Regulatory Frameworks and Their Implications in Geothermal Development Projects - the Case of Kenya

Abstract

In Kenya, several Acts of Parliament regulate and guide use of geothermal and other natural resources in a sustainable way. The laws that deal specifically with geothermal development are Environmental Management and Co-ordination Act of 1999 (EMCA 1999) and the Geothermal Resource Act of 1982 and its supplementary legislation of 1990. Other regulations do not refer specifically to geothermal development but, due to their implications, affect geothermal development at various stages in various ways. These include Energy Act of 2006, Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, Kenya Forest Act of 2005, Occupational Health and Safety Act of 2007, Public Health Act, Local Government Act, Water Act of 2002 and Physical Planning Act of 1999. Geothermal development is also guided by World Bank environmental and social safeguard policies such as the Operation Procedures on environmental assessment, natural habitats, indigenous people and involuntary resettlement. In addition, Kenya is a signatory to various international treaties and protocols which dictate environmental management approaches. Some of these treaties/conventions include the Ramsar Convention, 1994 Convention on biological diversity, Kyoto protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Vienna Convention on the protection of ozone layer among others. Presented in this paper are the significant pieces of environmental legislation necessary to fast-track geothermal development in Kenya.