Approval Process of Environmental Impact Assessment Report by The Bangkok Expert Committee of Environmental Impact Assessment on Buildings, Land Subdivision and Community Services

Abstract

          The National Council for Peace and Order appointed the Bangkok Expert Committee of Environmental Impact Assessment on Buildings, Land Subdivision and Community Services (the Bangkok Committee) to replace the Committee of the Office of Natural Resources and Environment Policy and Planning (ONPE). This research aimed to study the results of this expert committee’s considerations based on official minutes of the committee meetings and other relevant documents. The study period was between the appointment date of October 26, 2016 and July 18, 2018, the date immediately prior to implementation of enforcement of the National Environment Quality Act (NEQA), B.E. 2561 (2018).
          The study result demonstrated that a total of 86 meetings had been convened by the Bangkok Committee, and that 266 projects were accepted for consideration. Of those, 22 projects were approved upon initial consideration, and a further 145 projects were approved upon second consideration. Of the remaining 99 projects, the consideration process of 52 projects had not been completed by the end of the study, 17 projects were at the end of the process, and 30 projects had been withdrawn. Among the 167 approved projects, it was found that the shortest consideration period was 56 days, while the longest was 350 days, with an average of 140.96 days. The approved projects were categorized as follows: 13 projects were buildings under the Building Control Law; 13 projects were hotels; 3 projects were hospitals, and 138 projects were residential buildings.
          Comparing the performance of the Bangkok Committee with the performance identified in two previous studies of the Committee of the Office of Natural Resources and Environment Policy and Planning in residential building projects, it was found that the consideration period had decreased from 177.6 days and 148.8 days, respectively, to 143.8 days. Additionally, the number of report amendments was reduced from four amendments and two amendments, respectively, to just one. These findings demonstrate that the operation of the Bangkok Committee has accelerated the process by 5 days on average, and that the number of report amendments has been decreased.