Environment Act, 1998 (No. 8 of 1998).

This Act sets out a general legislative framework for the protection of the environment in the Solomon Islands and provides for the establishment of the Environment and Conservation Division and the Environment Advisory Committee and for development control, environmental impact assessment, review and monitoring and the control of pollution. The Act consists of 55 sections divided into 5 Parts and is completed by two Schedules.
The Environment and Conservation Division shall act as the principal environment protection authority of the Solomon Islands and shall consist of a Director, Environmental Inspectors and such other officers as may be necessary for the administration of the Act. The Division shall act in accordance with principles established by this Act. The Director shall advise the Minister on matters concerning the environment, submit every three years a report on the state of the environment to the Minister and carry out other functions as defined in this Act. The Act requires any developer wishing to carry out a development as prescribed in the Second Schedule to this Act, to submit an application for the development together with a public environmental report or an environment impact statement and any additional requirements as notified by the Director. The Director shall publish an environmental impact statement or a public environmental report for purposes of hearing possible objections of interested parties. The Act further concerns the control of discharge of waste and other pollution and introduces the requirement to obtain a licence frpm the Director to discharge waste, emit noise, odour or electromagnetic radiation from a prescribed premises. The Act further defines powers of the Director or Environmental Inspectors to stop polluting and introduces pollution abatement measures.