The Environment Agency–Abu Dhabi (EAD), has recently launched ‘Eltezam’ – a new digital system for environmental inspection and compliance evaluation. This gives EAD’s inspectors the flexibility to evaluate facilities and projects based on actual on-site activities and operations.
The new system allows inspectors to comprehensively review any aspect of an organisation’s activities regarding any potential environmental harm rather than being limited to activities listed on their environmental licence.
The launch of ‘Eltezam’ is part of EAD’s ongoing efforts to execute its regulatory role by preserving environmental standards in Abu Dhabi. By establishing regulatory frameworks in the emirate, EAD can reduce environmental harm and continuously update environmental conditions and standards in line with the pace of development witnessed by the industrial sector or construction and infrastructure sector, and Abu Dhabi’s economic growth.
EAD has held a series of training workshops for its inspectors to familiarise them with the characteristics of the new system. It is noteworthy that the objectives of the on-site inspections are to assess the extent to which facilities and development projects comply with environmental conditions.
The inspectors investigate reports of environmental accidents and complaints, identify operational violations that may lead to environmental issues and ensure that facilities and projects subject to licensing are aware of these violations and ways of correcting them. They also collect relevant field data for specific sectors, activities, areas, and facilities, enforce environmental compliance, apply administrative fines, and initiate legal enforcement actions.
The elements of the environmental inspection and compliance system include 93 sectors licensed by EAD. It also assesses the environmental impacts of 38 operational processes by monitoring 277 potential environmental violations, with the aim of preventing harm from all environmental pollutants across each activity under EAD’s jurisdiction.
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