CLDP, in partnership with the Department of State, provided US consultations to Iraqi officials representing the Council of Representatives, Ministry of Oil, and the Ministry of the Environment on “Developing Adequate, Transparent, and Enforceable Environmental Protection Regulation.” The program comes at a critical time, when Iraq is re-defining its environmental protection policy and core regulations, while taking into account Iraq’s need economic growth and integration into the global economy.

The program featured environmental experts from the United States, and the Arab Forum for Environmental Development (AFED), who assisted the delegation in determining key regulatory priorities for the Oil and Gas sector and to develop practical action plans for meeting current environmental challenges in Iraq. CLDP also worked in collaboration with the White House Office of Science and Technology and the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the Department of Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Justice, and the Environmental Law Institute, to provide the delegation an overview of key legal and regulatory features in the US federal system that gives way to effective environmental protection.

Also, the delegation consulted with the Texas Railroad Commission and the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality, in Houston, Texas, to learn about State environmental enforcement regimes and their respective cooperation with federal agencies and the private sector. The delegation also met with key oil industry representatives that currently work in Iraq, and discussed environmental compliance policy and environmental friendly technologies. As part of their consultations, the delegation met with oil-based equipment manufacturing company in Conroe, Texas, a CO2 Mallet Plant in Sundown, Texas, and an Upstream Research facility in Houston, Texas.