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Moves to strengthen environmental law after 24 years
The government yesterday (11) unveiled sweeping amendments to National Environmental Act No. 47 of 1980. It had been last amended in 2002. Authorities described the latest amendments as one of the country’s most significant environmental legal reforms aimed at protecting ecosystems and ensuring sustainable development. The proposed amendments were announced during a media briefing held at the Department of Government Information under the patronage of Dr. Dammika Patabendi and Deputy Environment Minister Anton Jayakody. Also present were Secretary to the Ministry of Environment K.R. Uduwawala, Environment Ministry Advisor Dr. Ravindra Kariyawasam, and Director General of the Central Environmental Authority Kapila Rajapaksha. Speaking at the briefing, Minister Patabendi said the amendments were designed to breathe new life into environmental governance while aligning with the government’s policy vision of “A Sustainable Biosphere – A Green Life.” “The environmental challenges confronting Sri Lanka today are far more complex than they were when this law was introduced in 1980,” Minister Patabendi said. “Therefore, we need a stronger and more modern legal framework capable of protecting ecosystems, ensuring environmental justice and safeguarding natural resources for future generations.” The amended Bill, prepared with the participation of environmentalists, academics and other experts, has already been tabled in Parliament and is expected to be debated shortly. One of the key features of the revised legislation is the legal strengthening of environmental responsibilities vested in local government authorities. Under the new provisions, the Central Environmental Authority will have enhanced powers to take legal action against local authorities that fail to comply with environmental regulations and directives. The legislation also empowers magistrates to impose substantial fines on institutions that ignore court orders aimed at rectifying environmental violations. Minister Patabendi stressed that environmental protection could no longer remain secondary to economic development. “Sustainable development must be based on scientific principles,” he said. “Development that destroys ecosystems is not development. Environmental conservation and economic progress must go hand in hand.” The amendments further tighten controls over industries operating under Environmental Protection Licences (EPLs). Authorities said industries that violate EPL conditions or fail to pre...
Port City Act amendments: Govt. moves ahead with IMF recs.
Sri Lanka is to move ahead with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommended amendments to the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Act, No. 11 of 2021.This includes rules-based investment incentives and refraining from granting tax exemptions till new frameworks are introduced, Deputy Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development Chathuranga Abeysinghe said, speaking to parliament yesterday (7).“The changes that we have brought in are to strengthen the regulatory framework. The regulatory framework of the previous Act was not enough. The rules-based investment incentives was not there and it was very unclear to investors how much incentives you will get and what you would get,” Abeysinghe said, speaking about the structural reforms recommendation raised by the IMF.“Earlier, any investor could get 25 years, whether it’s a primary investment or a secondary investment. There was no standardisation on how we really bring these incentives in. Therefore this particular Act amendment is making the regulations clear and standard for the global context. This is the change that is going to allow the Port City Economic Commission to approve more investments that are in the pipeline, which they were unable to do for the last year,” he said.In IMF’s Financing Assurances Review Staff Report on Sri Lanka released in July last year (2025), the report stated that the Port City Act, by the end of October under a new Structural Benchmark, and IMF consultation was to introduce transparent, rules based eligibility criteria amendments for time-bound incentives. “Efforts are underway to amend the Port City Act (end-October, new SB), in consultation with IMF staff, to introduce transparent, rules-based, best-practice aligned eligibility criteria for time-bound incentives,” the report said. “And then in terms of the personal income tax, it's going to be made equitable, otherwise people who are working in the zone would have been tax free and people working outside would have been taxed, so this ambiguity has been cleared,” Abeysinghe added. In its July 2025 report, the IMF stated that till new frameworks for such tax exemptions are to be in place, tax exemptions were to not be granted. “Authorities have reaffirmed the programme commitment to refrain from granting tax exemptions until new frameworks for such exemptions are in place,” the report said.“The mandatory tax filing for IRD is very specifically mentioned, and the fee structure changes have been made to make ...
National Environmental Act amended after 24 years - Newswire
It seeks to dispense environmental justice and ensure the preservation of nature for future generations. A key feature of the amendments is the legal formalization of environmental responsibilities for local government authorities.
NEA amendments to cover Extended Producer Responsibility welcome move
The Government will shortly introduce amendments to the National Environment Act (NEA) to address current legal and institutional issues and give more powers to the Central Environmental Authority (CEA). ..
