Legal Instruments and Enforcement

Jamaica has a variety of statutes dealing with the environment. Fifty-two have been identified which have direct or indirect jurisdiction over matters of the environment. These range from the public health to physical planning and land use. Many dispense overlapping responsibilities among Ministries.

The enactment of the Natural Resources Conservation Authority Act of 1991 (NRCA Act), has begun the process of rationalization and prioritization of these statutes. This Act binds the Crown as well as the people, therefore enforcement can be applied to Public Sector entities as well as private citizens.

The principal environmental laws are those dealing with public health, watersheds, beaches, forestry, fisheries, surface and underground water, clean air, national heritage sites, wildlife protection, national parks, mining, petroleum and quarries control.

The Government of Jamaica recognizes the need to draft additional regulations and strengthen existing ones for more effective enforcement of its environmental laws. "The Community Right to Know " needs to be included under the NRCA Act. The Forestry Act is being modernized with funding from the Trees for Tomorrow Project. A draft of the new forestry Act is now available, and its main features are the updating of fines for offenses and the provision of broader functions for the Forestry Department. This will enable better management and development of Forests. Other statutes which are either now being revised or there is the intention to revise them are the Fishing Industries Act, Local Improvements Act, Town and Country Act, Beach Control Act, and Water Resource Act.

While they confer the authority to perform physical planning and the control of development through an administrative process of approval, neither the Town and Country Planning Act, the Local Improvements Act or the Land Utilization Act, require an environmental Screening or impact assessment of development projects. This system is being put in place however, by the NRCA, as The NRCA Act requires environmental impact assessments and screening of developments within prescribed areas. The proposed declaration of the entire island as a prescribed area will pave the way for the NRCA, which is the chief environmental management organization, to require environmental impact assessments for developments being planned anywhere within the island and not only within special, more vulnerable locations as was originally intended by law.

The main environmental statutes are identified in Table II.

Environmental Law	Authority
Natural Resources Conservation Authority Act	To protect and manage natural resources and control pollution
Watersheds Protection Act	Watersheds protection
Public Health Act	Environmental health, waste management, pollution control
Clean Air Act	Control of air pollution
Forest Act	Declaration and management of forest reserves
Jamaica National Heritage Trust Act	Preservation and management of historical sites, buildings and artifacts
Fishing Industry Act	Development and management of Fisheries
Morant and Pedro Cays Act	To protect the cays from unauthorized exploitation of species
Water Act	To establish a water board and water courts
Underground Water Act	To protect underground water resources
Beach Control Act	Control of sand removal from beaches
Wildlife Protection Act	Control of hunting of wildlife
Marine Park Regulations under NRCA Act	To protect marine resources and establish marine parks
National Park Regulations under NRCA Act	To establish national parks and protect their natural resources
Mining Act	Control of mining
Petroleum Act	Control of petroleum as a hazardous substance
Quarries Control Act	Control of quarrying activities
Town and Country Planning Act	Physical planning and building control
Local Improvements Act	Amelioration of poor infrastructure amenities in communities
Land Utilization Act	Land use planning and development control
Urban Development Corporation Act	Urban physical planning and development
Pesticides Act	Control of importation, use and disposal of pesticides
Litter Act	Control of litter in public places
Harbours Act	Control of harbour pollution (oil spills)
Table II. Principal Environmental Laws

The resource management laws generally provide adequate authority to protect, conserve and manage the environmental resources which they cover. Where these laws tend to fall short is in the very low level of fees and fines that they provide for, (eg. a fine of twenty dollars per day for encroachment on the foreshore and floor of the sea), an absence of or inadequate regulations and, a lack of their consistent enforcement. In addition, some existing regulatory power remains unused (eg. control of disposal of hazardous waste substances). The Government is cognizant of these matters and is working to address them within the short run.

Actions:

During the next three years the Government will strengthen the existing legal foundation to provide an adequate legal and regulatory framework for the management of the environment and the achievement of sustainable development. It will also seek to harmonize this framework within the wider regional and sub-regional context. At the same time that the Government is strengthening its regulatory framework, and improving its enforcement, it will also be taking steps to promote voluntary compliance as an alternative to costly enforcement action. The necessary legislative and regulatory actions will include the following:

Enactment of a new Forest Act.
Enactment of a Water Resources Act.
Development of regulations under the NRCA Act for the prescription of areas and activities which require permits, hazardous waste management, standards for air and water quality, and for watershed management, among others.
The amendment of the Wildlife Protection Act to include adequate provisions for protection of flora.
A review of the provisions under the Beach Control Act, including those covering illegal sandmining.
Amendments of the Mining Act to increase its penalties.

NRCA will work with other public sector agencies and where necessary, the power under section 40 of the NRCA Act will be exercised to amend other Acts, (with the advice of the Attorney General's office), as the NRCA sees to the strengthening of other organizations to carry out their environmental management responsibilities for the sustainable development of Jamaica.

Government will fulfill obligations under international treaties of significant importance to the environment. Jamaica is a party to several treaties including:

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region
Vienna Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocol
Climate Change Convention
Convention on Biological Diversity

Steps are now being taken with regard to accession to the following treaties:

Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat (RAMSAR).
Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.
Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife in the Wider Caribbean (SPAW).
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal.

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter - Institutions - Public, Private and NGOs