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 of environmental Law.

• Executive Regulations: The Executive Regulations for Environmental Permits to Establish and Operate Activities.

• 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.

• CEO: Chief Executive Officer of the Center.

• 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.

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

• Supervising Authority: Any governmental body that is legally authorized to supervise the activity, and that is mandated to issue licenses for the undertaking of activities under its jurisdiction.

• Environmental Impact: Any negative or positive change affecting the environment as a result of the conduct of any activity.

• Major Change: Any expansion or change in the design, operation, or nature of any existing activity, which is likely to induce a negative impact on the environment.

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

• Permit Applicant: Activity owner or his delegate.

• Permittee: A person granted a permit in accordance with the provisions of this Executive Regulations.

• Environmental Permit to Establish Activities: Document issued by the Center to a person granting him the permission to initiate the establishment of an activity following the completion of its classification and environmental impact assessment, and the prescription of environmental requirements and conditions to comply with during establishment.

• Environmental Permit to Operate: A document issued by the Center to a person granting him the permission to operate the activity.

• License: A document issued by the Center authorizing a person to undertake an environmental activity.

• Licensee: A person who is granted a license in accordance with the provisions of this Executive Regulations.

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

• Environmental Classification Form: A Form submitted to the Center used to determine the category of the suggested activity in terms of environmental impact.

• Environmental Impact Assessment Study: Study aimed at determining, estimating, and evaluating the environmental impact of any activity classified by the Center, following the review of environmental classification form, as category 2 or 3, with the objective of incorporating any environmental considerations into the final design of the activity, along with economic, social, and security considerations, and identifying the necessary alternatives and measures to protect the environment.

• Scoping Report of environmental Impact Assessment: Report detailing the scope of work of environmental impact assessment of category 3 activities.

• Environmental Management Plan: Measures taken by the person to ensure and sustain environmental compliance. It is submitted as part of the procedures to obtain the environmental permit.

• Strategic Environmental Assessment Study: A study aimed at identifying, estimating, and evaluating the environmental impacts of policies, strategies, plans, and programs for sectors or areas that governmental authorities propose to allocate to a developmental or human sector; to include all environmental considerations, and incorporate them alongside economic and social considerations.

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

• Environmentally Sensitive Areas: Areas with 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 the 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, to restore its natural state of environmental balance, in accordance with the standards set by the competent authority.

• Environmental Emergencies: Any operational incident within any activity or facility resulting in threatening natural habitats or harming the environment.

• Confidentiality Agreement: A document handed by the Center to the activity - upon request - where all confidential information, data, technologies, and property rights are set out.

The provisions of this Executive Regulations shall apply to all persons who own or operate any new or existing activity with a potential environmental impact in the Kingdom, including establishing, operating, adjusting, adding, expanding, and closing the activity.

The Center shall undertake the following tasks:

• (1) Setting technical requirements and controls for the environmental impact assessment studies in coordination with the competent environmental centers.

• (2) Receiving and reviewing the environmental classification forms and the environmental impact assessment studies, and making the relevant decisions.

• (3) Issuing up to date indicative lists of activities types’ classification in accordance with the provisions of this Executive Regulations.

• (4) Specifying and approving the rules, controls, and requirements related to environmental permits and licenses.

• (5) Conducting field visits to the sites subject to permit requests, where needed.

• (6) Monitoring the implementation of environmental management plan throughout all stages of any environmentally permitted activity.

• (7) Requesting and reviewing self-monitoring reports during the establishment and operations phases.

• (8) Issuing and renewing environmental permits and licenses, and collecting the corresponding financial dues.

• (9) Monitoring and supervising the implementation of the requirements for environmental permits and licenses.

• (10) Inspecting, monitoring, and apprehending violations of the law or Executive Regulations; and coordinating when needed with the competent authority at the Ministry of Interior for matters related to security control and violators’ apprehension.

• (11) Coordinating with the other national environmental centers whenever the activity or submitted studies are within the jurisdiction of these centers.

• (12) Coordinating with laboratories as well as scientific and research institutes and experts, where needed, when reviewing environmental impact assessment studies.

• (13) Ensuring that all environmental impact assessment studies, including environmental analysis, tests, and measurements are conducted by a service provider licensed by the Center.

(1) Activities shall be classified in three categories depending on their environmental impact, in accordance with which, the environmental impact assessment study requirement shall be determined.

(2) The Center shall classify or review the classification of activities in the categories specified in this Executive Regulations, depending on their environmental impact as follows:

• a. Activity’s type and size

• b. Energy used

• c. Depletion of natural resources caused by the activity

• d. Land uses

• e. Sensitive receptors in the activity’s surroundings

• f. Characteristics of environmental impact, including: - Impact nature (negative or positive, direct or indirect, cumulative, etc.) - Impact degree - Impact duration - Impact reversibility and possibility of restoration to the normal conditions preceding the impact Impact potential occurrence - Impact level/scale (global – regional – local)

(3) The CEO shall issue up to date indicative lists of activities types’ classification in accordance with the provisions of this Executive Regulations. (4) Activities shall be classified as follows:

First:

• Category 1 Activities Activities expected to produce low environmental impact that does not exceed the perimeter of the activity’s site.

