Environmental activists criticize lax laws

For example, Chen said, the EIA Act designates that it is not necessary for a project constructing a waste incinerator on less than five hectares of land to have an assessment completed.

"That's why residents in Taoyuan have no alternative but to accept the establishment of a large incinerator, with a daily capacity of 1,350 metric tonnes of waste, on a site covering only three hectares of land. This is just one of many similar cases in Taiwan," Chen said.

Green Formosa Front chairman Wu Tung-jye (吳東傑) said the government's credibility had been seriously damaged by assessment committees, whose members were empowered to approve projects, but not asked to shoulder any responsibility if environmental problems emerged later.

"The EIA system will never gain people's trust if public participation remains unavailable," Wu said.

According to the EIA Act, public hearings only have to be held after the approval of the first phase of the assessment, which gives developers the green light.

Agency officials stressed that the fundamental spirit of the EIA Act is to prevent and mitigate adverse impacts of development activities so as to attain the goal of environmental protection.

"We know the importance of public involvement. But, under economic pressure, the EIA Act is often blamed by developers for the long process of having assessments completed," said Tung Te-po (董德波), director general of the EPA's Department of Planning.

Tung said the agency would consider having the law revised by allowing the public to express their opinions before conducting the assessment.

Shih Shin-min (施信民) of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union said that, before revising the act, establishing a legal basis of public referendums for people to challenge questionable policies or environment-unfriendly projects would be an effective way to ensure satisfactory public involvement.

"The more democracy we have, the better the environment will be protected," Shih said.