The significance of Environmental Agencies in the Environmental Impact Assessment process

Abstract

Obadia Kyetuza Bishoge

Currently, every country is striving to realize development for its people. Thus, to achieve this the construction of various projects are necessary for the realization of socioeconomic and political development of any country. However, the development of the projects is associated with various environmental challenges that may affect the entire society and the environment. Thus, to cater that there is the need for conducting Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that is a tool used to identify the environmental, social and economic impacts of a project before decision-making. To achieve the EIA process, there are Environmental Agencies (EAs) that are designed for dealing with all environment-related issues in the relevant country. Thus, this paper aims at providing the key significances provided by the EAs in the EIA process. The following significances are discussed in this paper: formulation of policies, laws and regulations related to EIA; authorization and certification of the experts or firms of expert for EIA process; registration and screening of the projects for EIA; reviewing Environmental Impacts Statements or reports; preparation of the EIA certificates for approval or disapproval of the projects; conducting environmental monitoring and auditing; and monitoring of the implementation of the decommissioning.

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