Second:

• Category 2 Activities Activities that are expected to produce moderate environmental impact throughout the different stages of the activity. This impact may be alleviated and controlled, and does not largely exceed the perimeter of the activity’s site.

Third:

• Category 3 Activities Activities that are expected to produce significant environmental, social, and economic impact, which may exceed the perimeter of the activity’s site and adversely affect the sustainability of environmentally sensitive areas and receptors

(1) The permit applicant shall complete the environmental classification form using the template provided in Appendix (1) of this Executive Regulations, and submit it to the Center, enclosed with the documents specified by the Center. The Center may modify the environmental classification form, where needed, and avail it online.

(2) The Center shall review the environmental classification form, after collecting the corresponding financial dues, and make its decision on the environmental classification of the activity within ten (10) working days as of the date of the form, and the decision may include: a. The activity’s category pursuant to Article (4) of this Executive Regulations. b. Request to rectify information or complete missing information; after which the Center shall make its final decision within ten (10) working days as of the date of receipt of all the required information or the amended environmental classification form.

(3) The permit applicant shall be notified of the outcomes of environmental classification form’s review and the Center may extend the issuance period of its decision on classification for a period that shall not exceed ten (10) days if the activity was not previously classified in the Center’s lists.

(4) The permit applicant can request the re-classification of the activity by the Center, in case he provides documented evidence exhibiting adjustments, measures, or improvements made to reduce the environmental impact of the activity.

(1) This article shall apply in the event the Center requests the permit applicant to conduct an environmental impact assessment study for category 2 activities.

(2) The permit applicant must conduct – through a service provider licensed by the Center – an environmental impact assessment study for category 2 activities as per the structure, outline and data requirements delineated in Appendix (2), and the Center may amend the template, as needed, without prejudice to the key elements of the study.

(3) The permit applicant must submit the environmental impact assessment study for category 2 activities to the Center.

(4) The Center shall review the environmental impact assessment study for category 2 activities, after collecting the corresponding financial dues, and issue its decision within thirty (30) working days as of the date of receipt of the assessment. The decision may include:

• a. Approval of environmental impact assessment study for category 2 activities.

• b. Request to rectify information or complete missing information; after which the Center shall issue its final decision within thirty (30) working days as of the date of receipt of all the required information or the amended study.

• c. Request to develop the environmental impact assessment study for category 3 activities, as deemed necessary by the Center, taking into consideration the time consumed for the review of environmental impact assessment study for category 2 activities and the difference in financial dues.

(5) In the event the Center approves the environmental impact assessment study and issues the environmental permit to establish activities, the permit applicant shall implement the study’s outcomes and recommendations.

(1) This article shall apply in the event the Center requests the permit applicant to conduct the environmental impact assessment study for category 3 activities.

(2) The environmental impact assessment study for category 3 activities shall include:

• a. Scoping Report of the Environmental Impact Assessment Study.

• b. Environmental Impact Assessment Study for Category 3 Activities.

First: Scoping Report of the Environmental Impact Assessment Study

• (1) The permit applicant must develop – through a service provider licensed by the Center – a scoping report of environmental impact assessment study as per the structure, outline and data requirements delineated in Appendix (3) and submit it to the Center. The Center may amend the template, as needed, without prejudice to the key elements of the study scope.

• (2) The Center shall review the scoping report of the environmental impact assessment study, after collecting the corresponding financial dues, and grant its approval, provided it does not have any comments, or otherwise provide the permit applicant with comments within fifteen (15) working days as of the date of receipt of the study.

• (3) The Center may notify the permit applicant of the extension of the final deadline for reviewing the scoping report of environmental impact assessment study by a period not exceeding ten (10) additional working days. In the event the Center does not communicate its approval or comments during the extension period, the permit applicant must consider the scoping report of environmental impact assessment study as approved and must comply with it when conducting the environmental impact assessment study for category 3 activities.

Second: Environmental Impact Assessment Study for Category 3 Activities

• (1) The permit applicant must conduct – through a service provider licensed by the Center – an environmental impact assessment study for category 3 activities as per the structure, outline and data requirements delineated in Appendix (4) and taking into consideration the Center’s comments on the environmental impact assessment study’s scoping report and must submit it to the Center. The Center may amend the template, as needed, without prejudice to the key elements of the study.

• (2) The Center shall review the environmental impact assessment study for category 3 activities, after collecting the corresponding financial dues, and make its decision within sixty (60) working days as of the date of receipt of environmental impact assessment study for category 3 activities, and the decision may include:

  • a. Approval of the environmental impact assessment study for category 3 activities.

  • b. Request to rectify information or complete missing information; and the Center shall issue its final decision within sixty (60) working days as of the date of the modified study.

• (3) In the event the Center approves the environmental impact assessment study for category 3 activities and issues the environmental permit to establish category 3 activities, the permit applicant must implement the study outcomes and recommendations.

(1) The permit applicant may object in writing the Center’s decisions on environmental permits and to submit objections to the Center within fifteen (15) working days as of the date of notification. Objections received after the specified period will not be accepted.

(2) The Center shall decide on these objections within thirty (30) working days as of the objection receipt date.