MUSCAT – The move aims to mitigate environmental impacts, enhance response efficiency, and strengthen environmental protection measures.

The regulations define two types of pollution incidents: minor incidents, involving pollution of up to 100 litres that can be managed with the facility’s own resources, and major incidents, which exceed 100 litres or cause widespread damage or environmental hazards.

Reporting of all incidents is mandatory. Facility owners must submit a written report within eight hours of discovering an incident, including details such as the time, date, location, affected areas, causes, amount of pollution, and remediation measures taken. Owners are also required to follow the Environment Authority’s directives in addressing the incident.

For major incidents, both preliminary and final reports must be submitted, while minor incidents require a single report. Each incident must be documented in a separate record, which must be retained for three years. If incidents recur within ten days, an improvement plan must be prepared.

The regulations also introduce administrative penalties for non-compliance. Providing false or misleading information can result in fines ranging from RO 2,000 to RO 5,000, while violations of reporting requirements carry fines of RO 1,000 to RO 5,000, doubled for repeated offenses.