The following terms and expressions – wherever they appear in this Executive Regulations – shall have the meanings set forth below, except where it is therein expressly otherwise:

• Law: Environmental Law.

• Executive Regulations: The Executive Regulations for the Environmental Law.

• Executive Regulations: The Executive Regulations for the Environmental Rehabilitation of Degraded Sites and Remediation of Polluted Sites.

• Ministry: Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture.

• Minister: Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture.

• Center: National Center for Environmental Compliance.

• Competent Authority: The Ministry or any of the national environmental centers, within their jurisdictions.

• Inspectors: Employees designated by the Minister or the chairman of the Center's board of directors to undertake environmental monitoring and inspections, and to apprehend, investigate, and substantiate violations to the provisions of the law and Executive Regulations.

• Person: Any public or private natural or legal person.

• Service Provider: A person licensed by the Center to provide environmental services.

• Activity: Any industrial, commercial, or service-related facility, project, business, or other activities that are expected to have an environmental impact.

• Permit: A document issued by the Center to a person before undertaking an activity.

• Environmental Pollution: Presence of one or more substances or factors, in specific quantities or with specific characteristics, over a period of time, that directly or indirectly cause environmental harm.

• Environmental Degradation: Severe damage to the environment caused by the depletion of natural resources, or the destruction of habitats, or the extinction of wildlife species, or the pollution of environmental media and the deterioration of air, water, and soil quality.

• Compensation: Monetary amount paid by the person who causes the damage, pollution, or environmental degradation, to compensate for or eliminate the deterioration resulting from such damage, pollution, or environmental degradation. The compensation includes rehabilitation expenses in the event that rehabilitation was not carried out by the person causing damage, pollution, or environmental degradation.

• Environmentally Sensitive Areas: Areas that have environmental significance and whose degradation has negative repercussions for the environment. They include protected areas, parks, forests, wetlands, significant bird habitat, mangroves, landscaped sites, watersheds, water catchment, and run-off areas, beaches, waterways, aquifers, or any other area(s) identified or declared as environmentally sensitive areas by the State, the Ministry or national environmental centers.

• Sensitive Receptors: Receptors that are likely to be severely affected by activity or project due to their geographical proximity or sensitive nature. They include environmental elements, living species, archeological, cultural, and religious sites, and community groups (such as endangered species, hospitals, elder care centers, schools, residential complexes, and others).

• Environmental Rehabilitation: Any procedure conducted on an environmentally degraded site or one that is affected by environmental damage or pollution, to restore its natural state of environmental balance, in accordance with the standards set by the competent authority.

• Remediation of Polluted Sites: Any procedure conducted on a polluted site to restore it to its natural state of environmental balance in accordance with the requirements of the competent authority.

• The Polluter-Pays Principle: The polluter incurs the expenses of field environmental studies, remedial activities, pollution control and reduction, environmental rehabilitation, and the necessary compensation.

The provisions of this Executive Regulations shall apply to all degraded or polluted sites located within the Kingdom’s territory.

The Center shall undertake the tasks related to environmental rehabilitation of degraded sites and remediation of polluted sites, including:

• (1) Setting the requirements and controls for the development of plans for the environmental rehabilitation of degraded sites and remediation of polluted sites.

• (2) Setting the requirements and controls for the implementation of plans for the environmental rehabilitation of degraded sites and remediation of polluted sites.

• (3) Undertaking relevant measures to ensure the application of requirements and controls during the implementation of plans for the environmental rehabilitation of degraded sites, and remediation of polluted sites.

• (4) Publishing a list of service providers licensed by the Center to develop and implement plans for the environmental rehabilitation of degraded sites and remediation of polluted sites.

• (5) Reviewing plans for the environmental rehabilitation of degraded sites and remediation of polluted sites, and issuing relevant decisions.

• (6) Identifying degraded and polluted sites that require environmental rehabilitation or remediation, and determining the scale and type of pollution as well as requirements for remediation or environmental rehabilitation.

• (7) Establishing a database for degraded and polluted sites.

• (8) Coordinating with the relevant authorities with regard to degraded and polluted sites under their supervision to obligate persons responsible for such degradation and pollution, to develop and implement rehabilitation or remediation plans.

• (9) Coordinating with other national environmental centers whenever the submitted plans or the environmental rehabilitation and remediation processes are within their jurisdiction.

• (10) Inspecting, monitoring, and apprehending all violations to this Executive Regulations; and coordinating with the security authorities at the Ministry of the Interior, whenever necessary, to apprehend violators.

(1) Any person who has engaged in an action or activity that has led to environmental degradation or pollution must cease the pollution source, decontaminate, and conduct environmental rehabilitation and remediation.

