EPA to now procure modern instruments to monitor pollution impacts

Dec 01, 2021 News

Six years after oil discovery…

Kaieteur News – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) disclosed yesterday that it is in the process of bolstering its monitoring and assessment capabilities for various industries “by procuring modern and state of art measurement equipment/instruments and analyses tools to take accurate measurements, and to make credible assessments of impacts of pollutants in air, water and land.” It was keen to note that this is a basic capability of any environmental regulatory agency for providing trustworthy and timely assessments of risks and corrective actions.

EPA Head, Kemraj Parsram

Further to this, the EPA informed members of the media that it will soon launch a remote real-time monitoring system and platform to keep an eye on facilities and their level of compliance with key environmental parameters. The regulator said this will be done through the acquisition of satellite services, and the installation of sensors for air quality index, among other mechanisms.
In the meantime, the agency said it currently utilizes drone technology, has amplified the use of Geographic Information System (GIS), and employs other digital technology for remote monitoring.
To complement its technological improvements, the EPA noted that it continues to build the capacity of its staff members. In this regard, it said employees continue to capitalise on virtual webinars facilitated through international and local partnerships. To date, it said 81 staff members have participated in virtual webinars focused on areas such as risk assessment and risk management, climate change and climate mitigation, human rights in Environmental Impact Assessments, reducing emission and air quality impacts, and building resilience for oil producers.
Along with the strengthening of its in-house capacities, the EPA said it has improved the requirements for Project Summaries, which must be submitted by the developers applying for environmental authorization. In this regard, it said project summaries must now include the likely impacts of operations and mitigation measures that would be used by the developer.
It was keen to note that each application for an Environmental Authorisation (whether oil and gas related or not) undergoes a meticulous process called screening. It said, “Screening is the first stage of the environmental assessment process. It is the stage where the decision is made as to whether an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required or not. Section 11 (2) provides for this process in that it states that the agency is competent to make one of two decisions when assessing an application. It may decide that the project will significantly affect the environment and, therefore, will require the conduct of an EIA; or that a project will not significantly affect the environment, so that an EIA is not required.”
From this, the EPA said it is clear that what the agency is concerned with at this stage is the significance of the impacts on the environment. The regulator continued, “The agency has strengthened its screening process by ensuring appropriate screening questions are asked of the proposed project, site visits are conducted, existing information is gathered and reviewed, and engagement with key agencies and residents in the area of the proposed project is done.”
The outcome of this process it said, is a screening report on the potential impacts and identification of possible significant impacts to inform the Agency’s decision with regards to an EIA is required or not to further inform its decision to issue an Environmental Permit or not.
The EPA said, too, that it has also strengthened its adherence to the Act by publishing reasons for its decisions and making Project Summaries available for public access and review. In addition, existing activities being authorized are now being subject to section 11 (1) and (2) of the Act. Kaieteur News understands that these projects, which have been operating for a number of years and not authorized are also being screened to determine if there is potential for legacy and continued significant impacts, and decisions with screening reports published in accordance with section 11