CHAPTER 4

APPROVAL PROCESS OF EIA REPORT

APPROVAL PROCESS OF EIA REPORT IN
PENINSULAR MALAYSIA
 Section 34A (2) EQA 1974 : any person who is
intended to carry out any prescribed activity
must submit an EIA report to the Director
General
 Section 34A (6) EQA 1974: any person who is
intended to carry out any prescribed activity
must submit an EIA report and get approval
from the Director General before
commencement of the activity
Approval Process of PEIA Report by
DOE
Submission of PEIA Report to
the DOE State Offices

One-stop Agency Meeting :

comment and verifications from
relevant agencies are sought

Approval/ rejection of PEIA

Report by State Director
Approval Process of DEIA Report by
DOE
Submission of DEIA Report to the DOE
Headquarters

Public Display and Comment:

Announcement on local newspaper, publishing DEIA Report at all DOE Offices,
public and university libraries

DEIA ad hoc Review Panel:

Review DEIA Reports and formulate recommendations to the relevant project
approving authority

Recommendations arising out of review are transmitted to the relevant project

approving authorities for consideration in making a decision on the project

Approval/ Rejection of DEIA Report by

Director General
APPROVAL PROCESS OF EIA REPORT IN
SARAWAK
PEIA Report DEIA Report
Submission of Terms of Reference
Submission of PEIA Report
(TOR)

Ad-Hoc Review Panel decides

Panel commenting on the PEIA
whether the EIA study is in
Report
accordance to the TOR format

Review Meeting Ad-Hoc Review Panel Meeting

Approval/ Rejection Approval/ Rejection

APPROVAL PROCESS OF EIA REPORT IN
SABAH
PEIA Report DEIA Report
Submission of PEIA Report Submission of DEIA Report

Public Hearing: 14 days to

Committee Review
comment

Approval/ Rejection Review Panel

Agreement of
Environmental Conditions

Approval/ Rejection
 FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED PRIOR
TO APPROVAL
The factors to be considered by the reviewers in
making decision over an EIA Report:
1) Magnitude
2) Prevalence
3) Duration and frequency
4) Risk
5) Importance
6) Mitigation
(see Appendix 10 of EIA Handbook)
 Under Section 34A (3) and (4) EQA 1974,
before the Director General can approve the
EIA Report he shall:
1) Make necessary inquiries;
2) Examine whether the report has assessed the
impacts on the environment and proposed
mitigation measures; and
3) Examine whether mitigation are adequate
 OTHER ASSESSMENT PROCESS
• Apart from EIA report, it appears that there are
projects which require special assessment
process apart from EIA.
• For an example, in Lynas project, it appears to be
two separate assessment process i.e EIA under
DOE and the Radiological Impact Assessment
(RIA) under the Atomic Energy Licensing Board
(AELB).
• These two assessment may give rise to conflicts
of interests.
 APPROVAL OF EIA REPORT BY
APPROVING AUTHORITY
• Section 34A(6) EQA1974: All prescribed
activities need to obtain EIA approval from the
DG of DOE prior to the giving of approval by
the relevant approving authority.
• The Approving Authority is the Government
Authority that has task of deciding, whether
or not a project should proceed.
 The Approving Authority includes the
following:
The National Development Planning • For Federal Government sponsored
Committee (NDPC)
projects

The respective State Planning • For State Government sponsored

Authorities
projects

The Regional Development • For the State Executive Committee

Authorities
(EXCO)

Ministry of International Trade and

Industry (MITI) (with due reference
to the Malaysia Industrial • For industrial projects
Development Authority (MIDA)
Federal and State Jurisdictional Issues
• Article 74 of the Federal Constitution: Matters
relating to land, rivers, forest, town and country
planning and local government are within the
jurisdiction of the respective State Authority.
• At the same time the management of these
resources is beyond the scope of EQA 1974 and
the role of DOE.
• Thus, the major constraint towards an effective
EIA model in Malaysia pertains to the
constitutional limitation on its jurisdiction with
respect to environmental management.
MONITORING AND COMPLIANCE
AUDITING
Phsyco chemical
impact, biological Assessment of
Activities of the
impact and soci- impacts
project
economic impact

Mitigation Monitoring of the

Compliance audit
enhancement environmental
process
measures parameters

Modifications of
mitigation
 CONCLUSION
• Successful implementation of EIA is very much
depends on the close cooperation between
Federal and State Authority but sometimes
such cooperation cannot be achieved when
there is a conflict of interest between Federal
and State Authority in approving the proposed
projects.