Environment Regulation in Saudi Arabia - Research Paper Example

Environment Regulation in Saudi Arabia The current system of enacting environmental regulations and the decision making process has taken time for it to attain its current status. The system may seem perfect, but there are still many areas such as coordination of environmental legislation and activities that need restructuring. There are three crucial that drive environmental policies in Saudi Arabia. a) Implementation and enforcement of the regulations. The state needs to design a national environmental inventory that will cover basic information necessary for assessment of the local conditions, policies, and processes of decision-making. Additionally, the government should also establish programing levels for the regulations. b) Availability of environmental data from local research findings It also needs significant changes to its attitude towards environmental research. It must increase its funding and support to academic institutions substantially. As it is currently, there is fragmentation of research activities carried by state bodies as there is insufficient staff and resources. c) Public concern and participation The capacity of the public in coming up with worth environmental policies is constrained. In some instances, however, continuous pressure on the government can bear fruits and further research done to solve the mysteries. The public should not give up regardless of the number of times they address the concerns and complaints before being changed to policy initiatives. MEPA’s attitude, for example, towards the distribution of authority particularly at the implementation level needs some amendments. The authority factor has for long been the most difficult thing to bypass when coming up with laws and policies proposals. The body meant to replace MEPA, The Royal Commission for Environmental Protection should have its powers reduced from the sole authority to an advisory and supervisory role in implementation. Legal Practices and Their Impact to the Environment After a comprehensive analysis of the public and private institutions in Saudi Arabia, it is apparent that knowhow of the legal framework is lower than what one expects. It is surprising that the institutions are involved in the application and compliance processes of environmental regulations. The interaction between the regulations and legal instruments is one thing that is only understood by few officers in the institutions. The common administration of the rules is nothing more than basing them on the local practices depending on the employer. It is also based on thinking levels of the subjects rather than what the laws and guidelines state. Monitoring environmental rules Both the AMANAs and PME have the legal authority to enforce and monitor rules and legislation, both of which are under the jurisdiction. The reality, however, is that none of the several bodies that oversee enforcement of environmental rules have come up with credible monitoring systems. Enforcement of rules remains pivotal and is basically done during the application stage of the permit. In some other rare cases, it is also done when stakeholders raise their concerns. It is, however, evident that there no statistics available to describe the degree of non-compliance by individuals. The responsible bodies have slept on their duties as they have not developed any enforcement and monitoring strategies. Case laws and Standards In the past years, there have been few legal cases regarding environmental issues in KSA, yet none of them have been published or well-known. The kingdom lacks systematic dissemination and registration of cases as the law prohibits public dissemination and publication of cases. The public sector, including the government, NGOs, academic institutions, appear to have a deficit in knowledge and instruments necessary to facilitate uniform application and interpretation of laws. Due to the limits on the access of administrative practice and cases, the results are diminished roles of administrative decisions in conflict resolution of environmental problems. All the environmental practices and laws in KSA should follow the strict requirements before enforcement. If they are suitable for the criteria, the government can then enforce environmental regulations with ease. Interpretation and application of local rules The staff at the agencies that enforce local environmental rules and lacks guidelines and the knowledge needed for making sound judgements and decisions. Most of the times are when they interpret the laws and rules in arbitrary ways. They cannot explain the basis of the decisions they make, but can attempt to explain in ordinary terms. The decisions lack sound guidelines, but the officers can try to manipulate the public in believing that they have very strict measures when making decisions. Since their actions and decisions lack guidelines and knowledge, they at times contradict with the requirements of the formal laws. The degree to which the officers representing these agencies try to make informed and knowledge-based decisions at times depends on the level and status of the party concerned. Although the staffs of these enforcement agencies harden the conditions for requesters of various activities, they eventually give in to the request if the party concerned demonstrates compliance with the necessary laws. Any attempt by the party to show its fulfilment with the requirements guarantees them a go-ahead from the officers. Although the knowledge of the underlying rules is considerably low with the enforcement officers, the situation is better than other states where there is a public perception of lawlessness. Stakeholders, however, find the interactions and relationships of public officers and bodies that administer environmental regulations as one based on sophisticated systems of strict rules. Although it is without the public knowledge, the rules are usually locally made and in the absence of the appropriate guidelines. In some cases, however, there are direct and open contradictions to what the formal laws state. It, therefore, appears that respect to environmental laws and authorities depends on the position of the parties involved and not what the law authorises. As a result, application of laws can be arbitral. An extra level or stage of approval can be added to an environmental process that is already defined by the law. Officials, therefore, appear to give preference to practices of the entities involved and not to the stated rules. Enforcing