Guide · NEMA environmental licences · Updated 2026-10-19

EIA study report and terms of reference in Nairobi

A high-risk project needs a full environmental impact assessment study. It starts with terms of reference (TOR) — the questions the study must answer — which NEMA approves first. The study report that follows is published for public comment before NEMA decides. In Nairobi, a new housing estate of more than one hundred homes is high risk under NEMA’s schedule.

Check the site on the map Apply on ENVIS (NEMA)

When you need it

Screening against NEMA’s schedule of projects (Legal Notice No. 31 of 2019) places the project at high risk — for example a new housing estate of more than one hundred homes.
NEMA has reviewed a project report and asked for a full study.

Who prepares it and applies

A lead expert registered with NEMA heads the study, with other registered experts as it needs. Once the terms of reference are approved, the proponent gives NEMA their names. Applications are made online on ENVIS, NEMA’s licensing system.

Check the site before you apply

Most of what a NEMA report describes is already on the map. Check these first:

Check	Where	Why it matters
The plot and its number	Search the map by LR, block or FR number	Every report and licence names the plot. Make sure the parcel on the map is the land the project is on.
What the zone allows	Its zone page, or tap the plot on the map	A report describes the project against the county’s planning rules: floors, plot ratio, ground coverage and use.
Rivers, wetlands and riparian land	The rivers and water bodies layers on the map	Work near a river or a wetland raises a project’s effects, and can need separate consent from NEMA and the Water Resources Authority.
Airport height limits	Airport height limits	Near JKIA and Wilson, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority can limit height below what the zone allows.
Where wastewater goes	The Trunk sewer layer, and connecting to the sewer	Into a public sewer, it is agreed with the water company. Anywhere else, it needs NEMA’s effluent discharge licence.
Roads and access	The roads layer on the map	Traffic, noise and dust while building are effects every report covers.
Who lives around it	The census population layers on the map	The expert must consult the people a project affects; the census says how many live around it.
What NEMA has licensed around it	The NEMA layers on the map	Neighbouring projects, and the emission and effluent licences near the site, are part of what the site already lives with.
The right to the land	An official search on Ardhisasa	The proponent must own the land or have the owner’s consent. Reports usually include a copy of the title.
The county’s approval	Building and planning approval	NEMA’s licence and Nairobi City County’s approval are separate. A project needs each one that applies to it before work starts.

How the application moves

Scoping and terms of reference. The expert works out what the study must look at — the site, the alternatives, the effects — and submits the terms of reference on ENVIS. NEMA approves them before the study starts.
The study. The experts gather the site’s baseline, weigh other sites and designs, and consult the people affected: public meetings, and notices in newspapers and on radio.
Submit the study report. The report, with its environmental management plan, is lodged on ENVIS and its fee paid. NEMA may also ask for printed copies.
Public comment. NEMA publishes a notice in the Kenya Gazette, in at least two newspapers and on radio, saying where the report can be read and by when comments are due. Its website carries a summary, and it may hold a public hearing.
The decision. After the comments, NEMA issues an EIA licence with conditions, or refuses. A decision can be appealed to the National Environment Tribunal.

How long it takes

NEMA does not publish one time for every case. A summary report moves faster than a full study, which waits for its public comment period. Incomplete reports and missing documents — the title, the drawings, a change of use where the county needs one — are the usual causes of delay. Follow the application on ENVIS.

After the licence

A licensed project is built and run to its conditions, and followed up by environmental audits. Changes to it need a variation.

On the map: the NEMA layers

EIA study report records are in the map’s Project reports layer, one of three NEMA layers. Each record carries its licence and application numbers, the proponent it was issued to, the kind of licence, and the plot or LR number where the report gave one. It sits where NEMA’s licensing system drew the site — a point, a boundary or a line. A record whose report states a position far from that site is flagged, as a prompt to confirm the plot. Applications with no drawn site are not on the map.

The NEMA layers are add-on layers: each is bought once, on any plan, and kept — see plans and pricing.

Why start on Nairobi Maps

Every NEMA report starts from the site: where it is, what may be built there, and what is around it. Nairobi Maps holds those facts for every parcel in Nairobi on one map — the plot by its LR, block or FR number, its zone worked out for the plot, survey plans, rivers and roads, airport height limits, census population, and what NEMA has already licensed nearby. The owner, the architect and the expert start from the same facts. The whole checklist is in built-environment due diligence in Nairobi.

Questions

How long does a NEMA EIA study take?

What are terms of reference in an EIA?

The scope of the study: what it must look at, how, and by whom. They come out of a scoping exercise, and NEMA approves them before the study starts.

Can the public comment on an EIA study in Nairobi?

Yes. When a study report is submitted, NEMA publishes a notice in the Kenya Gazette, in at least two newspapers and on radio, saying where the report can be read and by when comments are due. NEMA’s website carries a summary.

Which projects need a full EIA study?

Those NEMA’s schedule places at high risk (Legal Notice No. 31 of 2019) — for example a new housing estate of more than one hundred homes. A registered expert screens the project against the schedule.

Is Nairobi Maps part of NEMA?

No. Nairobi Maps is an independent map of Nairobi’s land, its planning rules and the records around them, for checking a site before you apply. NEMA decides every licence, on ENVIS.

Nairobi Maps is not part of NEMA. This guide explains the usual route under EMCA and NEMA’s regulations; requirements, fees and steps change, so confirm them with NEMA on ENVIS and with a registered expert.