Kenyans who applied for the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) licenses before August 1 this year have been directed to follow up on their submissions through their respective application centres.
In a notice on Wednesday, September 17, the Authority said the follow-up was to ensure that all pending license applications are reviewed to pave the way for a Record of Decision.
A Record of Decision is a statement given by NEMA after it completes reviewing a project's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), outlining whether a project has been approved or rejected.
NEMA said the technical review of the pending license applications must be done within the next 2 weeks, before September 30, 2025.
"NEMA, therefore, wishes to inform all clients with pending applications which were submitted before 1st August 2025 to contact respective NEMA offices where submissions were made to ensure all the pending technical review issues are addressed," read part of NEMA's statement.
Accoring to the Authority, failure to comply with the above would result in the Record of Decision being made based on the submitted documents and all available records.
NEMA further noted that the lapse of the September 30 timeline would bring to a close these applications received at the Authority's offices before August 1.
"Unsuccessful applicants will therefore be required to make fresh applications in accordance with the Environmental Management and Coordination Act (EMCA), Cap 387 and subsidiary regulations," NEMA said.
The latest notice comes barely two months after NEMA implemented the Integrated Environment Information Management System (ENVIS) and the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System.
ENVIS and ERP are two distinct Information Technology systems operationalised in July this year to allow Kenyans to access NEMA services through the Authority's online portal.
The two systems were designed to enable NEMA's integration with other lead agencies for sectoral review coordination and provide real-time information sharing for informed decision-making.
However, the Authority's recent move to launch the two systems did not go well with environmentalists, who accused NEMA of rolling out the digital platforms without public participation.
Led by the Environmental Institute of Kenya, the stakeholders argued that while the digital system was significant in improving the operations of the Authority, public consultation was important to reduce bureaucracy.
