appraisal drilling of geothermal wells in olkaria domes - Orkustofnun

Ogola 268 Report 13field and Olkaria Domes. Despite this, a full socioeconomic impact study of the area had not beenundertaken to complement the technical studies. These studies were only limited to the immediatesurroundings of the project and especially the Hells Gate National Park. The main aim of this studytherefore was to collect baseline information of the study area, assess the current socioeconomic statusand evaluate possible impacts of the appraisal drilling and testing of Olkaria (IV) Domes geothermalprojects.FIGURE 1: Map of Kenya and location of geothermal resources1.1 Legal and institutional frameworkIn early 2000, Kenya enacted a new Environmental Management and Coordination Act (EMCA) as anoverall legal instrument for managing environmental issues. Previous legislation with sectoral policiesscattered in 77 different resource specific laws often led to regulatory competition. Under the Act,institutions like the National Environment Council (NEC), National Environment ManagementAuthority provincial and district environment committees, and the Public Complaints Committee havebeen formulated. Within each of these administrative structures, provision is made for publicparticipation.The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) is the principal government institutionresponsible for implementing all regulations relating to the environment, including overseeing theEnvironmental Impact Assessment. A new Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulation anddraft guidelines have been released in which the project proponent is expected to undertake EIA at hisown expense and submit a draft report to NEMA. Environmental guidelines on mining and energysectors provided by national environmental regulations for Kenya were also used in scoping the termsof reference for the proposed project.