EIA

On 29 February, a facilitated online discussion that INECE initiated on strategies and best practices for enforcing the requirements of environmental impact assessments (EIAs), was concluded. This dialogue was a follow-up to a successful workshop during the INECE conference in Canada in 2011. It elicited the views and insights of leaders in the EIA field from around the world, covered a wide range of issues concerning all stages of the EIA process and involved many types of participants and stakeholders.

 According to the UN, more than 20 provinces in Thailand&n

On October 25-26, 2011 in Bangkok USAID and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) co-organized a workshop on mainstreaming climate change adaptation and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process under the auspices of the Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network (AECEN) and the Asia Pacific Adaptation Network (APAN).

" The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced the release of a new mapping feature in EPA’s Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) database. As part of EPA’s ongoing effort to improve transparency, the EPA and State Enforcement Actions Map will allow the public to access federal and state enforcement information in an interactive format and to compare enforcement action information by state.

A new regulations for EIA has been drafted with some minor changes, in this new regulation Environmental Management Plans are introduced as means by which small scale developments that do not require EIA could be undertaken by approving an EMP.

The Regulation awaits approval from other government agencies and Attorney Generals office

For more information: http://epa.gov.mv/

Location: Hotel Yak and Yeti Kathmandu, Nepal

In line with its continuing efforts to improve implementation of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the hydropower sector, the Nepal Ministry of Environment (MOE) will be conducting a training for EIA professionals using a newly-developed training module and materials. The main objective of this course is to help improve the quality and effectiveness of EIAs by training and developing the capacity of professionals actively engaged in undertaking EIAs in development projects in Nepal.

Nepal faces an ongoing challenge in bringing hydropower projects on line. Power outages in Kathmandu can be as much as 18 hours a day.

Challenge

Location: Bangkok, Thailand

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Through a twinning partnership with the Malaysia Department of Environment, the Nepal Ministry of Environment (MOE) expanded efforts to developed new tools to improve and streamline the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process by developing a training program and registration scheme for EIA consultants. At a consultation workshop on May 24, 2011 in Kathmandu, stakeholders from various sectors provided feedback on the consultant registration scheme and training program aimed at improving the quality of EIA reports and ensuring a more efficient review process.