LAW5603 Environmental Law — Unit 5: Environmental Laws of Nepal

Unit 5: Environmental Laws of Nepal

5.1 Concept, History of Environmental Protection in Nepal

1. The customary era — the communities’ practices: the forests’ sacred groves (the devari-and-guthi forests); the waters’ reverence; the customary rules (the user groups, the elders’ regulation).
2. The state’s first steps — the forestry’s state control (the 1950s’ nationalisation — the private forests’ abolition: the conservation’s paradox — the tenure’s insecurity’s degradation); the national parks’ birth (the 1973 NPWC Act — the Chitwan’s-and-the Himalayan parks’ establishment).
3. The planning era — the plans’ environment chapters (the 1980s’ awakening); the National Conservation Strategy (1988); the EPA 2054 (1997) — the first comprehensive statute (the EIA’s birth, the pollution’s control).
4. The constitutional era — the 1990 interim-and-constitution’s environment faces; the 2015 Constitution’s robust catalogue (Art 30’s right-and-compensation; Art 51(g)’s policies — the verified texts).
5. The modern era — the EPA 2076 (2019) — the second-generation statute (the climate’s inclusion — the carbon-trading faces; the polluter-pays instruments); the Forest Act 2076; the climate policies-and-NDC; the federal redistribution (the local governments’ environmental functions).

5.2 Sources of Nepalese Environmental Laws

1. The Constitution — the rights (Arts 30-and-36’s food, 35’s health, 32’s culture, 44’s consumer — the verified catalogue), the directive principles (Art 51(g)), the duties (Art 48’s environment face), the federal lists (the forests-and-environment’s concurrent faces).
2. The statutes — the EPA 2076; the Forest Act 2076; the NPWC Act 2029; the Soil-and-Watershed Act 2039; the Water Resources Act 2049; the Local Government Operation Act 2074 (the municipal environment); the sectoral acts (the mines, the electricity, the transport).
3. The delegated-and-policy instruments — the rules (the EPA’s regulations), the standards (the emission-and-effluent tolerances), the policies (the climate-and-biodiversity strategies), the plans (the NAPA-LAPA-and-NDC).
4. The international layer — the MEAs (U3’s catalogue) + the Treaty Act 2047’s domestication.

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