Board will have the power to summon consultants at will

It will be mandatory for all EIAs to adhere to the established monitoring requirements for the pre, during and post development scenarios to be documented. Mepa will present an analysis of the monitoring exercise to the registration and review board which is charged with the registration of individuals as EIA consultants and the ensuing annual renewal process. This will ensure that consultants who constantly fail to predict the right outcomes during EIAs in which they are commissioned have this taken into account when their registration comes up for renewal.

The registration and review board will be given the powers to summon EIA consultants at will in order to review EIAs and their subsequent outcomes for matters related to registration renewal purposes.

Government will also ensure that Mepa develops and maintains a register of EIA consultants which involves the implementation of Article 35 of the EIA regulations. In screening EIA consultants, Mepa will ensure that the selected consultants are qualified according to this register.

These changes in the EIA process, together with the registration mechanism embodied in the formulation of the register, are aimed to minimise any perceived bias in this process, as well as, to ensure that the EIA content and methodology is robust. Moreover, it is thought that such a procedure will also contribute towards increasing the public's perception that the EIA process is fairer and more reasonable.

The EIA within the context of the planning process

It is ever more important to secure that the planning and environmental aspects related to a particular application go hand in hand and are given the same weighting in the decision-making process. The practices which sometimes result in development briefs often preceding the terms of reference of the EIA might result in a situation where although the EIA might highlight negative issues, the fact that Mepa has agreed to the former with the applicant makes the EIA process play second fiddle.

The government is intent on ensuring that the EIA process commences at the earliest stage possible of the development application's life in order to ensure that decisions taken during the course of this process truly reflect the planning and environmental well-being of the development.