This Act is enacted to prevent and mitigate the adverse impact of development activity on the environment in order to achieve the goal of environmental protection. Matters not regulated by this Act shall be subject to the provisions of other applicable laws.

The competent authority referred to in this Act means the Environmental Protection Administration, Executive Yuan, at the central government level, the municipal government in special municipalities and the county or city government in counties or cities.

Competent authorities at all levels shall establish an Environmental Impact Assessment Review Committee (hereinafter referred to as "the Committee") to review matters related to environmental impact assessment reports.
Terms for the members of the Committee in the preceding paragraph shall be two years, and the number of experts and scholars among them shall not be less than two-thirds of the total number of committee members. When the industry competent authority is the developer, industry competent authority members shall abstain from voting.
The Environmental Protection Administration, Executive Yuan, shall draft the organizational rules of the Committee established by the central competent authority and shall submit said rules to the Executive Yuan for approval and promulgation.
Special municipality competent authorities shall draft the organizational rules of the Committees established by special municipality competent authorities and submit said rules to the authorized agency for approval and promulgation.
County or city competent authorities shall draft the organizational rules of the Committees established by county or city competent authorities and shall submit said rules to the authorized agency for approval and promulgation.

Terms used in this Act are defined as follows.
1. "Development activity" refers to activities designated in Article 5. The scope of development activity includes its planning, implementation, and post-completion use.
2. "Environmental impact assessment" denotes an environmental management plan based on scientific, objective and comprehensive surveys, forecasting, analyses and evaluations conducted prior to project implementation in order to determine the degree and scope of the potential impact of development activity or government policy on the environment (including the living environment, natural environment and social environment), economy, culture and ecology, and the public explanation and review of such a plan. The environmental impact assessment work includes the first-stage, second-stage environmental impact assessment and review, tracking and assessment procedures.

Environmental impact assessments shall be conducted for the following development activities that are deemed to have a potential adverse impact on the environment.
1. The establishment of a factory or the development of an industrial park
2. The development of a road, railway, mass rapid transit system, harbor or airport
3. Soil and gravel adoption, prospecting, or mining
4. The development of water storage, water supply, flood control or drainage projects
5. The development or use of land for agriculture, forestry, fisheries or livestock
6. The development of recreational areas, scenic areas, golf courses or sports fields
7. The development of cultural, educational or medical facilities
8. New urban construction or high-rise buildings, or renewal of old urban districts
9. The construction of environmental protection projects
10. The development of nuclear energy or other types of energy or the construction of radioactive waste storage or treatment facilities
11. Other activities officially announced by the central competent authority
The central competent authority in consultation with the relevant agencies shall, within one year after the promulgation and implementation of this Act, determine and submit to the Legislative Yuan to be filed for future reference determination standards, specific items and environmental impact assessment working standards for those development activities for which environmental impact assessments are required to be conducted in the preceding paragraph.