Hiring of Consultant Review and Update Environmental Protection Act 2014 Gilgit-Baltistan (GB)

The Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS), with technical support from the German Red Cross (GRC), is implementing the project “Strengthening the capacities of the Pakistan Red Crescent Society in the area of climate-sensitive disaster risk management” (locally known as Climate Advocacy Coordination for Resilient Action – CACRA) in Pakistan. The project is financially supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) under the Social Structural Funding (SSF) instrument.

As part of its mandate, the project contributes to strengthening climate governance by supporting the review and improvement of environmental policies and legal frameworks at national and sub-national levels.

The Environmental Protection Agency Gilgit-Baltistan (GB-EPA) have identified the need to review and update the Gilgit-Baltistan Environmental Protection Act 2014 (GB-EPA Act 2014) along with its subordinate Rules and Regulations. On the request of GB-EPA, PRCS with support of GRC is going to support in this regard. In this context, PRCS and GRC seeking a firms/ individual consultant for this assignment.

The GB-EPA Act 2014 serves as the principal legal framework for environmental protection, conservation, and sustainable development in the region. While the Act has been instrumental in regulating development activities through environmental assessment procedures, its implementation has revealed several legal and operational challenges. In particular, limitations related to enforcement powers—such as imposing fines, sealing non-compliant facilities, and ensuring compliance—have constrained effective environmental governance.

Given evolving environmental challenges, increasing development pressures, and emerging institutional needs, a comprehensive legal review and update of the Act is essential to ensure its effectiveness, enforceability, and alignment with current realities.

Objective / Purpose

2.1 Purpose

The primary objective of this consultancy is to undertake a comprehensive legal review and revision of the Gilgit-Baltistan Environmental Protection Act 2014, along with its Rules, Regulations, and related instruments, to ensure that it is:

Legally comprehensive, clear, and enforceable
Aligned with current environmental challenges and development trends
Strengthened in terms of institutional powers and enforcement mechanisms
Harmonized with subordinate legislation and other relevant laws
Structured to support effective implementation, monitoring, and compliance

The assignment also aims to develop a practical and implementable legal framework that enables GB-EPA and relevant authorities to effectively regulate environmental issues in the region.

Task Description

3.1 Consultancy Scope

The scope of work will include:

A detailed legal review of the GB-EPA Act 2014, including its structure, provisions, and enforcement mechanisms
Review of all relevant Rules, Regulations, notifications, and guidelines issued under the Act
Identification of:

Legal gaps and ambiguities
Overlaps and inconsistencies
Weak or outdated provisions
Limitations in enforcement powers

Comparative analysis with:

Environmental laws of other provinces in Pakistan
Best practices in environmental regulation and enforcement

Stakeholder consultations with:

GB-EPA officials
Law Department
Line departments
District administration

Documentation of:

Practical enforcement challenges
Institutional constraints
Legal limitations

Drafting of:

Section-wise amendments to the Act
Revised Rules and Regulations aligned with the amended Act

Preparation of:

A consolidated and harmonized legal framework
An implementation roadmap for enforcement of amended provisions

Conduct of a consultative validation session with legal fraternity and relevant stakeholders

3.2 Timeframe

This assignment is proposed to be completed within the period of maximum 02 months from the date of signing the agreement. The consultant is expected to propose a detailed work plan in the technical proposal. The final timeline will be jointly agreed upon by GRC, PRCS, and the selected consultant, considering contextual requirements and stakeholder consultations.

3.3 Reporting / Deliverables

The consultant will be required to submit deliverables which include an (i) inception report outlining the methodology and work plan; (ii)Revised Rules and Regulations Aligned with Proposed Amendments, (iii) A presentation (PPT) summarizing and highlighting the key amendments and changes will also be submitted as part of the final deliverables

Deliverable (i): Inception Report

The inception report (maximum five pages) shall briefly outline the proposed methodology, stakeholder mapping, consultation tools and approach, as well as a clear work plan with timeline, along with initial findings derived from the preliminary document review.

Deliverable (ii): Revised Rules and Regulations Aligned with Proposed Amendments

The Consultant shall review, update, and draft the revised operational Rules and Regulations to ensure direct alignment with the proposed legislative amendments. These must be aligned with the needs of the EPA-GB, reflect ground realities/related issues, and aligned with the existing law & enforcement systems. This deliverable requires updating existing administrative guidelines, procedural rulebooks, and compliance standards, ensuring that all specific sub-clauses, operational workflows, and organizational enforcement mechanisms reflect the newly introduced legal changes. The final output must be a clean, fully updated version of the Rules and Regulations, highlighted with tracked changes or a comparative matrix showing old versus revised provisions for clear internal governance and immediate operational utility.

Deliverable (iii): Power Point Presentation (PPT)

The PPT must explain the whole process of the Act review, highlight changes as compared to old version, and challenges.

Consultancy Design and Methodology

The consultant (s) must propose the design and methodology for this consultancy. It can be review of secondary data and collection of primary data through interviews, consultations, and Focus Group Discussion (FGDs).

