Public Participation under the Guidelines and Procedures

There are numerous stages which are required to be fulfilled before a particular project is implemented. There is, for instance, a classification exercise or the preparation of a preliminary environmental report to show whether a proposed project will cause significant adverse environmental impacts. As in the United States¹, the report is used as an aid by an agency in determining whether an EIS must be prepared when the impacts of a project are unknown or the need for a more detailed EIS is uncertain. If the project is shown to be likely to have environmental impacts, then the project proponent will be required to prepare and submit and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to NEMC.

Three stages are involved in this exercise at the centre of which are public participation and access to information provisions. These are scoping, preparation of Terms of Reference and preparation of the EIS (NEMC, 1997a). Scoping is done by the project proponent or by his consultants in order to identify the main issues of concern in consultation with NEMC and the relevant sectoral authorities as well as the affected and interested persons. It is the responsibility of the project proponent to make sure that all the concerned parties are given adequate opportunity to participate in the scoping exercise. The objective of their inclusion is to determine how their concerns will be addressed in the ToR for the EIA study. (ibid., Vol. 1, para. 2.3.1.)

The EIA Procedures and Guidelines also insist that in order to ensure satisfactory public involvement, the project proponent should initiate a public information campaign in the area likely to be affected by the proposed project and that any concerns raised by the members of the public are recorded and addressed in the EIS (ibid., Vol. 1, loc. cit.) These requirements have been implemented with success in the United States whose NEPA and its associated regulations require federal agencies to respond to stakeholders concerns and comments on EIS in the form of additions to, or modifications of, a proposed action; a correction of inaccurate factual information; or an explanation of why the comments do not warrant an action on the part of the agency (Stevenson, 1999: 4)

The scoping requirements are set out in clearer terms in volume two of the EIA Procedures which provides for "Screening and Scoping Guidelines" (NEMC, 1997b). The latter insist, in no uncertain terms, that the project proponent and his consultants "will have final responsibility for scoping." A scoping program, according to this document, should indicate the following matters:

• The authorities and members of the public, i.e. stakeholders, who are likely to be affected by the proposed project.
• How will these stakeholders be notified.
• What methods are to be used to inform them of the project proposal and solicit their comments.
• At what stage of the assessment process will opportunities be provided for public participation and input.

Public consultation is, according to this document, mandatory when undertaking environmental impact assessment. At the minimum the proponent must meet with the principal stakeholders to inform them about the proposed activity and to solicit their views about it. Furthermore, more problematic activities should involve more extensive consultations. The results of these consultations must be documented in the EIA report.

1. NEMC's Procedures and Guidelines are in many respects similar to the EIA procedures under the United States' National Environmental Policy Act, 1970, 42 U.S.C. ss 4321-4347 (1994). Also see Stevenson (1999) for analysis of the NEPA's procedural aspects.