Tougher Environmental Quality Act have been in effect since July 7, says DOE

PUTRAJAYA: Amendments to the Environmental Quality Act that mete out harsher penalties of up to RM10mil in fines coupled with mandatory jail time for polluters have been in effect since July 7, says the Department of Environment (DOE).

Its director-general Datuk Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaffar said the amendments, which were approved by Parliament in March, were gazetted on July 6.

"The RM10mil fine is for offences involving water pollution, pollution from oil disposal and waste within Malaysian waters and the illegal disposal of scheduled waste," he warned in his speech during an interactive session with members of the media on Wednesday (Oct 2).

"The mandatory jail time is for offences of illegal disposal of scheduled waste, water pollution and not adhering to conditions stated under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports," he said.

With the amendments, said Wan Abdul Latiff, department enforcement officers would also now be outfitted with their own uniforms - on par with the enforcement officers from other ministries -, which it hopes to implement by year-end.

"Hopefully, by year-end, we will be able to see if the amendments have led to a decrease of environmental pollution cases," he said.

Wan Abdul Latiff also denied claims by certain quarters that the department was deliberately delaying the approval of EIA reports and being a hindrance to development, adding that it has to adhere to the timeframe stipulated in the department’s client charter and quality management system.

“We have made comparisons with other countries including developed nations... the United States took 120 days (to approve their EIA reports). We take a shorter time to approve,” he told reporters.

"In 2023, we received 541 EIA reports, with 90% or 487 reports involving activities subject to the First Schedule, and 10% or 54 reports for activities subject to the Second Schedule.

"From 2009 until now, it has received a total of 5,112 EIA reports. Selangor recorded the highest number of EIA reports in 2023, with 90 reports (18.5%), followed by Kelantan with 59 reports (12.1%), and Pahang with 56 reports (11.5%)," he said.

There are currently some 600 EIA consultants and experts registered with DOE, he said, adding that some had been blacklisted.

Earlier, DOE’s EIA Assessment Division director Rohimah Ayub said she had received EIA reports that did not follow the stipulated format or lacked verification from registered “We later found that the consultants were not involved in the report nut their names were used....we could not review such reports and have to send them back,” she said.