National Environment (Environmental and Social Assessment) Regulations, 2020 (S.I. No. 143 of 2020).

These Regulations, made of fifty seven articles organized in eight Parts, plus 6 Schedules, applies as specified in the first Part, to all projects or activities that, according with the National Environment Act, 2019, require a project brief, an environmental and social impact study, an environmental risk assessment or that are proposed to be located in or near an environmentally sensitive area or that are re-developments or expansions of existing projects. As a general prohibition, this Part provides that a developer shall not implement such a project without a certificate of approval of environmental and social impact assessment issued by the National Environment Management Authority in accordance with the National Environment Act and these Regulations.
The second Part identifies the Projects requiring a project brief, the information this shall contain, the mode of submission of a project brief and the review leading to a decision to its regard by the Authority either under Part I or II of Schedule 4 of the National Environment Act.
Part three focuses on projects requiring scoping and environmental and social impact assessment; it describes the procedure for undertaking such scoping and Environmental and Social Impact Study including the preparation of a scoping report and the terms of reference for the proposed environmental and social impact study, their function and the information they should hold. Such terms of reference are submitted to the Authority for consideration and, if approved, the developer shall undertake an environmental and social impact study. This process involve consultation of stakeholders and the conduct of public hearing. At the end of the process, the authority can approve, defer the environmental and social impact statement and require the developer either to re-design the project or to provide additional information or undertake a further assessment or reject the statement.
Part four encompasses the general provisions regarding the certificate of approval of environmental and social impact assessment, its extension, variation, cancellation, transfer, surrender.
Part five covers the environmental risk assessment: it identifies the projects for which it is required, its terms of reference, the hazard identification, the vulnerability and risk analysis. The developer who has undertaken a risk analysis shall put in place response actions and shall periodically conduct subsequent risk assessments to evaluate the responsiveness of the project to identified risks and hazards. The risk assessment will be submitted to the Authority which shall consider the risk, make consultations and take a decision.
Part six is dedicated to the mitigation hierarchy which shall be applied by a developer for the avoidance, minimization and mitigation of environmental and social impact. The Authority may take in consideration a biodiversity offset or compensation mechanism to be made by the developer.
Part seven considers projects or activities with transboundary impacts which require transboundary environmental and social assessments and the notification to countries likely to be affected by a project or activity.
The final part covers general issues such as the fees and costs payable under these Regulations by the developer, in relation to the project brief or environmental and social impact statement as well as the use and destination of such resources; the database, to be held by the Authority, of certificates of approval of environmental and social impact assessments, project briefs etc.; the mode of display of certificates of approval by the developer; the issuance, by the Authority, of guidelines for environmental and social assessments; offences and penalties under this Act.