The Environment Authority issued 9,947 in 2021, including 2,340 of categories A, B and C, 5,343 for chemicals and waste management, 1,363 for radiation protection and 281 for liquid waste management.
The Authority also issued permits for diving outside the scope of protected areas, protection of the marine environment, collecting fungal samples and conducting a field study, import and export endangered animals (CITES) and permits to import and export wildlife elements.
In order to provide high-quality services to the Authority’s clients, 95 per cent of the total services provided by the Environmental Assessment and Permits Center are now automatic, the Authority said. Besides, services of issuing a permit for the possession and use of hunting and tracking tools and simulating the sounds of birds and wild animals’ devices were developed and re-engineered.
It is a new electronic service provided to the customers and will be available on the Authority’s website. Also, the Authority services have been merged down to 23 services instead of 36, according to Oman 2040 Vision to facilitate and encourage business and investment environment, the merger will be activated in 2022.
The Environmental Assessment and Permits Center is the Authority concerned with the environmental assessment of various projects in the Sultanate of Oman and the issuance of environmental permits accompanied by the environmental requirements.
Environmental permits are divided into three categories. Category A projects have a high environmental impact or are located in an environmentally sensitive area and require the preparation of an environmental impact assessment study for the project.
Category (B) projects are those with a medium environmental impact. In this case, they are located within the industrial zones of the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates, Free Zones or approved industrial ports; the project owner is required to acknowledge approval of the environmental requirements and the permit is automatically issued. But the site of the proposed project is outside of these zones, the project owner is required to prepare an environmental impact assessment study, which is reviewed and evaluated and a permit is issued accordingly.
Category (C) projects have an environmental impact between medium and simple. Specialists at the Authority study the request in terms of the nature, location, sensitivity, production capacity and potential environmental impacts to determine whether the project owner is required to prepare an environmental impact assessment study or not.
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