The environmental impact assessment (EIA) system should be improved by boosting public participation and communication, as well as stipulating proper responses by developers when concerns are raised, environmental groups said yesterday amid a public-initiated investigation of the process.
The Ministry of Environment must enhance the transparency and supervision of the system, the groups said during a public hearing, which was attended by Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Chen Gau-tzu (陳昭姿).
Government Watch Alliance convener Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said that two-way communication between civic participants and developers were in place until former Environmental Protection Administration minister Chang Tzi-chin (張子敬) changed the approach during his time in the role.
Photo courtesy of the environmental groups
The chairperson of the EIA review meetings used to ask developers to answer questions raised by civic participants, but now the speaking time of civic participants is limited to three minutes each and developers are not obligated to answer their questions, Chang said.
“The two-way communication approach should be restored immediately,” she said.
Changhua Environmental Protection Union researcher Lin Cheng-han (林政翰) said that notifications of EIA public hearings are typically only given to borough wardens and township or city offices.
A wider approach to announcements, such as text messaging, should be adopted to notify local residents who would be affected by planned developments, Lin said, adding that a minimum participation rate of local residents should be set.
Regulations protecting civic engagement should be established by the ministry and local environmental protection authorities, while the speaking time for each civic participant should be at least 10 minutes, he said.
Taiwan Hsinchu Foundation chairman Sam Lin (林聖崇) called for a funding to set up a think tank dedicated to examining the validity of the EIA process, and facilitating understanding of EIA reports among stakeholders and the public.
Taiwan Ecological Engineering Development Foundation chairman Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) said that artificial intelligence technology should be introduced to help assess meeting minutes and identify whether concerns raised during meetings are properly addressed by developers.
Environmental Jurists’ Association executive director Chang Yu-yin (張譽尹), who is the principal investigator of the EIA system checkup, said that selecting locations for development projects and evaluating project necessity involve value judgements.
However, the judgement process often lacks public participation and is left to the EIA committee to resolve, meaning accountability is sometimes lacking, he said.
“The purpose of the EIA is to understand environmental conditions, assess potential impacts and propose effective solutions,” he said.
Public participation is crucial, as the knowledge and experience of local residents is indispensable to understanding environmental conditions, he said, adding that public participation can mitigate some of the shortcomings in the EIA process.
However, substantive public participation is not involved until the second phase of the EIA, he added.
The public is given too little time to participate in the EIA process and the issues they raise are often not discussed, he said.
Department of Environmental Protection Deputy Director-General Hsu Su-chih (徐淑芷) said that the ministry has improved public participation by allowing up to 20 civic participants attend EIA meetings since July 1.
On Sept. 11, the ministry asked EIA committee members to address concerns raised by civic participants, Hsu said.
It also has released an online platform to boost public participation in EIA meetings and require developers to reply to questions, she said.
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