Regulations No.

(37) of 2005

Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations

Issued by Virtue of Sub-paragraphs 9 and 11 of Paragraph A of Article 23 of the
Environmental Protection Law No. (1) of 2003

Article 1
These Regulations shall be cited as the Environment Impact Assessment Regulations
of 2005, and shall be effective as of the date of their publication in the Official
Gazette.

Article 2
A. The following terms and expressions wherever appearing herein, shall have the
meanings assigned to them hereunder unless the context provides otherwise:

The Ministry: The Ministry of the Environment.

The Minister: The Minister of the Environment.

Secretary General: The Secretary General of the Ministry.

Technical Committee: The committee formed by virtue of the provisions hereof

and specialized in studying projects from the environmental aspect.

Environmental Approval: The approval given to the owner of a project to

commence implementation of his project pursuant to the provisions hereof.

Significant Impact: An adverse change that affects the Environment whether

this change is dangerous or potentially dangerous.

Terms of Reference: The bases submitted by the project owner prior to

conducting the environmental impact assessment study for his project, provided
that it is within the broad framework of environmental requirements adopted by
the Ministry.

Environmental Impact Assessment Document: The report submitted by the

project owner, prepared in accordance with the Terms of Reference.

B. The definitions of the terms appearing in the Environmental Protection Law in

force shall apply herein.

Article 3
The environmental impact assessment means any procedure that aims to identify the
impact of all the phases of the establishment of a certain project, and describe and

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study this impact on the project and its impact from the social and economic aspects,
and identify the methods for limiting any adverse impact on the Environment. The
assessment shall be conducted during the preparation of the economic feasibility
study, and planning, design, implementation, operation and removal of the project.

Article 4
A. No industrial, agricultural, commercial, housing or tourism project or any
construction development project or any of the projects specified in Annexes 2
and 3 of these Regulations may commence operations with the services relevant
thereto, until it obtains the Environmental Approval required for this purpose
from the Ministry.

B. The Ministry, upon the recommendation of the Secretary General, may require
the owner of the project not from among those specified in Annexes 2 and 3 of
these Regulations to conduct an environmental impact assessment study based
on the nature or location of the project, or the nature of the impact that may
result therefrom.

Article 5
A. A Technical Committee shall be formed at the Ministry, chaired by the
Secretary General, and the membership of experienced and specialized persons
from the following Ministries and entities:

1. The Ministry of the Environment.

2. The Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation.
3. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs.
4. The Ministry of Health.
5. The Ministry of Agriculture.
6. The Ministry of Industry and Trade.
7. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.
8. The Ministry of Water and Irrigation.
9. The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
10. The Ministry of Public Works and Housing.
11. Any other concerned entity specified by the Minister.

B. The members representing the ministries referred to in Sub-paragraphs 1-10 of

Paragraph A hereof shall be nominated by decision of the concerned minister.
The member representing any other entity shall be nominated by that entity.

C. The Minister shall nominate from among the Committee members a vice-
chairman to chair the Committee when the chairman is absent.

D. The Minister shall nominate from among the Ministry’s officers a rapporteur
who shall prepare the invitation to Committee meetings, keep its records and

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 books and record the minutes of its meetings, and follow up on the
implementation of its decisions.

Article 6
The Committee shall review the Terms of Reference submitted by the project owner,
and review the Environmental Impact Assessment Document, and submit its
recommendations to the Minister to make the required the decision with regard
thereto.

Article 7
A. The Committee shall meet whenever deemed necessary, upon the invitation of
its chairman, or of the vice-chairman during his absence. Quorum for the
meeting is met in the attendance of a simple majority of its members, provided
that the chairman or the vice-chairman is in attendance. Its decisions are passed
by a simple majority of the vote. In the event of a tie, the side with whom the
meeting chairman voted shall prevail.

B. The Committee may invite any person to a meeting for consultation purposes,
but that person shall not be entitled to vote on its recommendations.

Article 8
A. The project owner shall submit an application to the Ministry to obtain the
Environmental Approval needed to establish his project, in accordance with the
special form prepared for this purpose, and shall present with it all the necessary
information and data, and attaching thereto the preliminary maps, designs and
specifications referred to in Annex 1 of these Regulations.

B. The project shall be classified in any of the following categories by decision of

the Secretary General on the basis of the recommendations of the competent
party at the Ministry:

1. Category 1: includes the projects referred to in Annex 2 of these

Regulations and which require a comprehensive environmental impact
assessment.

2. Category 2: includes the projects referred to in Annex 3 of these

Regulations and which require a preliminary environmental impact
assessment, based on which the need to conduct a comprehensive
environmental impact assessment will be determined.

3. Category 3: includes the projects that require neither a preliminary nor a

comprehensive environmental impact assessment.

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Article 9
A. If a project is classified as Category 1, the Ministry shall advise the project
owner in writing, requesting him to conduct a comprehensive environmental
impact assessment for the project.

B. The project owner shall submit a preliminary draft of the Terms of Reference
for the environmental impact assessment study he intends to conduct after
agreeing with the Ministry on the content of the draft, the general framework of
the study, the scope of the study, the nature of anticipated Significant Impacts of
the project, and the entities concerned with and affected by the project.

C. The Ministry shall call the project owner and any concerned individual or
representative of a public or private party that may be potentially affected by the
project to participate in investigating the preliminary draft to identify the
Significant Impacts of the project on the Environment. The Ministry and the
project owner shall provide all the available information on the project and its
surrounding Environment to all concerned entities within an appropriate time
prior to the date of the meeting, in order to facilitate the identification thereof.

