EIA Blog

Requisites of an Environmental Impact Assessment Report

By: Chamindri Liyanage Image credits: Daily Mirror According to the Sri Lankan law, all development projects that are prescribed under the law are required to obtain prior approval from the relevant Project Approving Agency (PAA) upon submitting an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) report or an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report.    The National Environmental Act, No.47 of 1980 (as amended) is the key legislation that stipulates the IEE/EIA process. In addition, the Coast Conservation

The Role of Project Approving Agencies in the IEE/EIA Process

By: Chamindri Liyanage Photo by J.I.R. Figueroa on Unsplash According to the Sri Lankan law, all development projects that are prescribed under the law are required to obtain prior approval from the relevant Project Approving Agency (PAA), upon submitting an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) report or an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report. The purpose of carrying out an IEE or an EIA report is to ensure that the particular project is sustainable and all

What are Prescribed Projects and Where to Find Them

By: Lasantha Withanage Image credits : Daily Mirror Catchphrase : Projects and undertakings which are required to carry out an EIA or IEE are identified as ‘Prescribed Projects’ and the same have been declared under the provisions of National Environmental Act.   Mainly, large scale development projects or projects that are located in environmentally sensitive areas cause major environmental impacts. Therefore, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is essential to mitigate and

Quick Reference to the Main Legislations on the Environmental Impact Assessment Process

By: Bhagya Wickramasinghe Image Credits : Michael Hacker on Unsplash Catchphrase – Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) law and policy shall ensure successful convergence of conservation and development.  It is one of the main tools in achieving sustainable development goals.   Sri Lanka being a country rich with Biodiversity and resources of natural beauty, it is of paramount importance to have a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) law and policy to ensure successful convergence of conservation and development.  It is also one of the main

Saving Sri Lanka’s Waterfalls: An Outlook on the Upper Kotmale Hydro-power Project

By: Anjalee Udawatta & Lakshitha Edirisinghe The EIA identified key issues associated with the project. Several scenic waterfalls were threatened due to the reduction of water flow. Image source: olivelankaholidays.com A crucial component of Sri Lanka’s natural scenic beauty is the cascading waterfalls emanating from the central hills. While serving as major tourist attractions, these waterfalls also support the livelihoods of surrounding communities while being a safe haven for several faunal species. The dire need to protect

Development and Environmental Conservation as a Gender Issue and the Relevance therein to the EIA Process

By: Piyumi Wattuhewa Being sensitive to gender issues in environmental projects is essential in order to prevent potential commitments to widen the already existing gender disparities.  Image Credits: Nandhu Kumar on Unsplash Environmental conservation and the relevance therein to development is a gendered issue as much as it is an environmental issue. Even though it is rarely discussed as such in the Sri Lankan contexts, there are numerous notable intricacies and correlations between the status of women

The IEE Process: Overcoming Shortcomings & Effective Implementation

By: Anjalee Udawatta & Lakshitha Edirisinghe Although an IEE report is a public document and in theory the public has access to the report, public participation is not a mandatory step included in the IEE process. Image Credits: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-photo-of-person-touching-leaves-1781935/ An Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) is simply an instrument to assess the possible impacts of a proposed development project on the environment. It is carried out with a view to determine whether the impacts of a proposed project

International Conventions and the EIA Process

By: Piyumi Wattuhewa Passing legislations enabling the provisions of environmental conventions would pave the way for the better implementation of EIA procedures. The amount of international conventions constituting provisions relating to the environment and environmental protection is vast, especially when one considers the subject specific conventions as well as the regional and bilateral agreements that state parties enter into. Environmental Impact Assessment is often given effect in such agreements, though often not expressly; but can frequently

පාරිසරික බලපෑම් තක්සේරු කිරීමේ වාර්තාව (EIA) සහ මහජන අදහස් විමසීම

කර්තෘ: කුමුදිකා පෙරේරා උධෘතය: මහජනතාව ව්‍යාපෘති යෝජනා සමඟ සම්බන්ධවන විට ඔවුහු ඔවුනොවුන්ගේ අදහස් ප්‍රකාශ කරමින්, තර්ක කරමින්, භෞතික සංවර්ධනයේදී අනුගමනය කළ යුතු ගුණධර්ම පිළිබඳව සංවාදයක යෙදෙයි. ඡායාරූපය උපුටා ගැනීමකි. මුල් අයිතිය MONGABAY සහ Cane Mario සතු ය. සංශෝධිත 1980 අංක 47 දරන ජාතික පාරිසරික පනතට අනුව, ‘පාරිසරික බලපෑම් තක්සේරු කිරීමේ (EIA) වාර්තාව’ යනු, යම්කිසි නියමිත ව්‍යාපෘතියක ආර්ථික හා පාරිසරික පිරිවැයප්‍රතිලාභ