Effectiveness of Project Monitoring based on Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) in Sri Lanka: A case study of Puttalam Coal Power Project

Abstract

The importance of environmental assessment as an effective tool for the purposes of integrating environmental considerations with development planning is highly recognized in Sri Lanka. The importance of this management tool to foresee potential environmental impacts and problems caused by proposed prescribed projects under the National Environmental Act (NEA) and its use as a means to make projects more suitable to the environment are highly appreciative in terms of environmental conservation. Considering the size of the development, intervention and its potential environmental impacts, placement of an effective Environmental Monitoring Programme is a must. Monitoring tells us what is happening, research tells us why something is happening and modelling helps to tell us what can happen. Monitoring programs can be designed to test hypotheses or to validate quantitative models used by planning and policy. Long-term observations also reveal trends and patterns that can help interpret experimental results or yield new research hypotheses. Viewed in this manner, monitoring is a valid and important endeavour within the realm of eco-system science that deserves stronger commitments from government agencies and other funding institutions (Mazzotti et al., 2007). Environmental Monitoring is a requirement under the National Environmental (Procedure for Approval of Projects) Regulations No. 1 of 1993 as contained in Gazette Extra-Ordinary No 772/22 of 24th June 1993 and No 1159/22 of 22nd November 2000. Regulation 14: “It shall be the duty of all Project Approving Agencies to forward to the Authority a report which contains a plan to monitor the implementation of every approved project, within thirty days from granting of approval under regulations 9 (i) and 13 (i) by such agencies” (Centre for Environmental Studies, 1997).