Environmental Quality Act 1974

Build first, seek approval later — that was the mistake that saw a plastic recycling company in Kulim, Kedah fined RM50,000 under the Environmental Quality Act 1974, part of a total fine of RM60,000 imposed by the court. The offence: setting up a plant without first obtaining approval of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report. The law that caught it out is the backbone of the country’s environmental protection — the Environmental Quality Act 1974.

What is the Environmental Quality Act 1974?

The Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Act 127) is the principal federal law governing the prevention, abatement and control of pollution in Malaysia. It received royal assent on 8 March 1974, was gazetted on 14 March 1974, and came into force on 15 April 1975. The Act applies throughout Malaysia.

Act 127 is “comprehensive” in nature: it covers air, inland water, marine, land and noise pollution, as well as the management of scheduled waste and environmental impact assessment. Most of the technical details — emission limits, licence conditions and lists of activities — are set out through subsidiary regulations and orders made under the Act.

Who enforces this Act?

Enforcement power rests with the Department of Environment (DOE), an agency under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability. At the top of the structure is the Director General of Environmental Quality, appointed by the Minister under section 3.

The Director General holds two important roles:

• Licensing authority — anyone who wishes to discharge pollutants into the environment (for example factory smoke or effluent) requires a licence from the Director General.
• Approver of EIA reports — for major projects, an EIA report must be submitted to the Director General and approved before the project can begin.

The Minister may give general directions to the Director General, and a person dissatisfied with a decision of the Director General may appeal to the Appeal Board established under section 36.

When is an EIA required?

The heart of development control in Act 127 is section 34A. It empowers the Minister to prescribe any activity that may have a significant effect on the environment as a “prescribed activity”.

Once an activity is prescribed, section 34A requires the developer to:

1. Submit an EIA report to the Director General before any approval is granted by the authority approving the project (section 34A(2)).
2. Not carry out the activity until the report is submitted and approved (section 34A(6)).
3. Ensure that the conditions of approval and mitigation measures are incorporated into the design, construction and operation of the project (section 34A(7)).

The list of prescribed activities is contained in the Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities) (Environmental Impact Assessment) Order 2015, made under section 34A(1). This Order divides activities into two schedules. According to DOE administrative practice, the procedural differences between the two schedules are generally as follows (the latest details should be verified against the full text of the Order and DOE guidelines):

Category	First Schedule	Second Schedule
Public display & comment	Not required	Required
Processed at	State DOE office	DOE headquarters
Example sectors	Housing, roads, small quarries	Dams, large land clearing, high-risk projects

The activities covered include agriculture, airports, drainage and irrigation, forestry, industry, land reclamation, mining, petroleum, ports, power generation, development in coastal and slope areas, waste treatment and disposal, as well as the construction of dams and highways.

What are the pollution offences under this Act?

Part IV of Act 127 creates a series of prohibitions. The underlying principle is the same: no one may emit, discharge or dispose of pollutants in excess of the acceptable conditions (prescribed under section 21) unless licensed. The table below summarises the maximum fines for the main offences.

Section	Offence	Maximum fine	Maximum imprisonment
22	Atmospheric (air) pollution	RM100,000	5 years
23	Noise pollution	RM100,000	5 years
24	Pollution of the soil	RM100,000	5 years
25	Pollution of inland waters	RM100,000	5 years
29	Discharge of wastes into Malaysian waters	RM500,000	5 years
29A	Open burning	RM500,000	5 years
34A(8)	Carrying out a prescribed activity without EIA approval	RM100,000	5 years
34B	Disposal of scheduled waste without approval	RM500,000	5 years

For many offences (such as sections 22, 24, 25 and 34A), the court may also impose an additional fine of up to RM1,000 for each day the offence is continued after a notice is issued by the Director General.

Two provisions deserve special attention:

• Open burning (section 29A). It is prohibited at any premises. Crucially, section 29B deems the owner or occupier of the premises to have committed the offence unless proven otherwise — the burden of proof rests on them.
• Scheduled waste (section 34B). No one may dispose of, receive, send or cause the transit of scheduled waste without the written approval of the Director General. This is the legal basis for the control of hazardous waste and transboundary waste.

How is this Act enforced in practice?

The Kulim case shows how these provisions are applied together. According to a Berita RTM report, a plastic waste recycling company in Taman Industri Makmur, Kulim was fined a total of RM60,000 in a judgment of the Kulim Sessions Court on 16 April 2025:

• RM50,000 for constructing a recycling plant without approval of an EIA report — charged under section 34A(6) and sentenced under section 34A(8) of Act 127.
• RM10,000 under the Environmental Quality (Clean Air) Regulations 2014 for failing to give Written Notification to the DOE.

The case illustrates a common pattern: EIA violations under the parent Act are often paired with offences under more specific subsidiary regulations. It also confirms that “build first” is not a cost-saving strategy — the cost of fines and the potential for stop-work orders far outweighs the cost of complying with the EIA process from the outset.

What must be done to comply with this Act?

For developers and operators, the basic steps to compliance are as follows:

• Check EIA status early. Determine whether your project falls within the First or Second Schedule of the EIA Order 2015 before applying for other approvals.
• Obtain a discharge licence. If operations emit smoke, effluent or noise, apply for a licence from the Director General before operating.
• Manage scheduled waste through approved channels. Use premises and contractors that hold written approval under section 34B.
• Avoid open burning entirely. As the owner of the premises, you can be held liable even if the burning is carried out by someone else.

What’s next

The Environmental Quality Act 1974 remains the core of Malaysia’s environmental law, but it is enforced through dozens of more detailed subsidiary regulations and orders — from the Clean Air Regulations 2014 to the Scheduled Wastes Order. For an actual project, the most practical step is to refer directly to the DOE website for the latest list of prescribed activities and EIA guidelines, and to obtain environmental legal advice before starting any earthworks. The related articles on the Department of Environment and the Environmental Impact Assessment process explain the next steps in more detail.