Introduction

The Bahasa Indonesian term for EIA is AMDAL. Indonesia established a legal basis for EIA in 1982, and has revised its impact assessment system several times since then, both to reflect institutional changes, and in response to developments in the understanding of EIA. Detailed procedural requirements were first put in place in 1986, further refined in 1993, and amended in 1999, 2001, 2006, 2012, and most recently in 2020, when the Job Creation Law (JCL, also referred to as Omnibus Law) was introduced to bring a more "corporate-friendly" approach to environmental legislation. 

Government passed this Omnibus Law in recognition of the need to improve competitiveness, enhance the investment climate, eliminate red tape and create new jobs. Alongside the 2009 Environmental Protection and Management Law, it is commonly referred to as the Environment Law. This new law encompasses a general mandate for the government to develop an Environment Protection and Management Law (RPPLH) and conduct a strategic environmental study (KLHS), both of which have consider climate change as a crucial factor. 

There is widespread concern that the Omnibus Law could potentially weaken the environmental impact assessment process, and in particular limit the public participation process to those directly impacted and only in the drafting process. The public’s right to file objections to AMDAL assessments once approved, would no longer be possible. Another impact on the current EIA process is that environmental permits will be replaced by an environmental approval process based on the developers’ own declaration of compliance. This would abolish the mechanism for repeal and eliminates the possibility of challenging environmental permits in court.

The Environment Law, along with all its amendments will take full effect after the government complies with the Supreme Court’s ruling to make recommended revisions to the Omnibus Law. These revisions include new implementing regulations of the law, such as the government regulation of 2012 on Environmental Permits. The Environment Law is expected to officially come into force by the end of 2023.

The Environment Law increases the possibility to take action against infringements of the EIA procedure, introduces a widely applicable requirement to carry out SEA for policies, plans and programmes, and includes a revised regulation for environmental permitting, also revising the EIA procedure. More information on the regulatory framework, including the latest amendments, can be found in the more detailed profiles we provide on this website.

EIA falls under the responsibility of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF, or Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan - KLHK; previously the Ministry of Environment - KLH).

Technical Secretary NCEA, compiled from several sources.


News

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Goodbye to Bobbi Schijf

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Webpages | 01-03-2021

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Webpages | 26-11-2020

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Webpages | 13-11-2017

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Webpages | 15-03-2017

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