Environmental Regulations As detailed in the previous sections, there is a growing need for improving and upgrading environmental legislation in KSA. Although its current legal system incorporates enforcement management, a thorough analysis by legal experts has shown a deficit of the enforcement in practice. With all that said, Saudi Arabia’s legislative framework has an enforcement strategy in place. The enforcement strategy is, however, unsuccessful when evaluated in terms of implementation of environmental policies. Its failure results from the incompetence of its regulated authorities. As a matter of fact, the current enforcement contradicts itself since none of its authorities has a good grasp of their responsibilities of enforcing environmental regulations. Committee of Performance Evaluation The lack of uniform and centralized efforts regarding enforcement management and legislation has led to gaps in responsibilities and insufficient performance. The proposed committee will fill the gaps by coordinating and centralizing efforts. Its activities will directly relate all duties that involve enforcement management, as well as, conduct regular outreach programs and function independently. The committee’s personnel will have the capacity to ensure enforcement and compliance of various environmental legal frameworks. Some of the personnel to constitute the committee should be environmental specialists, economist, lawyers and engineers with technical insight. The suggested personnel have the knowledge of conducting rigorous inspections. When selecting the members of the proposed committee, it would be appropriate if all institutions that relate to environmental issues are engaged. The operating rules and regulations should be made public for the all the regulated parties to know what is expected of them. Making them public would with equip them with knowhow of the responsibilities of the committee. Its strategy of rules regarding cooperation and coordination at the local, regional, and national level should be formulated with a unifying management act that is acceptable with the enforcement committee. For appropriate enforcement and establishment of the best practices in Saudi Arabia, the state should consider setting up a Committee of Performance Evaluation. The committee should be actively involved in INECE. As a way of improving and clarifying duties within the enforcement management, a legal analysis recommends the establishment of the committee. The committee will be involved in the evaluation of regulations as its main objective. All ministries with the mandate of managing environmental issues should have representatives who report to the committee of Performance evaluation. Roles and Duties The lack of a cohesive jurisdiction and the overlapping of responsibilities results to unsuccessful ministerial enforcement. Ministries are short of clear guidelines and their shared ideas of responsibilities ought to be replaced with comprehensive mandates and their specific responsibilities and rules on enforcement. With PME having been branded as the competent agency within the environmental agency, it has a primary role of ensuring of enforcing environmental legislation at the national level. At the state level, ministries such as Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Ministry of Economy and Planning oversee the management of environmental entities and should enforce environmental legislation. It is, however, evident that one practical problem that relates enforcement of legislation is overlapping of multiple jurisdictions. In addition, the ministries lack proper guidance on the management of inter-agency coordination of inter-related activities and how to divide responsibilities. Procedures for Enforcing Environmental Rules The absence of instructions and procedures required for the execution of environmental presents a challenge to the state. The problem intensifies further through the lack guidance on how to enforce compliance in Saudi Arabia. The results of the shortcomings are case oriented and random enforcement kind of management. The state, therefore, should develop administrative procedures that are uniform for compliance, monitoring, and enforcement of the environmental regulations. When the procedures are put in place, all departments will comply with them and make their legal and administrative obligations transparent. Impacts of the Current Enforcement Strategies Some of the impacts for lack of appropriate enforcement procedures are such as a) Environmental regulations are not evaluated based on the standards of goal achievement b) There are no assessments done to reveal the potential areas that need improvement. c) There is the assumption that legislation is infective and insufficient Addressing the above stated impacts of the absence of enforcement management is of equal weight to enacting proactive environmental laws. According to the previous sections, enforcement of the environmental regulations in Saudi Arabia is in crisis and be said to be in non-existence. Enforcement in the kingdom plays a negligible role in managing environmental legislation, but it ought to increase to ensure appropriate compliance. Additionally, enforcement management strategies should be improved to a maximum level. Although compliance in Saudi Arabia is attained through repeat actions by PME, the ministries with the mandate to control environmental issues do not enforce them effectively. Some of the evidence that shows the aim of compliance is as follows: a) Credible and continuous monitoring of environmental issues in all provinces b) Designing of rules that will minimize disruption of business activities as much as possible c) Establish clear and simple rules d) Come up with rules that are self-enforcing. The rules would require all stakeholders to use certified equipment and self-monitoring e) Make use of outreach programs to create awareness and incorporate the public as one of the monitors f) To publicly disclose the status of the current environmental progress and management, and actions that will be successful. If one was to compare the General Environmental Law with some of the best environmental compliance and legislation, it would be easy to note that the general law lacks initiatives for maximum compliance and enforcement. Giving more powers to the general law and mechanisms for enforcement together with compliance would give a productive enforcement. Facilitators of Best Practice Best practice facilitators should consist of a list of relevant and important factors to be put into