Executive Regulation for the Environmental Law for the Protection of Aqueous Media from Pollution.

This Executive Regulation is enacted in accordance with the Environmental Law. The Executive Regulation shall apply to all persons and activities related to aqueous media within the territory of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including the territorial sea, the adjacent area, and the special economic zone of the Kingdom.
The National Center for Environmental Compliance shall shall undertake the tasks related to the protection of aqueous media from pollution, including: (1) Proposing standards, requirements and controls, pertaining to the protection of aqueous media from pollution, including injection of water into ground wells, and dewatering, and submitting them to the Ministry for approval. (2) Developing and executing national plans to prevent and mitigate aqueous media pollution. (3) Monitoring and evaluating environmental indicators pertaining to aqueous media on a regular basis. (4) Developing and monitoring environmental indicators pertaining to aqueous media. (5) Determining the procedures and measures that must be taken when a person is close to exceeding the standards related to aqueous media. (6) Developing and reviewing national environmental reports pertaining to the aqueous media in the Kingdom. (7) Issuing the controls and requirements pertaining to licenses or permits for businesses or environmental activities with potential adverse environmental impact on aqueous media. (8) Issuing permits and licenses for the protection of aqueous media from pollution and collecting the financial dues pertaining thereto. (9) Inspecting and apprehending violations of this Executive Regulation.
The Center shall develop and implement a monitoring and surveillance program for the components and properties of ambient water. It is prohibited to practice any of the following activities unless a license or permit is obtained: a. Installation and operation of ambient water monitoring and surveillance networks; b. Temporarily exceeding treated wastewater standards; c. Discharge of treated wastewater into environmental media. The Executive Regulation further makes provisions for: classification of waterbodies, ambient water quality standards and requirements, standards of treated wastewater before its discharge into environmental media, standards related to wastewater treatment technologies, standards for treated sewage effluent outfalls and mixing zones, offences ad penalties, etc.