LEGAL ASPECT ON WASTE MANAGEMENT IN MALAYSIA Group members: Siti Nursheela bt Abu Mansur Norilyana bt Ramli Noradiba bt Abd Kadir Nazira bt Mahmud Nurul Ain bt Borhan

In early days of abundant resources and negligible development pressures, little attention was paid to environmental issue, although some environment related legislation pertaining to different sectors was enacted. The government has since as early as 1974 taken concrete steps by introducing an enabling legislation called the Environmental Quality Act, The main objective of this act is to prevent, abate and control pollution, and further enhancing the quality of the environment in this country.

The Department of Environment has been entrusted to administer this legislation to ensure that Malaysia will continue to enjoy both industrial grow and a healthy living environment. The government of Malaysia had very much depended on the existing legal and institutional arrangements for the implementation of its environment policy objectives and strategies. To make further progress in the protection and preservation of the environment, the existing legal and institutional arrangements ought to be augmented by other policy instruments, including trade and economic measures, tax and financial mechanisms, further R&D and technology development and transfer, and other institutional support, including national-wide data- based management information system.

MALAYSIA ENVIRONMENT POLICY Malaysia’s overall environmental policy objectives, since the Third Malaysian Plan ( ), have always intended to balance the goals of socio-economic development and the need to bring the benefits of development to a wide spectrum of population, keeping in mind the maintenance of sound environmental conditions.

The objectives of environmental management in Malaysia continue to be based on fundamental policy directives elucidated in the Fifth and Sixth Malaysian Plan, and as follows: 1. To maintain a clean and healthy environment 2. To maintain the quality of the environment relative to the needs of the growing population 3. To minimize the impact of the growing population and human activities relating to mineral exploration, deforestation, agriculture, urbanization, tourism and the development of other environmental resources 4. To balance the goal for socio-economic development and the need to bring the benefits of development to a wide spectrum of the population, keeping in mind the maintenance of sound environmental conditions 5. To place more emphasis on prevention through conservation rather than on the curative measure, inter alia by preserving the country’s unique and diverse cultural and natural heritage 6. To incorporate an environment dimension in project planning and implementation, inter alia by determining the implications of the proposed projects and the cost of the required environmental mitigation measures.

STRATEGIES IN ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT Short-term measures effectively implemented the existing legislation to control discharges and emissions from existing sources. The medium-term strategy involved the incorporation of an environmental component into the development planning process. The long-term strategy ensures that all development contain both physical environment and quality of life aspects in their planning. The act is the most comprehensive legislation to date for pollution prevention, abatement and control as well as for environment enhancement. The enforcement of this act and the accompanying 16 sets of Regulations and Orders has played a significant role in the management of the environment, and in particular, with respect to pollution control.

The following regulations and orders have been introduced under the Environment Quality Act, 1974 and strictly enforced: Control of Agro based Water pollution Environmental Quality (licensing): Regulation 1977 Environmental Quality (Prescribed Premises): (Crude Palm Oil) Order 1977 Environmental Quality (Prescribed Premises): (Raw Natural Rubber) regulations 1978 Control of Municipal and Industrial Waste water pollution Environmental Quality (Sewage and Industrial Effluents): Regulations 1979 Environment Quality (Prohibition on the used of control Substance in soap, synthetic detergent and other cleaning agent): Order 1995 Control of Industrial Emissions Environment Quality (Clean Air): Regulation 1978 Environment Quality (Compounding of offences): Rules 1978

Control of Motor Vehicle Emissions Environment Quality (Control of lead concentration in Malaysia): Regulations 1985 Environmental Quality (Motor vehicle Noise): Regulation 1987 Environmental Quality (Control of emission for diesel engine): Regulations 1996 Environmental Quality (Control of emission for petrol engine): Regulation 1996 Control of Toxic and Hazardous Wastes Environmental Quality (Schedule wastes): Regulation 1989 Environmental Quality (Prescribed Premises) (Schedule waste treatment and disposal facilities): Order 1989 Environmental Quality (Prescribed Premises) (Schedule waste treatment and disposal facilities): Regulation 1989 Integration of Environment and Development Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities) (Environmental Impact Assestment): Order 1987 Control of Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer Environmental Quality (Prohibition on the use of Chlorofluorocarbons and other gas propellants and blowing agents): Order 1993

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES Monitoring and Enforcement - Monitoring is done on a regular basis in order to collect and compile environmental data that is required for the assessment of the state of the environment. - The assessment is basically a prerequisite to enforcement action. The highest priority of such action is given to the most critical area and thus, the major contributing sources of pollution.

Enforcement 1. Control of Mobile Sources 2. Control of Agro-Based Prescribed and Non-Prescribed Premises 3. Schedule Waste Management Monitoring 1. Water Quality Monitoring 2. Noise and Air Quality Monitoring

E NVIRONMENTAL D IMENSION IN P OLICY AND D EVELOPMENT P LANNING - The following are some of the environmental guidelines that have been prepared for adoption by the various development agencies at the Federal, State and the Local Government levels: Guidelines for Siting and Zoning of Industries (1976); Revised (1994) Guidelines for air Pollution Control Measures in Palm Oil (1997) Guidelines for Prevention and Control of Soil Erosion and siltation (1978); Revised (1996) Code of Practice Manual for Service Stations (1980); Revised (1993) Guidelines for the Open Burning of Felled Plant Materials (Agricultural Wastes) (1981); Revised (1994) Recommended Code of Practice for the Disposal of Solid Wastes on Land (1985) Guidelines for Collection, Storage, handling and Disposal of Hazardous Waste (1985) A Handbook of Environmental Impact Assessment : Procedures and Guidelines (1987) ; reviesd (1995) Environmental Requirement ; A guide for Investors (1989); Revised ( ) EIA Procedure and Requirement in Malaysia (1990) : Revised ( ) Guidelines for Export of Scheduled Waste (1993) Guidelines for Storage of Scheduled Waste (1993) Guidelines for Import of scheduled Waste (1994) Environmental Impact Assessment Guideline for Coastal Resort Development Projects (1994) Environmental Impact Assessment Guideline for Industrial Estate Development (1994) Environmental Impact Assessment Guideline for Golf Course Development (1994) Guidelines on Control Measures for the protection of Ozone Layer (1994)

Guideline on the Management and Disposal Of Waste in Upstream Petroleum Industries (1994) Guideline on the Management and Disposal Of Waste in Downstream Petroleum Industries (1994) Environmental Impact Assessment Guideline for Groundwater and/or Surface Water Supply Projects (1995) Environmental Impact Assessment Guideline for Thermal Power Generation and/or Transmission Projects (1995) Environmental Impact Assessment Guideline for Drainage and/or Irrigation Projects (1995) Environmental Impact Assessment Guideline for fishing Harbours and/or land-based Aquaculture Projects (1995) Environmental Impact Assessment Guideline for Dams and/or Reservoir Guidelines for Dam and/or Reservoir Projects (1995) EIA Guidelines for Coastal Resort & Recreation Project (1994) EIA Guidelines for Industrial Estate Development (1994) EIA Guidelines for Petrochemical Industries (1994) Guidelines on Zero Burning of Felled Plant Material (1994) Guidelines on Control Measures for Montreal Protocol Substances that deplete the Ozone Layer (1994) Guidelines for Project Preparation under Montreal Protocol Multilateral Fund (1994) Guidelines for Management and Disposal of Wastes for Down Stream Petroleum Industries (1994) Guidelines for Management and Disposal of Wastes for Upstream Petroleum Industries (1994) Notification and Control Procedure for Movement of Wastes between Singapore and Malaysia (1995)