Establishment Law of EPA
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The law No. 21 For The Year 1995
For Establishing The Public Authority of Environment
Upon reviewing the following :
- The Constitution,
- Penalty law issued by law No. 16 for the year 1960 and its amendments,
- Penalty Procedures law issued by law No. 17 for the year 1960 and its amendments,
- Law No. 12 for the year 1964 for banning pollution of navigation water with oil and its amendments,
- Law No. 19/ 1973 as to maintaining sources of oil wealth,
- Law No. 131 / 1977 for organizing the use of ionized rays ad protection from its hazards,
- The resolution No. 15 /1979 as to Civil Service and its amendments,
- The resolution No. 38 /1980 as to issuing the law of civil and commercial pleadings and its amendments,
- The resolution No. 62 /1980 as to protecting the environment,
- The resolution in 16th of March 1970 as to establishing a general administration for Shuaiba region,
- The resolution on the 7th of January1979 as to the Ministry of Health,
The People’s Assembly agreed on the following law that we have approved and issued :
Article (1)
The following terms shall mean the accompanying explanations herein :
1- The “ Environment” : The Public Authority for the Environment”.
2- “ The Higher Council”. The Higher Council for the Environment”.
3- “ The Board Council” : Means the board council of the PAE.
4- “ The President”: means the first deputy of the Prime Minister.
5- “ The General Manager” : means the general manager of the environment.
6- “ The Environment” : means the biological context including all living organisms encompassing human beings, animals and plans and all their surroundings such as air, water, soil as well as other solid or liquid or gas substances or any natural rays as well as the static or movable enterprises made by man.
7- Materials and polluting factors : They are any liquid, or solid or smoke or any microorganisms like bacteria, viruses or smells, or noise or rays or heat or lighting or shakings that result from man’s actions that might lead either directly or indirectly to polluting the environment or that might lead to violating the balance of the environment.
8- “ Environment Pollution” : It means that the environment has any of the polluting elements for a certain period that might lead either directly or indirectly to harming the public health or any activities that might lead to diminishing the natural environmental system or hinder an obstacle against enjoying life and benefiting from the private and public properties.
9-“ Environment Protection” : These are groups of sustainable rules and procedures that tend to prevent pollution or minimize its severity or maintain the environment, its natural resources, biodiversity and rehabilitation of the areas that have been deteriorated due to the harmful practices. This is also concerned with establishing land and marine reserves and determining some isolated areas around the sources of pollution to prevent any destructive behaviors against the environment and to encourage patterns of positive behavior.
10- “Sustainable Development” : This is the development that meets the needs of the current generation without breaching the inputs of the environment for the coming generations.
11- “The Environmental output” : This is the process of discovering passive environmental output for the significant and insignificant development plans whether current or future, local, regional and international in order to treat or avoid those harmful effects in order to protect the environment as well as the development projects.
Article (2)
A public authority shall be established that cares for the environment affairs to be called “ The Public Authority for Environment” and it shall be subject to the Cabinet.
Article (3)
The Public Authority of Environment shall undertake the works and tasks that ensure protecting the environment and especially :
1- Setting and applying the general policies for protecting the environment and setting strategies and work plan in order to achieve sustainable development including all the scientific, environmental and health standards that are suitable for man’s life and also industrial and construction expansion as well as the use of natural resources in a way that ensures maintaining the health of the labor force as well as the safety of all facilities, work environment and maintaining environmental balance in general.
2- Preparing and supervising the implementation of an integrated work plan that includes all what is related to protecting the environment in the short and long run in coordination with the concerned authorities in the state in view of the environmental policies.
3- Monitoring the activities, procedures and practices that tend to protect the environment, following it up and assessing it.
4- Defining pollutants and determining the environmental standards and preparing draft laws, systems and provisions that tend to protect the environment and setting the necessary controls for curbing or minimizing environment pollution in coordination with the concerned authorities in the state.
5- Preparing and participating in guiding and supporting researches, environmental studies and assessing its results.
6- Determining the problems resulting from environment pollution with the assistance of the concerned authorities in the State to study such problems and suggest suitable solutions for applying them.
