Kenya’s environmental regulator ready for a review of EIA processing fees because of financial crunch

The proponent paid the environmental impact assessment fees after a long period of insufficient financial capital in the treasury at National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA). 

NEMA has forwarded a cabinet memorandum to the administrative authorities for consideration. 

NEMA slashed the processing fee in January 2017.

The proponent had to pay NEMA and an environmental expert earlier. The EIA licence fee to NEMA. This fee included both environmental monitoring and assessment. 

Other fees were mostly a consultation fee that was paid to the environmental assessment specialists (typically they’re the environmental consultants). The NEMA offices provided the following list. 

The proponent was required to pay 0.1% of the project value. The minimum amount ranged from 10,000 Kenyan shillings ($86.32), with no upper cap.

This was then revised with the publication on August 19, 2016 of a special issue number 137 of Kenya Gazette. 

According to the revised notification the proponent must pay 0.1% of total project cost to the NEMA as a fee based on perceived risk. The cost of different projects was different. This table shows how to categorise different fee levels for different projects based upon risk.

The fee would then be deposited into the NEMA treasury. This was a way to generate revenue for NEMA staff. Paying fees was, most importantly, a way to pay for the environmental damage.Chris Kiptoo principal secretary for environment and forestry, during the business leaders’ forum on climate change in Nairobi in 2021.

NEMA was forced to make a dramatic change by a push from the private sector of Kenya. The private sector pushed for the waiver of EIA processing fees to ease doing business, mainly in Kenya. The fee was finally scrapped in January 2017.

NEMA’s finances suffered from the COVID-19 epidemic. NEMA had no choice but to reduce staffing as the situation worsened. 

According to Kiptoo (the environmental management regulator), the staff had a lower than 450 staff compared to the 1,500 required. This highlights the staff shortage.

The director-general of NEMA, Mamo Boru Mamo, also spoke about the shortage of staff  because of the financial crunch, during a recent interview in April 2022.

There hasn’t been any increase in NEMA’s fund allocation, despite the country suffering from inflation in recent times, he insisted. He added that the authority’s negative impacts have been caused by a lack of funds from external donors, the national Treasury and the removal of the EIA processing fees.

The comprehensive assessments of the EIA process can be negatively affected by a lack of working capital. A stringent and effective compliance system is key to the success of an environmental impact assessment. So, shortage of NEMA staff, especially environmental regulators, will mean there would be a lack of monitoring mechanism from the authority’s end, Kiptoo said. 

The reintroduction fee through Cabinet memorandum is expected Stabilize the situation and restore normal working capital. Mamo expressed his confidence that NEMA’s current stress levels would be reduced by the reintroduction of the fees.