Articulation of Laws and Regulations for Environmental Assessment in Iran

Farhad Dabiri*

   Environmental assessment is an overall and future- oriented approach which analyzes every development activity in different dimensions, without emphasizing on any particular factor.

The environmental assessment is the most reliable means and method for the protection of environment as well as for the continuation of  sustainable development process.

In Iran, the environmental assessment , although a new item, can be traced back to the regulations and principles of environmental assessment in 1354 ( 1975 ). In those years, an organizational unit called «office for development impacts study» was formed in Department of Environment .

The main reason to justify the necessity of environmental assessment as well as the need for articulating and approving the relevant laws and regulations is the prevention of any negative impact resulted from human activities on the environment , and also the prevention of economic, social and environmental losses of the said activities.

Since the environmental assessment is considered as one of the most appropriate criteria for sustainable development and environmental management in Iran , it should be enforced and implemented in a legal framework.

At present, there are laws, regulations and approvals for the environmental assessment in Iran. Some of them , explicitly and directly , force the development projects executing bodies to do the environmental assessment. And some others ,though do not refer clearly to the environmental assessment, have some kind of similarities in meaning or preventive characteristic which make them to be considered equal to the environmental assessment regulations , such as regulations for the location of factories and industries which are to be established, developed or replaced.

The regulations ,directly and clearly supervising the environmental

assessment, are « Article 105 of the Law for the Third   Economic , Social, and Cultural Development Plan of the Islamic Republic of Iran», and «Article 10 of the By-law for the Prevention of Sound Pollution» as well as «Approvals nos. 138, 156 and 166 of the High Council of D.O.E».At present, there are 12 big and important projects titles that fall under the environmental assessment plan.

In the case of other related laws and regulations, it can be referred

to Articles 61, 85 and 121 of the “Law for the Third Development Plan”, and Articles 12 and 13 of the “Law for Prevention of Air Pollution", and Article 11 of the “By-law for Prevention of Water Pollution”.

In spite of  the above-mentioned laws , regulations and approvals , having the capability and possibility of controlling and assessing the activities pertaining to environment, it may be concluded first: some of them are impermanent , and second : because they are scattered in various laws and regulations , the necessity of articulation and ratification of the permanent laws for the EIA is greatly felt.

The author of this article, during this study, has prepared the draft “Law for Environmental Assessment in Iran” , and put it in this article as the result of his studies.

*Director General of Environmental Law Bureau-DOE, Iran.

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