concept EIA-rapport - Staatsolie

SRK Consulting: Project No: 439414 Staatsolie Pipeline EIA – Draft EIA Report Page 4
A draft Environmental Act (2002) has been developed as a framework law in response to the 1992
Rio declaration. The draft Act lays down rules for the conservation, management and protection of a
sound environment within the framework of sustainable development. The draft Act has been under
consideration by the Council of Ministers for some time and has not yet been promulgated. After
acceptance by the Council of Ministers and the Council of State, the draft Act will be considered by
the National Assembly for promulgation. Nevertheless, the principles in the draft Act provide
guidance for conducting an EIA in Suriname. The two principal legal requirements of the draft Act
that are relevant to the Staatsolie pipeline project and the EIA are the requirements relating to the
preparation and execution of EIAs (Section 2 (2.2)), and the requirements relating to permitting
procedures (Section 2 (2.3)).
While there is currently no legislative basis for the assessment of environmental impacts of
development proposals in Suriname, NIMOS has published Guidelines for Environmental
Assessment (EA) in Suriname. The EA Guidelines are being applied by NIMOS as part of the
project permitting process and project developers are expected to comply with the guidelines.
The EA Guidelines series consists of the following volumes:
• Volume I: Generic (2009) – This volume contains general guidelines for determining the need
for an EA, the nature and extent of the analysis required and the procedure that should be
followed in conducting an EA. The guidelines cover aspects such as project screening,
classification of projects, scoping guidelines, public consultation, structure of EA reports and the
EA report review process, including criteria for review and compliance checklist. Project
screening is required to determine the need for and required level of EA. Projects are classified
according to three categories, namely Category A (EA is mandatory), B (some form of
environmental assessment is required) or C (no environmental assessment is required).
The proposed construction of the three pipelines has been classified as a Category A project
under the listing of “Pipelines for oil and/or gas” and a full EIA process is therefore required.
• Volume II: Mining (2005) – These guidelines are not relevant to this project.
• Volume III: Forestry (2005) – These guidelines are not relevant to this project.
• Volume IV: Social Impact Assessment (2005) – These guidelines provide an outline of the
requirements for conducting Social Impact Assessment, whether as part of an EA process or
required independently for projects that have potential impacts on the social environment.
• Volume V: Power Generation and Transmission Projects (2005) – These guidelines are not
relevant to this project.
2.2.2 Other environmental legal requirements
A draft Waste Act (2004) has been compiled but not yet promulgated. The draft Act sets out
regulations for the treatment of waste materials to protect the environment, based on the “polluter
pays” principle. Different types of waste materials are identified and rules laid down for adequate
storage, transportation and treatment (including recycling, composting and disposal) of each waste
type. The Act makes provision for the prosecution of transgressors. The draft Waste Act is
synchronised with the draft Environmental Act to ensure that there are no inconsistencies.
Other legal instruments governing environmental management in Suriname, categorised according
to the environmental issues that they address, are presented in Table 2-1 below. Note the table only
lists key instruments and is not necessarily comprehensive, and not all of the listed instruments
necessarily apply to this project.
REUT/DALC 439414_StaatsoliePipelineEIA_Draft EIA Report_Final June 2012