrialpollution but are by no means conclusive in themselves in tackling the broadenvironmental issues arising from the development of land and naturalresources.

5 Thus it is important to understand where the EIA fits into the overallscheme of environmental management. The EIA procedure seeks to avoidcostly mistakes in project planning and development mistakes which can becostly either because of environmental losses that result or costly because ofmodification that might be required subsequently to make the projectenvironmentally acceptable to the Goverment and the community. The EIA,pollution control and resource planning are together a total approach toenvironmental management in The national environmental policy actThe Malaysian Goverment has stated its policy on EIA in the Third MalaysianPlan as follow :-" In the evaluation of all relevent projects, an assessment of the overall impactof these projects on the environment will be undertaken.

6 Ministries andDepartments as well as the private sector will be required, before embarkingon the implementation of such projects, to identify all likely environmentaleffects as well as the means to be taken to counter them. These assessments willbe taken into account in the final design and implementation of the projects butbearing in mind that the adoption of environmental protection measures willneed alaways to be in balance with development costs."This was further reiterated in the Fifth Malaysia Plan as1." ..to maintain a clean healthy "2." to maintain the quality of the environment relative to the needs of thegrowing " minimise " (the) impact of the growing population and human activitiesrelating to mineral exploration, deforestration, agriculture, urbanisation,tourism, and the development of other resources on the environment" balance ".

7 The goals for socio-economic development and the need tobring the benefits of development to a wide spectrum of the .against(the) maintenance of sound environment "5."..to place more emphasis on prevention through conservation rather than Transactions on Ecology and the Environment vol 11, 1996 WIT Press , , ISSN 1743-3541

8 environmental Engineering Education 163on curative " inter alia by preserving the country's unique anddiverse cultural and natural "..to incorporate an environmental dimension in project planning inter alia by determining .. the implications of theproposed and the costs of the required environmental mitigationmeasures through the conduct of El A" and7. to promote "(greater) cooperation and increased coordination among releventfederal and state " as well as "..(among) the "3 environmental impact assessment in Aim and objectives of El AThe aim of environmental impact assessment in Malaysia is to assess the overallimpact on the environment of development projects proposed by the public andprivate objectives of environmental impact assessments are :-1.

9 To examine and select the best from the project options To identify and incorporate into the project plan appropriate abatementand mitigating To predict significant residual environmental To determine the significant residual environmental impacts To identify the environmental costs and benefits of the project to The essential stepsTo complete an environmental impact assessment in an efficient manner and torealise the objectives listed above, the assesor should take the following stepsin sequence :1. Describe the proposed project as well as the Describe the existing Select the impact indicators to be Predict the nature and the extent of the environmental Identify the relevant human Assess the significant of the impact7. Incorporate appropriate mitigating and abatement measures into theproject Identify the environmental costs and benefits of the project to Report on the assessment.

10 Transactions on Ecology and the Environment vol 11, 1996 WIT Press , , ISSN 1743-3541