New law to tighten business permits to protect environment

A new law will allow the government to enforce a more restrictive licensing mechanism on business activities that are vulnerable to environmental destruction.

The draft law on environmental protection and management requires an investor to secure an environment license for the issuance of his or her business permit. 

The House of Representatives is slated to pass the bill into law in September to replace the outdated 1997 environmental law, which obliges investors to obtain environmental impact analysis (Amdal) documents before doing business.

According to the draft law, environment licenses could be issued by mayors, regents, governors or the environment minister, depending on the size of the business.

It says the environment permit is a must for companies that generate air and water pollution, hazardous waste, greenhouse gas emissions and companies that dump their tailings.

To get an environmental license, companies should first secure the Amdal documents to determine whether or not a given business activity is environmentally feasible for a particular area.

“With this law, we want all companies to fulfill their responsibilities in protecting the environment,” Ilyas Asaad, the environment ministry’s deputy for environmental compliance, said Tuesday.

He said many companies were running businesses without Amdal document.