The words and phrases defined in the Environmental Law - wherever they appear in these rules - shall have the meanings stated therein. The words and phrases listed below - wherever they appear in these rules - shall have the meanings specified next to each, unless the context requires otherwise:

• Committee: The committee responsible for reviewing violations of the provisions of the law and regulations, imposing penalties, or objections submitted by concerned parties regarding the penalties imposed by the competent authority.

• Rules: The rules and procedures of the Committee.

• Competent Center: National Center for Environmental Compliance, or National Center for Vegetation Cover Development and Combating Desertification, or National Center for Wildlife, each according to its jurisdiction.

The selection of the President of the Committee shall take into account his scientific and practical experience, and he must have the ability to perform the tasks and responsibilities assigned to the Committee in a manner that achieves the objectives of the Law. His responsibilities include the following:

• A- Managing the Committee's sessions.

• B- Assigning a delegate from the specialists in Sharia or laws among the Committee members to preside over the Committee in cases where he is unable to attend.

• C- Requesting data, information, documents, or clarifications related to the matters presented to the Committee from any entity or person.

• D- Submitting the Committee's decisions regarding fines exceeding (5,000,000) five million Riyals or the cancellation of the permit or license to the Minister or the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the relevant center - as applicable - for approval.

• E- Approving the annual report of the Committee's activities and submitting it to the Minister and the Chief Executive Officer of the relevant center.

• F- The President of the Committee may delegate one of the members to perform some of the tasks assigned to him, and the delegate may not further delegate others.

There shall be a secretariat for the Committee at the relevant center, supervised administratively by a Trustee from its members, and the Trustee shall be technically supervised by the Chair of the Committee and shall perform the tasks assigned to him by the Chair, including the following:

• A- Supervising the administrative and secretarial work of the Committee.

• B- Receiving requests for imposing penalties that are submitted to the Committee from the relevant center or objections regarding the decisions to impose penalties, reviewing them to ensure the completeness of the necessary documents and information, and submitting them to the Committee according to the mechanism specified in item (Third) of Article (Six) of the regulations.

• C- Directing notifications and notices to the parties involved in the violation and the relevant authorities regarding the scheduled session dates, requesting the attendance of their representatives, and following up on this, as well as notifying anyone the Chair of the Committee deems necessary to inform about attendance or to request their input.

• D- Following up with the parties involved in the violation to provide any requirements or clarifications requested by the Committee regarding the violation under consideration.

• E- Preparing the necessary arrangements for the Committee sessions, including preparing its agenda and notifying the members of the dates of its meetings.

• F- Preparing and receiving correspondence directed to the Committee, presenting it to the Chair of the Committee, and preparing draft responses to it.

• G- Establishing a database for the Committee's work, indexing and preserving the Committee's decisions, and related cases and rulings.

• H- Preparing a draft annual report of the Committee's activities and submitting it to the Chair for approval.

• I- Other related tasks assigned by the Chair of the Committee.

The Committee considers objections to the decisions of the relevant authority regarding the imposition of a fine not exceeding (100,000) one hundred thousand Riyals, in accordance with the following regulations:

• A- Objections must be submitted to the Committee within a period of fifteen (15) working days starting from the date the violator is notified or becomes aware of the penalty decision, otherwise, their right to object will be forfeited.

• B- The penalty decision includes the time period during which the violator can submit an objection.

• C- The Committee reviews the objection and issues its decision either accepting or rejecting it within a period of (30) working days starting from the date the Committee's secretariat receives the objection, and it may seek the assistance of a specialized expert from the relevant authority in the field of the violation under consideration, and if that is not possible, the Committee may seek the assistance of an external specialized expert.

• D- The violator bears the costs of engaging the expert in the event their objection is rejected, and these costs are estimated based on criteria approved by the Minister.

• E- The Committee may request financial guarantees - as appropriate - before considering the objection, and cases in which it may request financial guarantees for the consideration of the objection are submitted to the Minister for approval by his decision.