Environmental Impact Assessment System

Abstract

KEPB Issue 2, Volume X, 2012 Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) System has continuously been improved since it has been implemented in 1977 with the revision of Environmental Conservation Act. Environmental pollution as a side effect of the economic growth in 1970s raised the need for pollution prevention. It paved the road for Ministry of Health and Social Affairs to get involved in pollution problems by development project. In 1990s a full scale framework of EIA system was prepared with the establishment of Ministry of Environment (MOE) and the Framework Act on Environmental Policy. The Prior Environmental Review System (PERS) was partially introduced in 1993 and it was fully implemented through the revision of Framework Act on Environmental Policy and Enforcement Decree of the Act in 2006. PERS introduced the concept of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), which is an advancement of the EIA system in the aspect that it reviews the environment in the conceptual design stage of the administrative plan and development project. EIA systems in Korea are divided into three types which are SEA, EIA, and Small Scale EIA. SEA is to review the appropriateness of the pertinent plan and feasibility of a location from an environmental stand point. And the EIA is to provide environment conservation measures and alternatives that are economically and technically available for sustainable development. The major related parties of environmental assessment are MOE, professional review organization and licensed EIA consulting agents. MOE assumes the consultation of environmental assessment and supervise post monitoring of the EIA. Distinctively, Korean EIA system has a professional reviewing organization, Korea Environment Institute (KEI) which is a government - supported research institute. With them the licensed EIA consulting agents help to prepare the environmental impact statement (EIS), post EIA reports, and simplified assessment reports.