The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has started the work of “Technical Consulting Firms on Environmental Impact Assessment” since 1997, and announced on EPA website on the list of the firms which have passed the evaluation. The list can serve as the basis for developers to select a qualified firm and then assist the improvement of environmental impact assessment. In the past few years, information on evaluation of technical consulting firms on environmental impact assessment, an evaluation model and an objective evaluation method have been established. The technical capacity and the services of the technical consulting firms have also been evaluated by groups of experts. To improve the evaluation method of technical consulting firms on environmental impact assessment and to enhance the technical capacity of environmental impact assessment, the project of “Evaluation of Technical Consulting Firms on Environmental Impact Assessment” has been continuously implemented in Fiscal Year 91. The methods of evaluation are: “review of basic information of technical consulting firms”, “review by Evaluation Committee” and “review by EPA”. Thirty-four consulting firms have been evaluated in FY 91. Four have been evaluated as A, 6 as A-, 14 as B and 10 as C. Based on the experiences of the project implementation and the consulting firms’ oral report to EPA, the implementing organization has suggested how the project should be continuously implemented in the future, how the consulting firms should improve the knowledge of their personnel. The capacity of technical consulting firms on environmental impact assessment and the quality of environmental impact assessment report can thereby be improved.

Environmental Impact Assessment,Technical Consulting Firms,Evaluation