Streamline EIA approval process to cut costs, developers say

 If the EIA committee sped up its approval process, it would be a significant boost to the economy as condominium construction could get under way, Pruksa Real Estate president and chief executive officer Thongma Vijitpongpun said in a recent interview with The Nation.

He said property firms wanting to develop condo projects had to wait eight to 12 months for an EIA permit after submitting their applications, and these companies had to bear significant costs before they could launch the projects on to the market.

Atip Bichanond, president of the Housing Business Association, said the problem was that EIA applications were not considered according to objective standards but were granted or rejected based on the personal judgements of the EIA committee members.

No set timeline for EIA approval exists; some projects are approved within four months while others must wait 13 months. Meanwhile, the property firms are bearing costs for land they cannot do anything with, he said.

Thai Condominium Association president Prasert Taedullayasatit said that on average, there were 500-600 EIA applications a year for condo or hotel projects, but the average approval rate was only 400 a year.

That means an annual shortfall of 100-200 approvals.

According to the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (OEPP), it approved EIA permits for 586 of the 3,994 projects proposed in the fiscal year ending on September 30, 2014.

Of the 586 projects approved, 446 were residential projects, out of a total of 3,036 proposals. Forty-seven mining projects out of a total of 279 proposals were approved, 31 industrial projects out of a total of 240 proposals, 30 energy projects out of 203 proposals, 19 petrochemical projects out of 105, and 13 infrastructure projects out of 115.

In the previous fiscal year, 3,894 projects received EIA approval, and 3,042 projects in fiscal year 2012.

Most developers hold off launching a planned residential project until they get the EIA permit, as they would face even worse problems and higher costs if they went ahead with the launch and then found the permit had been denied.

Sansiri president Srettha Thavisin said his firm was one that had postponed launches since last year for this reason.

Cost considerations

LPN Development managing director Opas Sripayak said the company ran into problems when its major condominium project, Lumpini Township Rangsit, had trouble getting an EIA permit in 2013. The company had to revise the project and finally got the permit in the fourth quarter of last year, and opened it for sale in the first quarter of this year.

"We had to shoulder the costs when we had to revise the project according to the EIA report. We learned from our problem with Lumpini Township Rangsit to get the EIA permit first before launching a new project," he said.

Meanwhile, the Environmental Impact Evaluation Bureau under the OEPP says it has tried to solve the delay problem by revising the EIA rules and decentralising the process.

At present, all EIA applications are handled by the central OEPP office, but this will change in September, Environmental Impact Evaluation Bureau director Piyanant Soponthanaporn said early this year. An amendment to the relevant legislation will localise EIA approvals.

If the decentralisation is effective, the approval process may be faster, Prasert said. However, the rules governing EIA approvals also need to be revised and standardised, he added. Currently, there are 72 advisory and consultancy firms licensed to do EIA reports.