(2) The person, causing environmental damage, pollution, or degradation, must pay compensation under the polluter-pays principle.

(3) Inspection shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Executive Regulations for Environmental Inspections and Audits as stipulated in this Executive Regulations.

First: Degraded Sites’ Environmental Rehabilitation Plan

• (1) All persons must develop and submit a degraded sites’ environmental rehabilitation plan to the Center in the following cases:

  • a. The Center may designate certain activities depending on its decision regarding the environmental classification of the activity prior to issuing the environmental permit for certain category I activities, as set forth in the Executive Regulations for Environmental Permits to Establish and Operate Activities. of environmental

  • b. Part of an environmental impact assessment study of the activities of categories 2 and 3, as defined in the Executive Regulations for Environmental Permits to Establish and Operate Activities.

  • c. Whenever any incident that requires the environmental rehabilitation of the damaged site occurs during the activity.

  • d. Upon the Center’s request, based on findings from environmental inspections or audits.

• (2) All persons must update the environmental rehabilitation plan in the following cases:

  • a. When conducting an environmental audit study and submitting its findings in accordance with the Executive Regulations for Environmental Inspections and Audits.

  • b. When any incident that requires the environmental rehabilitation of the damaged site occurs during the activity.

  • c. Upon the Center’s request, based on findings from environmental inspections or audits.

  • (3) Appendix (2) exhibits the outline and content of the degraded sites’ environmental rehabilitation plan, and the Center may request any additional information in this respect or modify the content and outline of the degraded sites’ environmental rehabilitation plan, as needed and without prejudice to the key elements of the plan.

Second: Plan for the Remediation of Polluted Sites

• (1) All persons must develop a plan for the remediation of polluted sites and submit it to the Center in the following cases:

  • a. When any environmental pollution incident occurs while the activity is being set up, operated, or closed.

  • b. Upon the Center’s request, based on findings from environmental inspections or audits.

• (2) Appendix (3) exhibits the outline and content of the plan for the remediation of polluted sites, and the Center may request any additional information in this respect or modify the content and outline of the plan for the remediation of polluted sites, as needed and without prejudice to the key elements of the plan.

Third: Development of Plans The plans for environmental rehabilitation of degraded sites and remediation of polluted sites shall be developed by a licensed service provider, while the Center may accept, in exceptional cases, that those plans be developed by entities having high expertise in this field and approved by the Center. The Center shall issue requirements and controls that specify those exceptional cases and the required expertise of the aforementioned entities.

(1) The Center shall review the plan for environmental rehabilitation or remediation of polluted sites in accordance with Appendix (1).

(2) The Center may visit the site for inspection and verification of the details of the plan for environmental rehabilitation or remediation of polluted sites to confirm the findings of the inspection.

(3) If the Center approves the plan for environmental rehabilitation or the plan for the remediation of polluted sites, the service provider must implement the plan as per the methodology and timeline specified in their outcomes and recommendations.

(1) All persons or activities must commit to implementing the plan for environmental rehabilitation and/or plan for the remediation of polluted sites approved by the Center, during the process of environmental rehabilitation and/or remediation of polluted sites. In the event there is a need to amend the plan, the person or activity must first obtain the Center’s approval.

(2) All persons or activities must submit periodic reports to the Center on the progress of environmental rehabilitation and/or remediation of polluted sites – as specified in the Center’s approval of the plan – provided that these reports are documented with photographs, findings of analyses, and an updated timeline.

(3) All persons must promptly notify the Center of any incident occurring during the environmental rehabilitation and/or remediation of polluted sites.

(4) The Center may inspect the site during the environmental rehabilitation and/or remediation of polluted sites and verify that the details of environmental rehabilitation and/or remediation of polluted sites are consistent with the approved plan.

(5) The Center may conduct any inspection, examination, measurement, or testing during the site inspection.

Violations of the provisions of the Executive Regulations shall be apprehended, and the penalties set out in Table (1) shall be imposed in accordance with the Executive Regulations for Apprehension of Violations and Imposition of Penalties of environmental Law, taking into account the following:

(1) For serious violations a penalty shall be prescribed that is proportional to the damage degree, size، and the inherent importance of the damaged site, and the economic and social implications arising therefrom.

(2) The penalty for significant violations referred to in clause (1) of this article shall be estimated by a committee composed of experts and qualified persons, established by a decision of the Center’s CEO.

(3) Violations shall be deemed serious if they involve any of the following acts:

• a. Acts stipulated in Article (35) of the law.

• b. Acts that lead to environmental degradation.

• c. Acts that harm sensitive receptors or environmentally sensitive areas.