Evaluation of the environmental impact assessment system and implementation in Myanmar: Its significance in oil and gas industry

Myanmar's political and economic transformation and drastic expansion of foreign direct investment in natural resource sector necessitate systematic safeguards to mitigate impacts from its development activities. Myanmar promulgated the first national EIA law and procedure only recently, in 2016, and the country's institutional and financial capacity is extremely limited to implement effective EIA. This article evaluates Myanmar's EIA system against a set of evaluative criteria developed by Wood (1995) and modified by Annandle (2001). The evaluation was based on the review of the literature, investigation of EIA legislative and administrative framework, and several other sources of data and information. Opinions of professionals from international and government agencies, and researchers are also solicited. The paper then evaluates the rate of EIA disclosure in O & G sector and whether EIA in Myanmar is significance in mitigating the impact of O & G operations on the environment. The review of EIA system indicates that Myanmar generally has sound legal and administrative framework for EIA, however, its practical implementation reveals several major challenges and weaknesses. The presence of more than one standard EIA procedure and lack of inter-departmental coordination and consultation are also major concerns. Overall, the quality of EIA reports and the level of disclosure in O & G sector is higher than that of other sectors in Myanmar. Through the analysis, the paper summarizes the fundamental challenges faced by companies and government, opportunities and good practices in implementing EIA systems and propose recommendations to strengthen EIA performance. The findings of this study expect to contribute to strengthening EIA system and performance in Myanmar and other developing countries, especially in Southeast Asia.