Thailand Law Firms Explain: Does Your Company Need An Eia Report?

Certain types of potentially polluting projects will very soon be required to complete Environmental Impact Assessments under Thai law

. Several projects have already been halted pending the outcome of their EIAs; for other businesses the notification becomes current on the 29th of December 2009. Thailand corporate legal services have been fielding questions about whether certain businesses will need to complete an EIA after this date, as the benchmarks have changed somewhat. Here we examine the complete list of businesses within an easy reference guide.

Hotels/Condo Blocks

Where number of rooms used to determine whether an EIA was needed, now total useable floor area is also taken into account. If the project has upwards of 80 rooms, or above 4,000 square meters of useable area, they must complete an EIA under Thai law.

Liquor and alcohol producers

Note that the new EIA regulations do not apply to liquor or alcohol retailers, bars, pubs or clubs - unless the general building has a height if over 23 meters or an operating area greater than 10,000 square meters. For producers, the need for an EIA is determined by production capacity. Thailand lawyers have noted that capacity is used rather than production levels, in order to remove confusion about the new Thai laws.

Ports and marinas

This will affect a much smaller subset of new businesses and construction projects in Thailand, but is of course critical to preserving environmental integrity. Thailand corporate legal services are advising that ports with capacity for vessels over 500 gross tons, with a quay length of greater than 100m or total area of greater than 1,000 square meters will require an EIA. The regulations for marinas under new Thai law are similar - capacity over 50 docking vessels or area over 1,000 square meters requires an EIA.

Retail, wholesale and office buildings

It isn't only purpose which determines the need for an EIA under Thai law. General retailers and wholesalers will also have to complete them, with the help of a Thailand corporate lawyer, if they have a height of 23 meters or more, or a total area of 10,000 square meters or more.

Location

Any building, no matter what the purpose, that is located near sensitive environmental areas will have to complete an impact assessment. The definition of a sensitive environmental area includes one that is adjacent to a river, lake, coastal area or beach, or 'close to' a national park. Thailand lawyers will have to re-determine what is considered 'close' to a national park as the appropriate legal challenges are made.

Thai corporate legal services are also advising clients that they cannot submit EIAs for approval after construction work has started - of course, the projects that were initially granted approval but then halted are an exception. Only environmental consultants approved by ONEP and registered with them can prepare the documents, however Thai lawyers can help their clients prepare for the process.

by: Gregory Smyth

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