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UNCLAS SUVA 000024 
 
SIPDIS 
 
BANGKOK FOR REO AND USAID/RDMA/REO 
 
COMMERCE FOR NOAA 
 
E.O 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV PGOV FJ
SUBJECT: Fiji's First Comprehensive Environmental Law Comes into 
Effect 
 
¶1.  Summary: The Environment Management Act of 2005 and the 
subsequent regulations of 2007 have come into effect from January 1, 
¶2009.  This landmark measure is the first comprehensive 
environmental law in Fiji's history.  Businesses generating waste or 
pollution are now required to obtain a permit from the Environment 
Department.  In addition, most new development proposals must now 
follow an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process.  The 
far-reaching Act entails hefty fines.  Although officials at the 
Department of Environment are convinced that all facilities will 
comply, it remains to be seen if the law can be effectively and 
impartially enforced.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  The Fijian Parliament enacted the Environment Management Act 
(EMA) in 2005 for the protection of natural resources and for the 
control and management of development, for waste management and 
pollution control, and for the establishment of a National 
Environment Council and related matters.  The interim cabinet 
endorsed implementing regulations--the Environment Management 
(Environment Impact Assessment Process) Regulations 2007 and The 
Environment Management (Waste Disposal and Recycling) Regulations 
2007--in December 2007, but the Act did not come into full effect 
until January 1, 2009. This was because of a one-year grace period 
designed to allow commercial facilities and industries to comply 
with its requirements.  Now that it is in effect, the EMA carries 
high expectations and places a number of substantial administrative 
requirements on existing organs of government, in particular the 
Department of Environment. 
 
¶3.  The EMA creates a statutory body, the National Environment 
Council, to ensure that its overall goals are met.  Among its 
important functions, the Council is to ensure that the government 
complies with its international environmental commitments.  (Also, 
according to the Act, the Council is supposed to report to 
Parliament annually on its activities, although Fiji has been 
without a Parliament since the December 2006 military coup.) 
 
¶4.  The Department of Environment will administer the Act.  Within 
the Department, the EMA establishes three main units to carry out 
those elements of the Act reflected in their names: the Environment 
Impact Assessment Unit; the Resource Management Unit; and the Waste 
Management and Pollution Control Unit.  In addition, the EMA 
requires a "National State of the Environment Report" to be produced 
every five years.  (The only previous State of the Environment 
Report for Fiji was done in 1992.) 
¶5.  The EMA prohibits any commercial or industrial facility from 
discharging any waste or pollutant into the environment or handling 
or storing hazardous materials without a permit.  It gives the Waste 
and Pollution Control Administrator (WPC) power to issue permits, 
monitor discharges and issue stop orders to prevent illegal or 
excessive discharges.   It also sets out the framework for the EIA 
process that must be applied to most proposals for development 
activities before they can be approved and makes it an offence to 
undertake a development activity without an approved EIA.  A fine of 
up to $750,000 Fiji dollars (approximately US$420,000) can be 
imposed for violating this provision. 
 
¶6.  The fines for pollution offences are up to $250,000 Fiji dollars 
(approximately US$140,000) for first time offenders and $750,000 
Fiji dollars for subsequent offenses.  Creating "a pollution 
incident" with willful or reckless disregard carries a maximum fine 
of $1,000,000 Fiji dollars for individuals, while companies can be 
fined up to five times that amount.  The EMA also provides for terms 
of imprisonment of up to 10 years.  According to the Department of 
Environment, the high fines are intended to be deterrents. 
 
¶7.  Comment: On paper, the EMA gives the Fiji Department of 
Environment sweeping authorities, but whether the Department can 
effectively and impartially enforce this law will have to be seen. 
Although there are plans to increase staffing, the Department 
currently has a fulltime staff of four.  End Comment. 
 
To access the EMA and implementing regulations, please go to 
http://www.environment.gov.fj/environment_02. htm. 
 
McGann