In March 2024, we published an article reporting that the Dewan Rakyat (
House of Representatives) of the Malaysian Parliament had passed the Environmental Quality (Amendment) Bill 2023 (‘
the Bill’) on 25 March 2024. We also highlighted in our article, the main amendments that will be introduced when the Bill becomes law and comes into operation.
The Bill which passed into law as the Environmental Quality (Amendment) Act 2024 (‘
Amendment Act’) will come into operation on
7 July 2024.
1
The Amendment Act will,
inter alia, introduce several new offences and enhance the penalties for a number of existing offences under the Environmental Quality Act 1974.
Details on the amendments under the Amendment Act (while it was in the form of a Parliamentary Bill) are discussed in our earlier write-up which can be read
here.
The amendments under the Amendment Act are welcomed as the enhanced penalties will hopefully have the desired effect of becoming a stronger deterrence against flouting of environmental laws and compelling businesses to raise their level of compliance.
Alert by To’ Puan Janet Looi (Partner and Co-Head) and Tham Zhi Jun (Associate) of the ESG Practice of Skrine.