EIA improvement packages in Malaysia: A critical review with respect to erosion and sedimentation control

Soil erosion and sedimentation has become one of the major issues in the implementation of EIA projects in Malaysia. Uncontrolled land opening activities exacerbate these soil erosion and sedimentation problems. In this regard the Department of Environment (DOE) Malaysia has begun to implement EIA improvement packages in 2011 with the aim of minimizing the problems of soil erosion and sedimentation from EIA projects which emphasizes on three major areas of the EIA system in Malaysia, namely EIA reports, environmental management plan report (EMP) and the EIA approval conditions. This improvement also attempts to enhance the efficiency of environmental management system in Malaysia by increasing the competency of environmental consultants and project developers. Self-regulation approach was also introduced in the EIA approval conditions. This article discusses the performance of the EIA improvement package after four years of implementation by the DOE. The findings revealed that there were failures among project proponents and environmental consultants to comply with the scopes of EIA improvement packages. It is suggested that further studies should be conducted to identify the problems encountered in the implementation process of the EIA improvement packages to improve future implementation.