Radical reform of ‘outdated’ environmental laws urged

ACADEMICS AND legal experts yesterday called for radical reforms of decades-old environmental laws, with public participation to ensure the rights of all citizens to live in healthy surroundings.
The call was issued as the Law Reform Commission and the Good Governance for Social Development and the Environment Institute hosted an academic forum yesterday titled “Environmental Law Reformation” at the Sukosol Hotel in Bangkok. 
The forum stressed the need to significantly revise the Enhance-ment and Conservation of National Environmental Quality Act, which is 24 years old and currently under review.
Phairoj Pholphet, a former member of the Law Reform Commission and chairman of the Human Rights Lawyer Association chairman, said it was clear that the existing law had seen little success in preventing environmentally harmful projects and could not ensure proper public participation in decision-making.
“The 1992 edition guarantees the precautionary principle in order to ... ensure a healthy environment. However, our tools such as the Environmental Impact Assessment [EIA] are still not properly implemented and most of the time become the problem itself,” Phairoj said.
“I suggest a new amendment to strengthen this principle by assessing the development at policy levels too. For instance, consider development plans at a regional level to make sure the development is suited to the local environment and natural resources in the first place.”
He also suggested that a new central agency should be set up to assess EIAs directly and encourage stricter monitoring and auditing of projects, as these were weak points in the current EIA process. 
National Legislative Assembly (NLA) vice president Surachai Liengboonlertchai said he hoped a revised law would enrich the public’s participation in managing natural resources and protecting the environment, and cherish people’s rights to live in a good environment.
“In my view, this law is often used as a tool by authorities to punish people, but it fails to allow people to participate to preserve natural resources and a healthy environment,” Surachai said.
Natural resources and environment adviser for the Thailand Development Research Institute, Adis Israngkura na Ayudya, warned that any new environmental law should be very carefully drafted, otherwise it could have adverse impacts.
“We already have lessons on the adverse effects and moral hazards from careless law-drafting – for instance, the law to protect teak, which makes plantation and usage of teak very complicated, resulting in more illegal logging of teak. Because the private sector cannot grow teak for logging, this results in a high price for teak, which makes it worthwhile for illegal loggers to cut down teak in the forest,” Adis said.
Pollution Control Department deputy director-general Jongjit Niranathmateekul said the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry’s version of a new environmental bill increased penalties for polluters to deter them from discharging waste into the environment.
Jongjit also said economic benefits had been introduced into the ministry’s draft version to encourage industry to “go green” and preserve the environment.
The Enhancement and Conser-vation of National Environmental Quality Act was first introduced in 1975. The revised 1992 version is still in use.
The act was considered to be the main legal tool for environmentalists, human rights defenders and ordinary people against activities that cause environmental damage and affect people’s health and livelihoods.