ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING IN RWANDA ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA) AS a PLANNING TOOL AND ITS EFFECTIVENESS

ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING IN RWANDA:ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT(EIA) AS A PLANNING TOOL AND ITS EFFECTIVENESS Presentation Outline Definition of EIA; Historical Background and Context of EIA in Rwanda; Policy and Legal Framework on EIA; International Context of EIA; EIA Practice in Rwanda: EIA Process and Procedures in Rwanda The EIA Process in Practice; Challenges to operationalise EIA: Screening;Scoping and Terms of Reference; Quality of the EIAs ; Decisionmaking and appeals against decisions; Inadequate expertise

Presentation Outline

 Definition of EIA;

 Historical Background and Context of

EIA in Rwanda;

 Policy and Legal Framework on EIA;

 International Context of EIA;

 EIA Practice in Rwanda :

 EIA Process and Procedures in Rwanda

Presentation Outline (Cont… )

 The EIA Process in Practice;

 Challenges to operationalise EIA:

 Screening;Scoping and Terms of

Reference; Quality of the EIAs ;

 Decision-making and appeals against

decisions; Inadequate expertise

Presentation Outline (Cont… )

 Public Participation; Data Inadequacy;

 Cost of Conducting EIA and Processing Fees;

 Opportunities for Improving the EIA Process:

 Publicizing and developing the EIA

Legislation; Private Sector and Public Participation

Presentation Outline (Cont… )

 Environmental Management Plans and

Audits ; Strengthening Public Private

Partnership;

 Promoting and Developing Capacity

Building ; Strengthening Enforcement Mechanisms;

 Conclusion

Definition of EIA

to identify, predict and evaluate the

environmental effects of proposed

actions and projects This process is

applied prior to major decisions and

commitments being made, and particular attention is given in EIA practice to

the significant adverse effects of

Historical Background and Context of

 climate change, and

 the loss of biodiversity

Historical Background and Context of

EIA in Rwanda (cont…… )

 These problems are exacerbated by:

 low levels of environmental awareness; inadequate technical & human resources;

 low intra-sectoral coordination on

environmental issues

 Various initiatives taken by the GoR

to address the environmental issues

include:

Policy and Legal Framework of EIA

 Formulation of environmental policy (2003);

 enactment of environmental Organic law No 04/2005 of 08/04/200 (2005;

 established Rwanda Environmental

Management Authority (REMA), to coordinate and oversee all aspects of environmental

management for sustainable development)

Policy and Legal Framework of EIA

 The Constitution of the Republic of Rwanda, adopted in June 2003, ensures the protection and sustainable management of environment; and

 encourages rational use of natural resources;

 other socio-economic development policies and strategies such as “Rwanda Investment and

Exports Strategic Action Plan, 2005-2007”

Policy and Legal Framework of EIA

cont………

 “Vision 2020” calls for a well regulated

environment management system that takes into account principles of sustainable

development; and

 at the same time contributing to poverty

reduction;

 Article 67(organic law) requires that

projects, programmes and policies that may affect the environment shall be subjected to environmental impact assessment before

obtaining authorisation for implementation

International Context of EIA

Durban, South Africa (1995) to all of which, Rwanda

Why adopting EIA System in

 provides a framework for promotion of

efficient decision-making in project approval;

 enables implementation of environmental

safeguards to mitigate significant negative impacts;

 avoid ecological damage and large-scale

irreversible loss of natural resource

Why adopting EIA System in Rwanda?

(cont)…

 an invaluable tool for environmental

management in a trans-boundary context;

 plays the role of information dissemination

between Rwanda and neighbouring countries;

 widens the scope of understanding the

impacts beyond its boarders;

 provides a basis for future international

cooperation and conflict resolution concerning environmental impacts at a regional level.

EIA Practice in Rwanda

 Under the present legislation, several

government departments, private companies, and parastatal organisations undertake EIAs;

 that some forms of environmental

assessments have occasionally been carried on development initiatives (WB & ADB funded

projects) prior to its systematic

institutionalisation;

EIA Process and Procedures in

Rwanda

 REMA established under article 63 of the

Organic Law (No 04/2005 of 08/04/2005) is charged with the responsibility to oversee,

co-ordinate and supervise the

operationalization of the EIA process;

 Under Article 65 of the Organic Law, the law provides that a project cannot receive

authorization for implementation unless

issued with a certificate of clearance (EIA

Certificate of Authorisation)

EIA Process and Procedures in

Rwanda (cont…….)

namely:

involves: screening and scoping;

identification and analysis, development of mitigation measures and preparation of the report;

review of EIA reports leading to decision-making;

deals with monitoring and costing of activities of the

EIA Process and Procedures in

Rwanda (cont…….)

before a developer implements a project;

(before coming into force of the Organic Law of May 1st, 2005), such projects must undertake an

Environmental Audit to ensure environmental

compliance;

application for EIA of a proposed project to REMA in

EIA Process and Procedures in

Rwanda (cont…….)

formal application for an EIA;

Agencies ) establish whether or not the proposed

activities are likely to have significant environmental

impacts;

Project Brief, this may eliminate the need for a full EIA and a project may be approved with or without

implementation condition

EIA Process and Procedures in

Rwanda (cont…….)

