DECENTRALIZATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT IN SRI LANKA

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DECENTRALIZATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT IN
SRI LANKA

• UDAYA P GAMMANPILA
• CHAIRMAN
• CENTRAL ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORITY

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Environmental Protection InSri Lanka

• The need for environmental safeguards is
  enshrined in the constitution
• Article 27 states that the state shall protect,
  preserve and improve the environment for the
  benefit of the community
• Article 28f states that the exercise and
  enjoyment of rights and freedoms is inseparable
  from the performance of duties and obligations
  and accordingly it is the duty of every person in
  Sri Lanka to protect nature and conserve its
  riches.

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Environmental Protection and Management in Sri
Lanka

• There are over eighty different laws which have
  some provisions on environmental protection and
  management in Sri Lanka. However the main
  objective of these laws are not environmental
  protection and management.
• The first comprehensive law exclusively for
  environmental management and protection was
  enacted in 1980, in the form of the National
  Environmental Act no47 of 1980.

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CENTRAL ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORITY

• The Central Environmental Authority was set up in
  1981 to implement the provisions in the National
  Environmental Act.
• From 1981 to 1988 the Central Environmental
  Authority was a policy making and co ordinating
  body with no regulatory authority.
• Amendments to the National Environmental Act in
  1988 transformed the Central Environmental
  Authority into a regulatory authority.

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Regulatory Procedures Under the National
Environmental Act

• Regulatory procedures to control pollution from
  industries was first commenced in 1990 with the
  implementation of the Environmental Protection
  Licence procedure for waste generating
  industries.
• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure
  for large scale projects was made mandatory in
  1993.
• All these regulatory procedures were implemented
  by the Central Environmental Authority
  headquarters situated in Colombo, the capital
  city until very recently, when almost all these
  enforcement activities have been decentralized to
  Provincial offices of the Central Environmental
  Authority as well as the Local Authorities.

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ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT IN SRI LANKA

• 1980 - National Environmental Act
• 1981 - established Central Environmental
  Authority
• 1990 - National environmental (protection and
  quality) regulations
• introduce provisions for industrial pollution
  control through environmental protection
  licensing scheme
• 1993 National Environmental (procedure for
  approval of projects) regulations
• introduce environmental impact assessment
  procedure

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About Sri Lanka

• Administrative set up
• Central Government
• Provincial Councils - 9
• Local Government Authorities 320
• - Municipal Council, Urban council, Pradeshiya
  Sabha

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Powers decentralization

• As per the 13th amendment to the constitution
  subjects are divided into 3 lists
• National list
• Subjects come under national government
  Reserved (National) list
• Provincial list
• Subjects come under provincial government
• Concurrent list
• Subject come under both national and provincial
  governments
• ENVIRONMENT SUBJECT is included in the
  concurrent list

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Provincial Offices of the CEA

• The Central Environmental Authority has now
  established eight provincial offices to cover
  eight of the provincial councils in the country.
• Almost all the activities relating to enforcement
  and compliance functions have now been delegated
  to these provincial offices by the CEA
  headquarters.

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Provincial Environmental Statutes

• One out of the nine provincial councils in the
  country has its own environmental statute.
• The environmental statute of the North Western
  Provincial Council is identical to that being
  implemented by the Central Environmental
  Authority in the rest of the country. However,
  the North Western Provincial council has its own
  provincial Environmental Authority to implement
  the provisions in their Statute.

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DECENTRALIZATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL FUNCTIONS

• The main regulatory activities of the Central
  Environmental Authority have been decentralized
  to the CEA provincial offices and Local
  Authorities.
• CEA headquarters is presently only involved in
  administering the Environmental Impact Assessment
  (EIA) procedure for National level projects.

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Environmental Protection Licence for Industries.

• All industries discharging waste into the
  environment are expected to obtain an annual
  Licence from the Central Environmental Authority.
• The Environmental Protection Licence(EPL)
  stipulates the standards and criteria to be met
  by the industry in discharging solid/liquid/gaseou
  s emissions and noise into the environment.

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Decentralization of Regulatory procedures.

• New regulations were gazetted in 2008 prescribing
  138 industries which require to obtain a licence.
• These industries have been classified into three
  lists A, B, and C.
• List A consists of high polluting indutries which
  require a licence from the CEA head office.
• List B consists of 33 activities which require a
  licnce from the relevant provincial office of the
  CEA.
• List C consists of 25 activities which require a
  licence from the relevant Local Authority.

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Delegation to Local Authorities

• The central Environmental Authority has delegated
  powers under the National Environmental Act to
  issue licences to industries which are classified
  as being low polluting.
• The local authorities are responsible for issuing
  licences to 25 types of such industries.

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Divisional Environmental Officers

• The Central Environmental Authority also has
  field officers attached to each of the three
  hundred and twenty Divisional Secretariat Offices
  in the country.
• Divisional Environmental Offices assist the
  Provincial Offices and Headquarters of the
  Authority by reporting and resolving local level
  environmental problems and by providing advice on
  environmental issues to local level officials as
  and when required.

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Decentralization-Pros and Cons

• There are pros and cons of decentralization of
  enforcement and compliance functions.
• It is important that total authority is delegated
  to Provincial/Local authorities in order to
  ensure that there will be no delays connected
  with getting the concurrance from the
  headquarters, as this would negate the purpose of
  decentralization.

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Problems Associated with Decentralization

• One of the problems associated with
  decentralization is the lack of sufficient
  technical expertise at the local level. Technical
  expertise is in most cases available in the more
  urbanized centres and therefore not readily
  accessible.
• Political interests could also interfere in the
  ability to make independent decisions at the
  local level.

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TRAINING

• One other important requirement in
  decentralization is the provision of sufficient
  training of local level officials.
• Training should be an ongoing process in order to
  ensure that local level officials are kept
  informed of new developments (both technical and
  legal) in the environmental field.

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COMMUNICATION

• Ready channels of communication between the
  National Agencie/s and Provincial and Local
  Authorities is a vital requirement in
  decentralization.
• It is important not to let Provincial/Local
  agencies to feel isolated . There should be
  ready channels of communication between local
  level agencies with the central agencies at all
  times.