consideration when designing effective environmental rules. The rules should ensure compliance and quality while practicing some standards in comparison to the international environmental legislation and best practices. Apart from being important factors for consideration when designing effective environmental rules, they can also be used as a checklist for the authority when evaluating and testing the monitoring and compliance to regulations. Furthermore, the checklist should also be included as item of authority during audits. During the audits, ministers perform self-monitoring of their management and operations. As a result, there will be a continuity of quality enforcement and best practices. When the checklist is used as described above, it can function as a enforcement tool applicable to the regulated authorities who have duties in environmental enforcement. The checklist can also be used as tool in all areas of enforcement as it gives the authority concepts of making uniform enforcement procedures. Finally, the facilitators can also be useful when gauging the effectiveness of legislation at the national level against what is recommended by the international standards. The facilitators and, in particular five of them, are very important and their roles are as described in the table below The essential components of an Environmental Law Strategy for Enforcement Management For full implementation and realization of the above-mentioned initiatives, the PME should develop enforcement strategies that outline both long and short-term actions and activities. This should be done in collaboration with other ministries such as AMARAs and AMANAs that have ministries that have responsibilities over environmental issues. Overall Contents of Enforcement Strategy The strategy should give preference to the following initiatives: a) Facilitators of Best Practice which should have the five key components. b) Legal administrative practice and procedures applicable to all authorities and jurisdictions involved in environmental regulations c) A legal basis for the enforcement and compliance excellence structures d) Replacement of the current approaches with pro-active ones for enforcement management e) Monitoring, documenting and recordkeeping of legal environment cases f) Make the environmental strategies, regulations, and policies accessible to the public ISO standards ISO, the International Standards Organization, is located in Geneva, Switzerland. It has 160 members comprising of national institutions from various countries. The countries are from all the world regardless of whether they are developed, industrialized, or in transition. The standards provide specifications for goods, services, and all products in an attempt to make the industry effective and efficient. It was developed through a global consensus as a way of neutralizing any obstacles that can be a hindrance to international trade. In the standards, ISO 14000 represents a series of standards that concerns the environmental field. Under the 14000 series are the 14001 EMS standards that involve environmental auditing, labelling, performance evaluation, and life-cycle assessment. The ISO 14000 standards and ISO 14001:2004 They reflect international consensus on efficient business and environmental practices that are applicable in all organizations of the world. They address various environmental aspects as a way of providing practical tools for organizations and companies keen on conserving the environment. They also support companies in controlling and implementing their activities for sustainable development. It is a worldwide recognized framework that gives attention to environmental management systems. Other standards within this level focus on aspects such as communication, auditing, and life cycle analysis. It also sets the criteria under which environmental management systems can be certified. They are applicable to any firm or organization regardless of their activities and sector. They help organizations manage the effects of their activities on the environment and demonstrate friendly environment management and actions. The benefits of ISO 14001:2004 are such as low consumption of materials and energy, low distribution costs, effective waste management, enhanced corporate image among customers, regulators, and the public. Making use of ISO 14001 EMS encourages companies to continuously improve their environmental performance. The system resembles a repeating cycle of events. First, the company engages an environmental policy, uses it to establish a plan, and then sets objectives that will help it improve environmental performance. Implementation then follows after which a company evaluates its performance in relation to the environment and gauges whether it has met its aims. If the company does not meet its goals, it takes corrective actions. The results of the evaluation undergo review by the top management to determine whether EMS is effective. If it fails, the management revisits the policy and sets new goals in a revised plan and format. The company then implements the revision and evaluates the goals. It repeats the cycle continuously until they record improvement. Taking the example of Saudi Aramco EMS, its Environmental Protection Department has introduced an EMS for operating its systems and facilities. It is on the forefront of meeting the goals of ISO 14001. Saudi Aramco’s EMS aims at fostering continuous environmental enhancement and facilitate the transfer of its operating systems to environmental performance from environmental compliance. The EMS provides grounds and systematic programs to facilitate its aim of achieving superior environmental performance. It also aims at substantially enhancing its abilities to identify, anticipate, and manage interactions with the environment through reduction, avoidance, and control of adverse environmental impacts. Accomplishment of the EMS model is only possible through practice of planning, checking, acting, and enforcing. Environmental Management Systems As stated above, EMS helps companies achieve their environmental goals by consistently controlling their operations. One assumption is held in place that enhanced control has the capacity to the environmental performance of a company. EMMS, however, does not dictate the performance to be achieved, but each company sticks to its objectives. Some of the primary elements of EMS are: i. Reviewing environmental goals of a company ii. Analysing legal requirements and environmental impacts iii. Setting objectives to reduce environmental