Evaluation of Environmental Impact Assessment legislation in Pakistan

Abstract

ABSTRACT Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was introduced in Pakistan in 1997 with the enactment of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act followed by EIA regulations in 2000 both of which remained in use for over two decades. The legislation has recently been updated by two provinces which the study aimed to evaluate using the Next Generation Framework (NGF). NGF is based on good practice criteria which is used for the evaluation of legislation. Strengths of the legislation are that it has exclusive lists of projects requiring either a preliminary or a detailed EIA, clear timelines for review and decision-making, requirements for EIA follow-up, and penalties in case of non-compliance. However, the legislation has multiple shortcomings; for instance, there are no requirements to do scoping, consider alternatives, and make EIA reports public. The framework is helpful to evaluate the quality of legislation and explore reasons for weaknesses in EIA practice. The good practices in the framework may also be used to formulate guidance documents. The results hold importance not just for Pakistan, but the international policymakers may also learn from the strengths and weaknesses identified in this study and revise their respective legislation accordingly.