Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/932054
- Title
- A critical evaluation of the environmental impact assessment system in Bangladesh using a holistic approach
- Author/Creator
-
Kabir , S. M. Zobaidul
- Institution
- University of Newcastle. Faculty of Science and Information Technology , School of Environmental and Life Sciences
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is an environmental management tool used widely in more than 100 countries and, by multilateral and bilateral agencies. Like many other jurisdictions, the EIA has been practiced in Bangladesh as an environmental management tool for projects with the aim of protecting the environment from impacts. While in developed countries a good number of studies are available, the evaluation of EIA systems in developing countries is a neglected area. The evaluation of an EIA system helps to understand how an EIA system is working, the strengths and weaknesses of the system and areas for further improvement. In Bangladesh, the EIA system has been formally in place since 1995 but no comprehensive study has been conducted to understand how the system is working including its strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, a comprehensive investigation is warranted to identify any shortcomings, leading to suggestions for improvement of the EIA system in Bangladesh. The study of an EIA system should focus not only on the practice of the EIA, but also on the necessary legal and administrative arrangements that support its practice and subsequent outcomes. With this in mind, this research used an integrated-holistic framework to understand the effectiveness of the EIA system in Bangladesh. This framework facilitated a comprehensive investigation of the EIA system covering institutional arrangements, the practice of EIA (i.e. the quality of EISs), and subsequent outcomes (i.e. the implementation of mitigation measures and monitoring). The first area of investigation is the institutional arrangements of the EIA in Bangladesh. The study shows that, in Bangladesh, there is legislation for EIA practice and designated agencies to administer EIA implementation. These make a good foundation for EIA practice. However, there is a lack of comprehensive EIA legislation that clearly outlines the requirements of key stages of EIA process. The current legislation does not clearly define the key stages of EIA process (i.e. scoping, community involvement, mitigation and monitoring) and other procedural requirements, such as the contents and review of Environmental Impact Statements (EISs). A comprehensive provision of EIA requirements detailed in legislation is necessary in Bangladesh. Furthermore, the administrative capacity of the DOE is weak due to the shortage of trained staff, inadequate budget and lack of stable leadership. These weaknesses keep the DOE’s efforts to implement EIA at a minimum. The second area of investigation is the quality of EISs that is the product of an EIA process. This area examines to what extent the tasks of the EIA process (stages of EIA and other procedural requirements) are addressed in practice. Reviewing thirty (30) EISs, this study shows that the quality of EISs in Bangladesh is generally satisfactory. However, a significant proportion (34%) of EISs is still poor. The deficiencies in the contents of EISs include inadequate baseline data, poor impact prediction and evaluation of the significance of impacts, analysis of alternatives, and the poor presentation of information in a Non-Technical Summary (NTS). A number of factors influencing the quality of EISs have also been identified. The implementation of mitigation measures, the third area of investigation, shows that they are poorly implemented in Bangladesh. Three projects from different sectors were investigated and the findings show that none of the projects’ mitigation measures were fully implemented. Community participation and monitoring programs were inadequate during the implementation of environmental mitigation measures of projects. A number of factors behind the partial implementation of environmental mitigation measures, inadequate community participation and monitoring were identified. Finally, after the identification of the current strengths and weaknesses of the EIA system, this study concludes that, while the EIA system in Bangladesh is heading in the right direction, more improvements are required to make the system effective. Interventions by the government of Bangladesh are needed to improve the institutional capacity, the quality of EIA reports, and the implementation of mitigation measures. Importantly, the proper implementation of mitigation measures is deemed to be essential to harness the benefits of an EIA as an environmental management tool.
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Date
- 2012
- Keyword(s)
-
environmental impact assessment;
Bangladesh;
effectiveness
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Rights
- Copyright 2012 S. M. Zobaidul Kabir
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/932054
- Language
- eng
-
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