7- Studying regional and international agreements that are concerned with the environmental affairs in order to give an opinion in coordination with the concerned authorities.
8- Following-up developments in the international law in the field of environment protection.
9- Coordinating the relations of the State with the international and regional organizations that are concerned with environment affairs.
10- Setting the general framework for the program of environmental awareness in order to raise the awareness of people and urging them to participate in protecting their environment.
11- Undertaking environmental monitoring and measuring.
12- Setting a comprehensive plan for facing environmental disasters and taking the necessary measures for facing them at the time of wars and peace in coordination with the concerned authorities.
13- Setting an integrated work plan for training local personnel on the methods and approaches of protecting the environment in cooperation with the concerned authorities.
14- Supporting environmental services in the community in coordination and cooperation with the concerned authorities.
15- Giving opinion in the environmental output for the basic development projects prior to approving their implementation.
16- Studying environmental reports that are provided to it about the environmental conditions in the state in order to take the necessary procedures to put an annual report on the environmental condition in Kuwait.
Article (4)
The authority shall have a higher council that is specialized in setting objectives and public policies for the authority. This council which is headed by the Prime Minister or its delegates shall include :
1- Ministry of Health.
2- Ministry of Public Works.
3- Ministry of Planning.
4- Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
5- Ministry of Higher Education.
6- Ministry of Oil.
7- Ministry of Electricity and Water.
8- Kuwait Municipality
9- The Public Authority for Agriculture and Fish wealth.
The general manager shall be the arbitrator of the council.
The Higher Council may include in its membership three persons who have efficiency and experience in the field of environment protection. A resolution shall be issued to appoint them for four renewable years. The same resolution determines their remuneration. The Council issues an internal regulations organizing the work procedures and how it issues its decrees. The Higher Council holds at least two meetings in each year.
Article (5)
The authority shall have a general manager that is appointed by a decree from the competent persons who have experience in the field of the environment for four renewable years and he shall be responsible for implementing the decrees of the authority and his competencies shall be determined by the internal regulations of the authority. The general manager represents the authority in front of court and its relations to third parties and he may have a deputy or more.
Article (6)
The Higher Council issues a decree of forming a board that encompasses eight members from those who have experience and competency in the field of environment and they are chosen from outside the environment for four renewable years. The general manager shall he the president of the authority and the board sets its internal regulations. The regulations shall include :
1- Determining the competencies of general managers and his deputies.
2- Organizing the works of the board and how it issues its decrees.
3- Setting remunerations for the members of the board, general manager’s deputies and the remunerations of the members of the committees, team works, experts and consultants.
Article (7)
The board shall be concerned with implementing the public policy of the authority and taking the necessary steps in order to achieve the purposes undertaken by the authority :
1- Issuing decrees and regulations that are related to administrative and financial affairs of the authority.
2- Issuing the regulations that are related to appointing employees and determining their salaries, remunerations, promotions as well as the remaining employment affairs without breach to the provisions of articles 38.5 from the law of Civil Service.
3- Setting a table of the fees and wages that are collected by the authority in consideration of the provided services.
4- Issuing a regulation of settlement in violations related to that law or the regulations or decrees implementing it.
5- Considering periodical reports that are provided to it about the smooth work of the environment.
6- Considering all the matters related to the competency of the environment.
The Council has to depend on experts and technicians in order to give their opinions without having the right to vote on the decrees.
Article (8)
The board sets the systems and provisions that should be available when determining the site or establishing or using or eliminating any enterprise or the production of materials or undertaking operations or any other activity that might lead to polluting the environment.
In case of violating this, the authority shall have the right to require stopping the implementation of the project and withdrawing the licenses of works or enterprises or the violating activities. The concerned authorities shall respond to that request.
Article (9)
The application of this law shall not breach the provisions of law No. (12)/1964 and law No (19) /1973 and law No. 131 /1977 and it shall not also breach the provisions included in another law organizing the protection of the environment.
The authorities shall also issue some regulations, systems and provisions related to protecting the environment.
Article (10)
The board shall have the right to stop the work in the enterprise or any other activity or ban the use of any instrument either partly or completely if this work results in polluting the environment. This position shall take a period that doesn’t exceed one week that may be extended to another one.
