Environmental Protection (ECPP, IEE and EIA)

Environmental Protection

As for environmental protection for setting up a business and commencement of commercial operation by an investor in Thilawa Special Economic Zone (TSEZ), the following actions are requested in the three stages; “Preparatory stage for starting construction”, “Construction stage”, and “regular operation stage”.

Step 1: Preparatory stage for starting construction

ECPP Preparation

1. An Investor, which obtained the Investment Permit issued by Thilawa Special Economic Zone Management Committee (TSEZMC) and the Company Registration Certificate issued by the DICA Section of OSSC, may apply for Environmental Conservation and Prevention Plan (ECPP) for starting construction work.
2. The Investor prepares the draft ECPP application after downloading ECPP application form and submits necessary documents (draft version of ECPP) either in person or online to Front Office of OSSC.
3. The Environment Section of OSSC reviews the draft ECPP and appraises the submitted ECPP considering necessity of IEE or EIA in accordance with the criteria defined by TSMC.
4. The Front Office of OSSC delivers the comments on draft ECPP including judgment of necessity of IEE/EIA to the Investor within ten (10) working days.
5. The Investor submits required documents (final ECPP with cover letter) either in person or online to Front Office of OSSC.
6. The Environment Section of OSSC reviews final ECPP and appraises the submitted ECPP taking MJTD’s comments into consideration and prepares an approval of ECPP.
7. After receiving the approval of the TSEZMC, the Front Office of OSSC delivers the approval of ECPP to the Investor within 10 working days.

IEE/EIA Study (if required)

1. The Investor, which is requested to implement IEE/EIA study as per the assessment of the TSMC after the review of ECPP, shall complete the IEE/EIA study before commencement of commercial operation by an independent third party organization/consulting firm.
2. The Investor submits necessary documents (Draft IEE/EIA Report in English, Summary of IEE/EIA Report in English and Myanmar, and cover letter) with the request of arrangement of Public Disclosure (PD) and Public Consultation Meeting (PCM) to the Front Office of OSSC.
3. The Investor (or Independent third party organization(s)/consulting firm(s) which will conduct IEE/EIA study) arranges and implement PD and PCM in accordance with procedures of OSSC.
4. The representatives of the MOECAF at the Environment Section of OSSC reviews draft IEE/EIA Report and appraises the submitted draft IEE/EIA Report,.
5. Environment Section of OSSC issues Notification of Comments to the Investor through the Front Office of OSSC within 30 working days for IEE Report and 60 working days for EIA Report, respectively.
6. The Applicant submits required documents (Final IEE/EIA Report in English, Summary of IEE/EIA Report in English and Myanmar, and cover letter) to the Front Office of OSSC.
7. After reviewing final IEE/EIA Report, the Environment Section of OSSC issues Approval of IEE and Approval of EIA to the Applicant through the Front Office of OSSC within 15 working days for IEE Report and 30 working days for EIA Report, respectively.

Step 2: Construction stage

1. During construction stage, the Investor/ the Contractor shall implement Environmental Mitigation Measures and Submission of Monitoring Report in accordance with the submitted ECPP and receives two or three times inspections; inspection(s) at construction stage (after 4 months from the start of construction and incase of the after 12 months) and inspection at before commencement of commercial operation.
2. The Inspector from Environment Section of OSSC conducts the Inspection at the Project Site according to the checklist items to be inspected with attendance of the person in charge of the Contractor /the person in charge of the Investor.
3. When instructions for the improvement of environmental mitigation measures are pointed out by the Inspector, those instructions shall be described in the Record of Environmental Inspection with expected countermeasures to be taken by the Contractor/the Applicant.
4. The Inspector prepares the Record of Inspection.
5. Within three (3) days after each Inspection, Environment Section of OSSC sends the record of Environmental Inspection to the Applicant.
6. Instructions for the improvement of environmental mitigation measures which is pointed out by the Inspector shall be implemented by the Contractor/ the Applicant. The countermeasures taken by the Contractor/ the Applicant shall be described in next Environmental Monitoring Report.
7. If any special instructions, special report related to countermeasures of instruction by the Inspector shall be requested within a certain period. Then, the Applicant submits the special report to the Front Office of OSSC and the Environment Section of OSSC evaluates the performances of the Applicant and reports to the TSEZMC and OSSC.

Step 3: Regular Operation Stages

1. During regular operation stage, during construction stage, the Investor/ the Contractor shall implement Environmental Mitigation Measures and Submission of Monitoring Report in accordance with the submitted ECPP and receives the first inspection after 4-6 months from the start of commercial operation and additional inspection after the first inspection as necessary.
2. Detailed procedures of the regular operation stage are to be developed.

Standard operating procedures related to application and approval process of ECPP, IEE and EIA can be downloaded from the following link.