Complete Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations (JM0005)

What is the public problem that the commitment will address? The framework for the conduct of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) in Jamaica has guidelines for inclusion of stakeholder consultations in the decision-making process for development projects and activities that may have a significant impact on the environment or public health. However, such projects and activities often take place without adequate participation by stakeholders who may be affected by their impacts. Lack of citizen awareness and understanding of the environmental and public health impacts of projects are also contributing factors that affect public participation.

What is the commitment? To complete and promulgate Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations under the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA) Act.

How will the commitment contribute to solve the public problem? The completion and promulgation of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations will provide the public with access to information on projects and activities that may have a significant impact on the environment and public health throughout all phases of the project or activity, and will require the participation of relevant stakeholders in the environmental decision-making process for the approval of relevant projects and activities. EIA regulations with legal requirements for access to information and public participation will enhance consistency and predictability in the process for approving major projects and developments.

Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values? The completion and promulgation of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations in Jamaica is relevant to the following OGP values: 1. Access to Information: This commitment will strengthen processes to make public relevant information on projects and activities that may have an impact on the environment and public health safety. 2. Civic Participation: The completion and promulgation of EIA Regulations will strengthen the role of consultation with stakeholders in the approval process for development projects and activities, and increase the capacity of citizens to understand how projects and activities can have an effect on their environment and public health. 3. Public Accountability: This commitment aims to put in place a process and standards to be adhered to by implementers of projects which have an impact on the environment and public health.

Additional information The completion and promulgation of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations is aligned with:  Natural Resources Conservation Authority Act 1991  The Building Act 2018  Town and Country Planning Act 1958  The Local Improvements Act 1914  Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan – National Outcome No. 13 Sustainable Management and Use of Environmental and Natural Resources; National Outcome No. 14 Hazard Risk Reduction and Adaptation to Climate Change; and National Outcome No. 15 Sustainable Urban and Rural Development  Medium Term Socio-Economic Policy Framework (MTF) for the relevant three-year period  Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities; SDG 13 Climate Action; SDG 14 Life Below Water; and SDG 15 Life On Land

Milestone Activity with a Verifiable Deliverable Start Date: End Date: Conduct stakeholder consultations for preparation of drafting instructions for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations January 2022 March 2022 Preparation of draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations April 2022 December 2022 Conduct stakeholder consultations on draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations January 2023 February 2023 Complete and promulgate Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations March 2023 June 2023

Action Plan Review

Commitment 5. Complete EIA Regulations

● Verifiable: Yes

● Does it have an open government lens? Yes

● This commitment has been clustered as “Public participation in environment”

● Potential for results: Substantial

(Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation)

For a complete description of the commitment see Commitment 5 in the action plan.

Note: As of January 2022, this commitment remains under the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation.

Context and objectives

The Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA) was instituted in 1991 as the primary authority for environmental management in Jamaica. Created by the NRCA Act, [13] it has the mandate to promote public awareness of Jamaica’s ecological systems, among other substantial provisions linked to the management of the island’s physical environment. Jamaica’s Climate Change Policy Framework, [14] currently under review, includes an amendment of the NRCA Act to include the regulation of EIA as an indicator for policy objective 1.2 (Adaptation) within Goal 1, “Strengthening of Jamaica’s adaptive capacity and resilience to reduce its vulnerability to climate change.”

Commitment 5 is a state-led commitment that proposes further amending the NRCA Act to foster the participation of relevant stakeholders and access to public information regarding the approval of relevant projects and activities within the EIA process.

Potential for results: Substantial

Although the NRCA has a mandate to request that EIAs be conducted as part of application for a permit, the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) ultimately determines whether such an assessment is required. NEPA is an executive agency of the Ministry of Economic Growth & Job Creation that carries out the technical and administrative mandate of the NRCA. According to the current EIA guidelines, public involvement can take place in the assessment process through in-person participation by the affected communities during technical consultations. [15] Nevertheless, lack of significant participation by and awareness amongst citizens is identified as an issue in the commitment and has raised judicial controversies in the past. [16]^{, [17]} Although NEPA currently publishes relevant documents on the conduct of EIAs, [18] this information is not enough for affected people and civil society to be aware of and conduct an effective follow-up on those projects NEPA evaluates and their potential environmental impact.

As written, this commitment could potentially make EIA more participative and accountable by engaging civil society and other interested parties, at both the national and local levels. It could also help bridge the gap in citizen participation and awareness regarding how EIAs are conducted before greenlighting projects and activities that can have irreversible effects on the environment and the lives of people living in environmentally sensitive areas.

Opportunities, challenges and recommendations during implementation

This commitment intends to turn the EIA process—typically a technical process that can have huge consequences for people’s living conditions—into an open, participative, public procedure. To achieve this goal, the IRM makes the following suggestions:

• Include all voices, and open consultations to the public: This commitment currently focuses on stakeholder consultations without specifying who will be invited to attend and what the pre-requisites for their participation will be. Although stakeholder consultations are envisioned in milestones 1 and 3 for drafting the amended Act, no details are provided regarding how these consultations will happen. The IRM recommends that specific mechanisms be put in place so that the interests and needs of those more affected by climate change are not overlooked during stakeholder input sessions. Also, as expressed by the CSO representatives the IRM researcher interviewed, it is important that consultations be open to the public to avoid any discretionary or arbitrary selection of participants. [19]
• Make the consultation processes accessible: NEPA currently makes documents on the EIA process available online, but these documents are often long, technical reports that may be difficult for the public to understand. In contrast, town hall meetings and Zoom calls are a common way to gather citizen feedback and are widely used in participatory processes, such as those these commitments envisage. The content of these exchanges, however, is often not available online afterward or get lost, making it difficult for non-attendees to follow up on these debates. To make EIAs more transparent, all records of meetings and exchanges within the participation process could be made fully available and accessible. This material should include technical documents and evidence involved parties provide in plain language, with clear figures to maximize readability.

• Foster the ratification of the Escazú Agreement: in 2019, Jamaica signed the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean (also known as the Escazú Agreement [20]), although it has not yet ratified it. This international treaty fosters access to information, public participation in the decision-making process, and access to justice regarding environmental issues. Adopting this Agreement (which would require its ratification by the GOJ) might provide a bold opportunity to achieve the purposes of this cluster of commitments. However, the action plan makes no reference to the treaty, which is a missed opportunity. According to the POC, although there is interest in the Agreement’s ratification, it was not included in the action plan because it would require significant effort on the part of the government. [21] Ecuador [22] and Panama [23] included commitments to implement this Agreement in their recent action plans. These commitments on public participation and access to information in environmental matters could provide the impetus for Jamaica to finally ratify and implement the Agreement in future action plans.