The competent administrative authorities and those concerned shall be committed to implementing the freeze decree and the authority shall have the right to ask taking some precautions that should be adopted during the freeze period.
If the authority sees that the condition requires extending the decree of freezing beyond the period set forth in the first paragraph of this article, it shall have the right to ask the head of the court to issue a decree of extending it for another period and an appeal could be filed against that decree at the court of first instance.
The board could also authorize the general manager to issue the freezing decree in case of emergency and for a period that doesn’t exceed seven days.
Article (11)
The general manager authorizes the necessary employees, either from the authority or outside to undertake the works of inspection that are required for implementing this law or the regulations or decrees implementing it.
Those employees shall act as a judiciary officer in order have access to the areas in which such violations take place and to take the samples, measures and studies that are necessary for determining environment pollution in order to ensure the implementation of the systems and provisions that are necessary for protecting the environment. They could also depend on police men if necessity arises.
Article (12)
The board could ask for information or documents that it deems as necessary from any public or private authorities which practice any activity that might lead to polluting the environment. The authority could also establish centers of inspection and monitoring subject to the requirements of protecting the environment or to cooperate with the concerned authorities in this regard. The authority shall also have the right to establish labs or competent monitoring labs that are concerned with the final opinion in the results related to environment pollution.
Article (13)
Without breach to any other severer penalty stated by another law, a person may be punished with imprisonment for a period that doesn’t exceed three years or a fine that doesn’t exceed ten thousand KD or one of those penalties if he violates the provisions and items set forth in article eight or violates the freeze decree stated in article ten of this law and the court may issue an order of confiscating the things that caused pollution for the environment or harming it while committing this entity that causes pollution or damage to bear all the costs that are necessary for treating the damages that might inflict the environment and which could be a direct consequence of the violation and it shall also be committed to eliminate pollution on its cost or close the areas where work could be a source of pollution for a period that doesn’t exceed three months. If this action is repeated, the court may issue an order of cancelling licensing.
A person may be punished with one year imprisonment and a fine that doesn’t exceed one thousand dinars or one of those penalties if he prevents any of the competent employees from doing their duties that are set forth in this law.
A person may be punished with six months imprisonment and a fine that doesn’t exceed five hundred KD or one of those penalties if he violates the provisions of article 12 of this law or the regulations and decrees.
Article (14)
The general manager or his deputy shall accept settlement in the violations that are set forth in this law and the regulations implementing it. Any person or entity that violates and has a desire settlement shall pay within a week from the day of asking settlement. The penalty claim shall be valid if the entity or person that violates repeats violation subject to the provisions of this law or the regulations and decrees implementing it.
Article (15)
The authority shall have a balance that is attached to the balance of the state that is prepared by the general manager and approved by the board. The financial year starts from the first of July of each year and ends at the end of June from the next year. The exception to this is that the first financial year of the authority starts from the date of work subject to this law and ends at the end of June of the following year.
The general manager sets the final account project of the authority in preparation for presenting it to the board to be approved.
Article (16)
The resources of the authority are formed from all what is dedicated in the state’s budget on annual basis as well as all the wages in consideration of the provided services, gifts and recommendations that are approved by the board.
Article (17)
The general manager issues the regulations, decrees and systems that are required for implementing this law and until they are issued, the current applicable laws shall apply in a way that doesn’t contradict the provisions of this law.
Article (18)
The provisions of this law shall be applicable on all the competent public and private authorities.
Article (19)
The council for Protecting the Environment shall be cancelled and the authority shall have all the rights and liabilities of the council. Environment protection department shall be subject to the authority as well as Environment Protection Department from rays as well as Environment Protection Center which is subject to the Public Authority of Shuaiba region. The employees of those entities shall be transferred to the authority with the same salaries.
Article (20)
Any text that contradicts the provisions of this law shall be cancelled and the law No. 62 shall also be cancelled.
Article (21)
All ministers shall implement this law which shall be applicable after the passage of three months from the date of publishing it in the formal journal.
Price of Kuwait
Jaber Al Ahmed Al Sabah.
Issued in Bayan Palance 29 Moharam 1416 H
Corresponding to 27 June 1995.