Environmental Impact Assessments for Abu Dhabi Projects to be evaluated by experts

EAD was selected to chair this committee and it falls in line with its efforts to improve its processes and achieve more transparency.

Members of the committee are responsible for reviewing the assessments, within 3 weeks of receiving them, to ensure that they are in line with the Agency's regulations. The assessments will be evaluated based on a set criterion.

The committee consists of the following members: Dr. Mohamed A. Al Zarooni; Dr. Ali Mohammed El Keblawi; Khalid Al Hashimi of UAE University; Dr. Dhabia Bahkeet of Abu Dhabi Airports Company; Dr. Shahrazad Roohi of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, Sultan Saif Al Shamsi of ADNOC; Mr. Michael Hess of Abu Dhabi Airports Company and Mr. Marcus Chandler from Dolphin Energy.

The Decision gives EAD the authority to modify the list of the committee members. It also gives EAD the responsibility of supervising and reviewing the work of the committee, as well as setting the necessary procedures and mechanisms. Moreover, the Decision states that each committee member must protect the confidentiality of the information found in the assessments and not contact the project owner.

During the first Committee meeting, held on January 15, 2007, members were briefed on EAD's new environmental permitting procedures, the types of environmental studies they will have to review, and how to evaluate them.