Environmental permitting in Thailand
Thailand's 1992 enhancement and Conservation of Environmental Quality Act and regulations require any entry proposing to construct a thermal power plant with a capacity greater that 10 MW to perform various environmental studies and prepare an environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report in accordance with the guidelines issued by the office of Environmental Policy and Planning (OEPP). Approval of the EIA is a prerequisite to the issuance of most other construction permits. Applicable environmental standards and regulation are promulgated by the Pollution Control Department (PCD), a wholly separate agency for the OEPP. The PCD is a fairly new organization and, as a result, their staff is still gaining understanding of the multiple environmental aspects of power generation. Accordingly, the PCD is still in process of drafting key regulations applicable to the power industry. This paper examines the current guidelines, practices, procedures and legal requirements regarding environmental licensing of a thermal power plant in Thailand. The requisite scope and content of the EIA report will be identified, as well as the current procedure for its official review and approval by the OEPP. The paper will address the challenges of working with local consultants and identify potential pitfalls in the report preparation process. Areas of particular interest in the EIA review will be identified based on recent examples of OEPP comments on previous SPP and IPP projects. Additionally, the development of applicable environmental standards by the PCD will be identified along with their plans for implementing these standards. The paper will also examine the relationship of the OEPP and PCD, and reflect upon trends for environmental regulation in Thailand in the near future.
- Research Organization:
- Black and Veatch (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 20050603
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-971214-; TRN: IM200024%%114
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 10th International Conference and Exhibition for the Power Generating Industries, Dallas, TX (US), 12/09/1997--12/11/1997; Other Information: PBD: [1998]; Related Information: In: Power-Gen '97 International, [2000] pages.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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