New Oil Pollution Bill deemed a cornerstone for environmental accountability

The recent passage of the Oil Pollution Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Responsibility Bill 2025 marks a pivotal moment for Guyana’s environmental future. This legislation, which sets a national legal framework for managing oil spill risks and liabilities, is not merely a formality but an essential safeguard for our rapidly expanding oil and gas sector.

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Mohabir Nandlall, SC, in a recent interview, stated, “This bill…is long overdue. We have been pumping oil now for several years. It started under the previous government. They did not enact a single piece of legislation for the sector, not one, although they presided over the country for about three to four years while we were producing oil on a commercial basis.”

Before this legislation, Guyana had no comprehensive legal framework to address the risks and liabilities associated with oil production. This Bill establishes clear protocols for prevention, preparedness, response, and liability.

It ensures that responsible parties bear the full cost of environmental restoration and compensation for damages.

The standards, as outlined in the Bill, explicitly state that a ‘responsible party is liable for all damages caused by an oil spill incident, removal and removal costs, and restoration of the environment as far as practicable, and for any costs arising therefrom or connected therewith.’ This includes ‘damage to real or personal property, and economic losses resulting therefrom,’ and ‘damage related to impairment of the environment.’

The Bill is explicit that there will be ‘no cap in liability’ and that ‘an indemnification or any like agreement shall be invalid to transfer the liability of a responsible party under this Act.’ Such provisions meet, and in many respects, exceed international best practices.

Contrary to some criticisms, the legislative process itself was transparent and robust. The Bill was published in the Official Gazette, left on the parliamentary order paper for several weeks, and subjected to extensive debate in the National Assembly.

Every member of the Assembly had the opportunity to scrutinise and propose amendments to any clause. The claim that the Bill was ‘rushed’ or not properly examined is false.

“A bill first of all has to be published in the official gazette so the whole world sees the bill before it reaches the parliament, then it is read in the parliament for the first time and it is left on the order paper…for two to three weeks,” The Attorney General explained.

He added that the procedure of considering the Bill’s provisions ‘en bloc’ is a longstanding parliamentary practice used only when no amendments are proposed, a testament to the Bill’s thorough prior scrutiny.

Some critics have also alleged that the Bill is unconstitutional, specifically regarding Article 149J, which guarantees the right to a clean environment. It is important to note that it was the current administration that enshrined this right in the Constitution in the first place.

Far from undermining it, the Oil Pollution Bill is the first comprehensive legislative step to give effect to that constitutional guarantee in the oil and gas sector. Prior to this Bill, there was no such framework, and the absence of regulation was itself a violation of Article 149J. The Bill now provides the legal tools necessary to protect the environment and the public interest.

The Attorney General confirmed that, “Before this bill, we had nothing… So we were, in a sense, in violation of Article 149 before this bill. This international lawyer never said that.”

The Bill establishes a clear administrative structure involving the Civil Defence Commission as the ‘Competent National Authority’ responsible for supervising and coordinating oil spill responses, the Guyana Energy Agency, the Maritime Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

It also mandates the development of a ‘National Oil Spill Contingency Plan’ and requires responsible parties to develop ‘facility contingency plans’ or ‘shipboard oil pollution emergency plans.’ The legislation lays the foundation for further regulations, that will detail the operational and enforcement mechanisms. It is well understood among legal drafters that not all operational details should be incorporated into primary legislation. Instead, these matters are typically addressed in subsequent regulations, which reflect standard practices on a global scale.

The Oil Pollution Bill is a necessary, carefully crafted, and internationally aligned piece of legislation. It strengthens Guyana’s environmental safeguards, upholds constitutional rights, and ensures accountability in the oil sector.

Minister Nandlall said, “In short, this bill captures all those indispensable prerequisites that are necessary for this sector and that meet international standards.” This is a crucial step towards responsible resource management and the protection of our nation’s natural heritage.