impacts iv. Establishing relevant programs that will facilitate attainment of the goals v. Monitoring progress towards the objectives vi. Promoting environmental competence and awareness among employees vii. Reviewing progress and making improvements of the EMS A model referred to as Stages of Environmental Awareness is common among the non-governmental organizations in the international environment context. The model was presented during a consultative convention of Earth Charter by Earth Council in Costa Rica in 1999. Based on the terms of the model, the environmental legal procedures should address the following issues if they are to be effective: i. Sustain and nurture scientific research for the identification of problems in stage one ii. Provide scientific analysis and strategic measures in promoting education and awareness to solve problems in stage two. iii. Integrate scientific knowledge into decisions the society requires in addressing problems in stage three iv. Institutionalize the agreed solutions and on the means of periodically assessing their effectiveness. It prevents resurgence of problems back into the society. g) Applying Practices Endorsed by INECE The International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (INECE) consists of more than 3000 organizations both governmental and non-governmental. It also has compliance practitioners in over 150 countries. INECE aims at raising awareness on enforcement and compliance in addition to developing networks for cooperation and enforcement. INECE also promotes the use of both regulatory and non-regulatory concepts to increase compliance with the environment regulations and laws. The regulations promote protection of the ecosystem’s integrity and sustainable use of resources at the national, regional, and global levels. The book, Principles of environmental compliance directory was published by INECE in 2009 and provides guidance on various issues. The issues are such as setting priorities, designing of effective requirements, monitoring compliance, measuring program performance, and carrying out enforcement response. The book also presents some principles vital to environmental compliance as a five-step cycle. The cycle encompasses goals and strategies, shared responsibilities, good governance using the rule of law, evaluation and improvement, and structure and resources. The book also gives preference to the concepts behind successful compliance and enforcement strategies. The overview examines types of compliance and enforcement programs and their theories. It also details the elements of the management cycle and its benefits. It describes twelve principles that are essential for effective compliance and enforcement. The principles are further grouped into five groups namely: i. Vision, goals, and strategies ii. Rule of the law and governance iii. Commitment to the environment iv. Improvement and continuous evaluation v. Responsibility, structure, and resources It also gives an overview of typical compliance incentive programs. It sums up by discussing three overlapping management concepts: market-based, voluntary and mandatory. The concepts are the framework to most of the environmental programs. Overall goals The short-term objectives of enforcement strategy are to ensure initiatives and activities are implemented in a way that strengthens the current management in Saudi Arabia. One aspect in this regard is the establishment of the Enforcement Excellent Committee that will provide substantial strengthening and improvement of management of environmental resources. The committee will oversee enforcement and development of uniform administrative procedures that will provide monitoring guidelines. In simple terms, the committee will be provided with the necessary tools to bring changes to the management and incorporate effective practices in Saudi Arabia in the shortest time possible. Developments from the Enforcement Strategy This sub-topic presents of how or the means of developing the enforcement strategy. The figure below shows the phases of the development cycle with detailed explanations below it. Each phase represents one of the mentioned initiatives that have already been addressed as the main components of the enforcement strategy. Awareness and planning Because the flaws of the current enforcement management have already been ascertained, the awareness stage has been offset through setting of objectives and strategic planning. The main goal of ensuring a working enforcement management has reinforced by its actions. Implementation A successful implementation of the strategy, its objectives, and actions require a strict emphasis on the requirements. The means to get the requirements depends on the compliance indicators and is as detailed in the textbook after the requirements section. Behavioural Change Upon successful implementation of the enforcement strategy, significant changes on the behaviours are noted. Both the government and citizens experience a change after the implementation. People, for example, get a clear understanding of what entails enforcement and compliance. Effects The strategy provides authorities with the essential performance indicators necessary for carrying out monitoring activities and enhances effective compliance. Responsible Authority PME will soon be appointed with the mandate to delegate the roles to the authority responsible for enforcing environmental strategies. When appointed, it will have the responsibilities of keeping the compliance strategies with the best practices. As a result, one of its long-term objectives will be to manage the compliance actions. Additionally, it will continuously ensure the strategy remains parallel with other policy changes, legislative amendments, and enforcement initiatives. It will be necessary to develop evaluations that will be carried out every five years to ensure quality assurance of the strategy. By evaluating the strategy regularly, PME will have grounds upon which they can initiate improvements and amendments. Although PME is has powers over the enforcement strategy, it will neither realize nor fulfil its objectives without cooperation from the other ministries inter-relate with it. Other stakeholders with powers on environmental management and the committee on excellence should also be taken into consideration. Their cooperation is crucial as it will contribute towards the realization of the goals. Although PME is the primary enforcing authority, this does not put limits on other parties from making positive developments. Read More