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Updated Thursday, April 24, 2008 0:00 am TWN, CNA

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EIA system denounced as ‘rubber stamp’

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan’s official environmental impact assessment (EIA) system was denounced yesterday by a group of scholars and students as a “rubber stamp” for construction interests. The group of more than 20 students from three prestigious universities in Taiwan, along with some scholars, made the accusation at a press conference under the slogan, “impact assessment that fails to find impact.”

According to the results of the students’ research, which was conducted by reviewing 350 EIA reports and interviewing several EIA committee members, 70 to 80 percent of EIA reports usually conclude that planned construction projects would have little or no impact on Taiwan’s environment. “If all these construction projects, including those of the Formosa Plastics Group, are seen as having no impact on Taiwan, it means that the EIA system cannot find the impact,” said Li Jia-da.

The student researchers also disclosed that EIA committee members usually have on average 9 days to read a report before a review meeting is held, and that they are usually assigned a new report about every 2.06 days. In addition, many EIA committee members have received telephone calls from Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) officials, “who expressed concerns (about the construction plans under review),” and one committee member was even replaced because of his differences with the nation’s top environmental agency, the group said.

“EIA members are interfering with the administration, and their professionalism is not respected,” said Li. “The EIA’s reports are influenced by construction interests, and under such circumstances, its assessment system is nothing more than a rubber stamp.”

Urging the incoming government under President-elect Ma Ying-jeou to improve the EIA system, Yu Yue-hwa, a professor at the Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Taiwan University (NTU), suggested that serving on the EIA committee should be a full-time job. Most of the members are professors or experts who serve on an ad hoc basis on the EIA committee.

Liou Ming-lone, chairman of Environmental Quality Protection Foundation and a professor at NTU, suggested further that the report on the controversial Suao-Hualien Expressway, which is slated to reviewed by the EIA committee Friday, should be returned to the Ministry of the Transportation and Communications and that the new government should decide whether or not to implement the project.

“The role of the EPA should not be limited to reducing water and electricity usage or cleaning the streets — it has a mission to protect Taiwan’s environment,” said Liou. He further encouraged EPA Minister-designate Shen Shih-hung to play a more active role in the incoming government, which sees the economy as its top priority.

The 86-km Suao-Hualien Expressway project, which was designed mainly to boost the economy in eastern Taiwan, has drawn repeated fire from environmentalists who have questioned its necessity and have expressed grave concerns over its potential negative impact on the ecological system.

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