Environmental Assessment
Volume A-5
Introduction
Regulatory Framework
the public consultation process. The ongoing involvement of the CTE with the
proponents in public consultation and technical meetings prior to EA submission,
including with technical advisors, was envisaged as the ToR were being approved.
Such ongoing involvement has taken place as noted in Volume A, Section 6.
Public hearings after EA submission could be requested for a project such as this,
requiring resettlement of more than 500 persons (Art. 3). A fuller review of
regulatory requirements for consultation is given in Volume A, Section 6.
Decree No. 99-954 of December 1999 specifies that ONE is in charge of proposing
the standards and environmental guidelines for each type of activity (Art. 8) with
the collaboration of the concerned departments. In the absence of national
standards, Decree No. 99-954 states that those responsible for EA studies will
default to international environmental guidelines of organizations affiliated with
the United Nations (Art. 9). EA provisions are recently being incorporated into
Decree 167/2004. These provisions, in addition to the ToR, have been considered
where appropriate throughout the various sections of the EA.
General EA provisions and minimum criteria include the need to provide a basic
EA summary, avoiding technical terms, in French and Malagasy, which covers
main points of the EA (see Section A, Executive Summary). Act No. 90-033
mentioned above, further provides regulatory limits with regards to effluent
discharges from industrial projects, which have been taken into account in water
quality assessments in this EA.
Environmental Assessment requirements for mine development are further
specified by Interministerial Order No. 12032/2000 on regulations of the mining
sector. The order describes the process for submission, review, approval and
regulation of the EA. The EA is prepared in order to develop the EMP where
mitigation and rehabilitation measures are described, to reduce impacts on the
environment and improve the well-being of local people. The EMP should
include a budget, a financing plan, and a management mechanism to insure that
funds will be available for mitigation and restoration measures (Art. 40, 41,
and 42). Environmental Management Plan details are provided in Volumes B to
F, plus Volume H, Appendix 6.
Project design for construction, operations and closure has necessitated an
understanding of legislation enacted to promote various aspects of planning,
including for land use, renewable resource use, protected areas development and
conservation. Act No. 96-025, permits rural communities to effectively
participate in natural resource management, including for forests and aquatic and
terrestrial fauna and flora. The proponents’ commitment to co-operative
management of a forest buffer zone around the mine area is discussed in
Volume B, Sections 4.1 and 5.3. Forest management is further included in Act
No. 97-017 and Decree No. 97-1200, which include reference to the state goal of
Ambatovy Project
15
January 2006