 The EIA Procedure Guidelines categorises

projects into three categories or sometimes referred to as levels of impact:

 Category 1 (Impact level 1): Full EIA not

required REMA advises on the appropriate environmental management measures (plan);

 Exercise may take 18 days from the day

received the project brief;( days may be less

or more depending on the nature of the

project)

EIA Process and Procedures in

Rwanda (cont…….)

 Category 2 (Impact level 2): ):

projects under this category are screened to determine whether or not a full EIA is

needed In this connection, REMA provides the developer with clear indication of the

additional information required Once this

information is received, REMA will determine whether or not a full EIA of the project is needed

EIA Process and Procedures in

Rwanda (cont…….)

 Category 3 (Impact level 3):

Full EIA is required Projects in this category include; urban development, Construction and rehabilitation of trunk roads (transportation), dams and artificial lakes, rivers and water

resources, airport, railways, Construction of huge buildings, fisheries (commercial), mining, forestry related activities, agriculture,

processing and manufacturing industries,

electrical infrastructure,

EIA Process and Procedures in

Rwanda (cont…….)

 construction of pipelines, construction of

petrol stations, Construction of Coffee

washing stations, and waste disposal

facilities;

 REMA in addition to the mandates of

administering and supervising EIAs, it has also power or responsibility to issue a permit or

licence normally referred to in Rwanda as

EIA Certificate of Authorisation

Challenges to operationalise EIA

 the current check list form being used is

subjective and tend to focus on industrial

processes and inappropriate for non-industrial projects;

 The applicant is required to produce project brief, which takes more time and cost to

prepare;

 The other area that requires more focus is to determine the threshold value judgement that must be applied to EIA on case-by-case basis

Scoping and Terms of Reference

determine the ToR for the EIA study;

prepared by the developer or produced by REMA;

condition is that the ToR must be submitted to

REMA for endorsement;

perhaps REMA should revisit the process and

leave the responsibility of producing the ToR to

Quality of the EIAs

some are prepared merely to obtain EIA

Certificate of clearance;

into rejection and others subjected to redone;

the developer and EIA experts as the

developers in most cases are adamant to pay

the EIA expert on ground that the EIR is

Quality of the EIAs

latter has been encouraging as many individuals as possible to participate in carrying out EIAs, this created problem of

increasing number inexperienced practitioners

whose quality of work is of poor quality;

project development has commenced, while others apply as consequence of the project having been

do not allow opportunity to address the impacts that

Decision-making and appeals against

decisions

 the Government has an appeal system under which the developer can abandon the project, improve and resubmit a revised EIA report or appeal to the Minister for environment;

 This approach has not been tested as yet, but given that REMA is an affiliated organisation under the Ministry of Lands, Environment,

Forestry, Water and Mines (MINITERE)

there can be a tendency of biasness in terms

of decision

Inadequate expertise

sector to prepare quality EIRs;

placed upon REMA by new development initiatives

especially in areas of great economic activity such as methane (CH4) gas, and various donors and

development agency requirements;

staff include formal training on EIA, SEA techniques and assessment of trans boundary and cumulative

Cost of Conducting EIA and Processing Fees

 The levy for processing EIA that needs to be fixed by law establishing the National Fund

for the Environment is not yet in place;

 the draft bill proposes the levy to be 0.01%

of the amount invested excluding the

operating cost;

 The authority (REMA) is still depending on

the ordinary budget from the government,

which is not sufficient

Opportunities for Improving the EIA

Process

developing new legislations and Ministerial

orders;

conducting EIA Audits;

mechanism

 ownership of EIA process need to be realised through increasing capacity both at REMA and district levels,

 Awareness and sensitization of stakeholders

to the concepts and principles of EIA;

 legal instruments and enforcement

mechanisms to be put in place to assess and

control implementation of auditing activities and monitoring plans;

Conclusion (cont….)

public feel they are important and needed in the EIA

process so as to attract their interest and participation;

financing EIAs, majority are financed through loans

from financial institutions;

and agreements to ensure that environmental concerns are integrated in the development process;

networks, exchange of knowledge and experience, linking local, national sub –regional and regional institutions

THANK YOU