NCEC inspected my site. What happens next?

NCEC carries out five types of environmental inspection. They are periodic inspections under the annual plan, emergency inspections, inspections to validate reports and data, inspections after complaints or notifications, and joint inspections with other authorities.^{1Audit reg. (1446H) Art. 4, First (1) to (5)}

During an inspection, inspectors may:^{2Audit reg. (1446H) Art. 4, Second (1)}

Everyone must cooperate with inspectors and provide registers and related data.^{9Audit reg. (1446H) Art. 4, Second (3)}

The model permit conditions in the NCEC permit guide also require you to let NCEC staff enter the project site at any time and provide the information they ask for.^{10Permit guide, Appendix 2, item 3}

For critical vital installations with restricted access, NCEC coordinates the inspection with the supervising authority in advance. It shares the purpose, the inspectors' names, the date and time and the data needed.^{11Audit reg. (1446H) Art. 4, Fourth (1) and (2)}

A confidentiality disclaimer is a document NCEC gives an activity on request, setting out its confidential information, data, technologies and property rights.^{12Audit reg. (1446H) Art. 1}

Inspectors document the outcome of the preliminary inspection and give your representative a copy of the report so that you can correct any violations found.^{13Audit reg. (1446H) Art. 4, Second (2)}

If a violation is recorded, the violator signs the violation report. A refusal to sign is noted in the report and the procedure continues anyway.^{14Violations reg. (1446H) Art. 3(4)}

The competent authority, which is NCEC for matters in its remit, imposes fines of up to 100,000 riyals. Violation reports with fines above 100,000 riyals go to the Committee.^{15Violations reg. (1446H) Art. 4, First (3) and Art. 3(5)}

If a violation needs urgent action to avert an environmental disaster, the Minister or the chairman of the board of the competent authority, or a delegate, may suspend the activity wholly or partly for up to 15 days as a preventive measure. This is done in coordination with the supervising entity.^{16Env Law Art. 44}

The violation must then be referred to the competent court or the Committee within 5 days of the suspension. The court or the Committee decides within 10 days of the referral whether the suspension continues.^{16Env Law Art. 44}

You must carry out the immediate corrective measures NCEC sets. For measures that cannot be done immediately for technical reasons, operational procedures or capital expense, you must submit an action plan within 30 days of the date the inspection results are published.^{17Audit reg. (1446H) Art. 4, Third (1)}

The action plan must include:^{17Audit reg. (1446H) Art. 4, Third (1)}

NCEC either approves the plan or proposes amendments, and then follows up its implementation.^{22Audit reg. (1446H) Art. 4, Third (2) and (3)}

The regulation sets the 30-day plan deadline in days, not working days, while the 15-day NCEC review period is in working days.^{23Audit reg. (1446H) Art. 4, Third (1) and (2)}

Self-inspection is the activity's own internal inspection to confirm compliance with the law, the regulations and environmental requirements. NCEC reviews self-inspection reports and checks how effective your self-inspection programme is.^{24Audit reg. (1446H) Art. 3(4)}

NCEC also follows up whether you implement your self-inspection reports, audit studies and corrective action plans.^{25Audit reg. (1446H) Art. 3(7)}

The model operating permit conditions in the NCEC permit guide add these duties:^{26Permit guide, Appendix 2}

Missing measurement data from environmental monitoring devices, or not keeping it in the environmental registers, carries a fine of 20,000 riyals. The table marks this violation as one where the warning principle applies, not as serious.^{31Audit reg. (1446H) Art. 8, Table 1, row 12}

You can object to a fine imposed by the competent authority. The objection follows the rules and procedures for the work of the committees that review Environmental Law violations. The 1446H regulation sets no period of its own.^{32Violations reg. (1446H) Art. 6}

The 1446H regulation no longer says what happens if the Committee does not reply, so check the Committee rules.^{32Violations reg. (1446H) Art. 6}

Committee decisions can be challenged before the administrative court.^{33Env Law Art. 39(4)}

Objections to NCEC decisions on environmental permits follow a different route. They go to NCEC in writing within 15 working days of notification, and NCEC decides within 30 working days.^{34Permits reg. Art. 10(1) and (2)}

The Audit regulation does not set out a separate objection procedure for NCEC decisions on a corrective action plan.^{35Audit reg. (1446H) Art. 4, Third}

Violations of the Audit regulation are recorded and penalised under its Table 1 and the Violations regulation.^{36Audit reg. (1446H) Art. 8(1)}

The fine for a serious violation is set by the degree of damage, the natural importance and area of the damaged site, the type of receptors affected and the economic and social effects of the damage.^{37Audit reg. (1446H) Art. 8(2)}

Paying the fine does not close the matter. The violator must also correct the violation, repair the damage it caused and pay compensation.^{38Audit reg. (1446H) Art. 8(3)}

The competent authority may give the violator an opportunity or a grace period to correct the violation before the penalty is applied, where the violator disclosed the violation voluntarily or reported it itself. This is at the authority's discretion, under controls it sets that the Minister or the chairman of the board approves, as the case may be.^{39Audit reg. (1446H) Art. 8(4)}

Compensation collected from violators is deposited in the Environment Fund.^{40Violations reg. (1446H) Art. 5(7)}

These are the most common ways an inspection turns into a penalty:

A short checklist for the days after an inspection: