The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday announced measures to revise the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (環境影響評估法) to improve a system criticized as being inefficient and a means to “greenwash” government policy.
While only 4 percent of development proposals were rejected by environmental impact assessments (EIA) over the past 21 years, it could take years for major development projects to undergo an EIA, and the EPA proposed to streamline the system so a standard EIA could be finalized in no more than three meetings, EPA Deputy Minister Thomas Chan (詹順貴) said.
The proposed system would alter the role of environmental consulting firms — which help developers draft EIA reports for review — to a third-party contractor, severing ties between consultants and developers. Developers would have to explain why their project should be approved when they submit a plan to the EPA.
The move is aimed at building a US-style EIA system, in which a review is conducted by government agencies authorized to approve a project, instead of the EPA conducting reviews, Chan said.
Chan said that while he was a member of the EPA’s Environmental Impact Assessment Committee, he was misled by the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau to believe that a park expansion project at Changhua County’s Erlin Township (二林) was welcomed by local residents, adding that public participation at an early stage of the review process is vital.
“Field investigations organized by the bureau did not cover Siangsihliao [相思寮, a rural community in Erlin], where a farmland expropriation controversy broke out,” Chan said. “It was a painful lesson for me. Hence, the EIA system will be revised to allow local residents to lead field investigations and express opinions at an early stage.”
Asked by reporters how the proposed system could avoid political influence, Chan said he never received orders from President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) or Premier Lin Chuan (林全) to approve developments or speed up the EIA process in favor of developers.
“The EIA system is not a rubber stamp of government policy,” he said. “Public opinion and government policy are two ends of a scale and negotiations are necessary.”
“Before I was sworn in, I told Tsai which of the five innovative industries [which she pledged to develop] needed to undergo EIA reviews,” he said. “Less controversial projects can undergo reviews first.”
A series of strategic environmental assessments would evaluate national development policies, such as tourism development, while it is expected that development at national scenic areas would be further restricted, he said.
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