D. The project owner shall submit a report to the Ministry including a summary of
the meeting’s discussions, the parties attending, and the Significant Impacts
identified, and demonstrating the Terms of Reference for the environmental
impact assessment study, the names of the experts responsible for preparation of
the Environmental Impact Assessment Document, the required technical
expertise, and the expected level of effort needed to prepare this document. The
competent party at the Ministry shall submit this report to the Technical
Committee.

E. The Technical Committee shall review the Terms of Reference within one week
from the date of receiving the report, and this period may be extended by
agreement with the project owner. It shall submit its recommendations in this
regard to the Minister to issue the appropriate decision in that regard, provided
that the project owner shall be informed of this decision.

Article 10
If the Minister approves the Terms of Reference of the project, the project owner
shall prepare the draft of the Environmental Impact Assessment Document, and he
shall be responsible for the accuracy and authenticity of the contents thereof. This
draft must include the significant environmental impact relevant to the project under
review in the manner referred to in Annex 5 of these Regulations.

Article 11
A. Upon the Ministry's receipt of the draft Environmental Impact Assessment
Document, the Technical Committee shall review and analyze the draft to
ascertain its compliance with the provisions of these Regulations. If it finds that
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 the application fulfills the conditions and requirements thereof, the party making
the submission is advised thereof. But if it finds that the application does not
fulfill the conditions and requirements thereof, the Technical Committee shall
require the project owner to provide any additional information needed to
complete its analysis of the draft.

B. If the draft Environmental Impact Assessment Document fulfills all of the

requirements of the provisions of these Regulations, the Minister, upon the
recommendation of the Secretary General that is based on the recommendation
of the Technical Committee, shall issue his decision in this regard within 45
days after the date of receipt of the draft that is in fulfillment of the conditions
and requirements thereof, in accordance with the following:

1. Approving the draft and considering it the final Environmental Impact

Assessment Document if it is shown that the project’s environmental
impacts are appropriately dealt with throughout the study including the
plan for reducing adverse impacts. The approval shall be valid for one year
from the date it is issued.

2. Denial of Environmental Approval of the project if it is shown that its

implementation would cause Significant Impact on the Environment and
that the plan for reducing adverse impacts is inadequate for the purpose.

C. If the Minister does not issue his decision with regard to the draft
Environmental Impact Assessment Document within the period set in Paragraph
B hereof, the project is considered as having been approved de jure.

D. The decision related to the environmental impact assessment study shall be

announced to the public in the manner that the Ministry deems appropriate.

Article 12
When launching his project and during all the implementation and operation phases,
the project owner shall abide by the contents of the Environmental Impact
Assessment Document and any other conditions issued by the Ministry when granting
its approval.

Article 13
A. If the project is classified as Category 2, the Ministry shall request the Project
Owner to conduct a preliminary environmental impact assessment of the
project, taking into account the criteria referred to in Annex 4 of these
Regulations.

B. If the preliminary environmental impact assessment reveals that the project has
a potential Significant Impact on the Environment, the Minister shall request the

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 project owner to conduct a comprehensive environmental impact assessment
study in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations.

C. If the preliminary environmental impact assessment reveals that it is not likely

for the project to have a Significant Impact on the Environment, the project shall
obtain the Ministry’s approval in accordance with the provisions of these
Regulations and instructions issued by virtue hereof, and the Ministry shall
inform the project owner of this approval.

Article 14
If the project is classified as Category 3, the Ministry shall inform the project owner
that his project does not require an environmental impact assessment study, and in
this case, the project is considered approved in accordance with the provisions of
these Regulations and instructions issued by virtue hereof.

Article 15
Any amendment to or expansion of a current project the establishment of which
requires an environmental impact assessment and may impact the Environment in a
significant way is considered a separate project, and shall be treated as a new project.
In this case, the project owner must undertake all the measures referred to in these
Regulations regarding environmental impact assessment.

Article 16
A. The project owner may object before the Minister to the Minister’s decision
denying the Environmental Approval of his project within 15 days from the date
the project owner is informed of such decision, and the Minister may appoint an
independent panel of experts consisting of not less than three members with the
appropriate technical experience, at the expense of the project owner, to review
the objection submitted by the project owner, and submit its recommendations
to the Minister in this regard.

B. The Minister’s decision regarding the objection is considered final and it is

capable of being contested before the High Court of Justice.

Article 17
The Ministry shall regularly monitor the extent of the compliance of the project
owner with all the conditions and requirements stipulated in the Environmental
Approval during any of the activities of the project including its implementation,
operation, and disassembling.

Article 18
The Ministry shall make available to the concerned entities and upon their request,
the information and data related to the Environment provided by project owner
during the phases of the environmental impact assessment study. In specific cases

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dictated by the public interest or the provider's own interest, the Ministry may
consider some of the data or information provided as confidential.

Article 19
Annexes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 attached to these Regulations shall be considered part and
parcel of hereof.

Article 20
A. Upon the submission of the application, the Ministry shall charge the following:

1. Twenty-five Jordanian Dinars for projects that do not require an

environmental impact assessment study.

2. Fifty Jordanian Dinars for projects that require a preliminary

environmental impact assessment study.

3. Seven hundred and fifty Jordanian Dinars for projects that require a
comprehensive environmental impact assessment study.

B. Costs of experts and consultants who are assigned to review the environmental
impact assessment study shall be borne by the project owner, provided that such
costs shall be determined by decision of the Minister, upon the recommendation
of the Secretary General.

Article 20
The Minister shall issue the instructions necessary for the implementation of the
provisions of these Regulations.

15/3/2005
Faisal Bin Al-Hussein