Required Qualifications and Experience

The consultant should preferably have:

Advanced degree in Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Law with experience of policy development/ review, or related field.
Strong understanding of environmental governance, policy formulation, and regulatory frameworks.
Demonstrated experience in policy review, drafting, and institutional analysis.
Familiarity with climate change, biodiversity, and sustainable development issues.
Experience working with government institutions and regulatory bodies.
Strong analytical, consultation, and drafting skills.

Responsibilities and Duties

The GRC (Pakistan) /PRCS NHQ and PHQ -GB will:

Review the applications received, select and contract the consultant/s.
Ensure payments are in line with the agreed schedule/deliverables.
Organize regular meetings with the consultant.
Approve the inception, and final report in consultation with EPA-GB.

Facilitate in field coordination.
Review the deliverables by engaging legal department at PRCS.
Play role of primary point of contact for this assignment.

The GB-EPA office will:

Provide the necessary relevant documents to the consultant, including the list of stakeholders.
Facilitate the consultant in organizing consultations/meetings with relevant stakeholders.
Review and validate the updated Act document.
Chair the progress review meetings with the consultant in consultation with PRCS & GRC.

Consultant will:

Complete the consultancy assignment as per the defined scope in ToRs and agreement.
Submit the invoice and deliverables as per the agreed-upon timeframe.
Coordinate closely with GB-EPA, PRCS -GB branch, and PRCS Legal department.
Participate in progress review meetings and share updates, challenges, etc.
Suggest stakeholders and coordinate with them for the assignment.
Facilitate the validation workshop -if organized.

Application details

7.1 Application details

The interested consultant/firm must submit the following.

Technical proposal: It includesa Statement of eligibility with examples supporting the statement, including 01 sample (full document or summary) of similar assignments, Methodology, work plan, updated CV (s), and three references.

Financial proposal: The duly signed financial proposal as a lump sum fee in PKR (not split into parts like travel, accommodation, per day, etc. Please use the table below for your financial proposal), covering all associated costs of the consultancy.

Financial Proposal

Review and update Environmental Protection Act 2014 Gilgit-Baltistan (GB)

S. #

Description

Amount (PKR)

Total consultancy fees, inclusive of all applicable taxes, and associated costs.

Note: The PRCS & GRC will bear the costs of final validation workshop.

7.2 Selection/Awards:

Based on an initial ranking as per the criteria stated below, a minimum of 3 to 5 consultants/ firms with the highest score will be invited to present their technical proposal in a meeting (presentation) of approx. 30 minutes.

Note: The bidders are prohibited from presenting new documents that were not submitted with the offer.

Applicants must raise questions in writing two (02) days before the deadline for submission of the quote to the following -mentioned email addresses.

GRC & PRCS reserves the right to continue further communication for any clarification after the submission of quotes via a combination of media (e.g., post, email, phone). GRC & PRCS may – but is not obliged to – ask each tenderer individually for clarification regarding their quote within a reasonable time limit, to be determined by the evaluation committee.

7.3 Evaluation criteria

The decision for the award of the contract will be determined via credit points assigned to the dossiers submitted according to the following criteria:

The financial proposal/offered price: 40% (the lower the price gets more points).
Technical Proposal and Presentation: 60%.

30% Statement of eligibility, including samples of similar assignments.
15% Methodology
15% Presentation.

7.4 Proposal Submission:

Interested consultants should submit their detailed proposals (Technical & Financial), including a cover letter, by 31ST August 2026 at 12:00 PM, by hand or by courier in a sealed envelope.

The envelope MUSTclearly identify the sender and receiver names and mention:

Tender Documents – Please do not open!

Quotation

Attn:

Procurement Department -German Red Cross

C/O Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) National Headquarter,

Sector H-8, Islamabad Mobile: 03005552117

7.5 Confidentiality and publication

All recipients of tender documents, whether they submit a tender or not, shall treat the details of the documents as confidential as possible.
According to German/European procurement law, information about the award of a contract (name of company, type of product, extent, and duration of contract) might be made open to the public unless you disagree with your quotation, giving the reason for refusal.

Note: Only shortlisted consultants/firms will be contacted.

Please DO NOT submit your offer by FAX or by email, which will not be accepted. Late bid(s) will not be entertained.

7.2 Payment Method:

German Red Cross will pay the consultant within 15 days after receipt of the invoice. For payments, the invoice along with other supporting documents shall be sent to the German Red Cross Office, C/o Pakistan Red Crescent Society, National Headquarters, Sector H-8, Islamabad. Payment shall be made in PKR and through cross cheque/online transfer in favour of Consultant/Firm (name): after the deduction of all applicable government taxes. The payment details will be as follows:

20% on submission of inception report. Subject to the satisfaction and approval of the GRC/PRCS Project Team & EPA GB

80% on submission of final Document /deliverables. Subject to the satisfaction and approval of the GRC/PRCS Project Team & EPA GB

General Conditions

8.1 Self-Declaration

The signee of the attached “Declaration of Conformity” (Annex I) assures that:

1) No reasons for exclusion as mentioned per EU guideline 2014/24/EU, Art. 57, Paragraph 1 exist.

2) The tenderer fulfils the GRC claim on good governance, environmental, and social. responsibility,

3) The tenderer agrees to participate in checks and audits as described.

8.2 Acceptance/Rejection of Bids

GRC reserves the right to accept or reject any or all tenders without assigning any reason and is not bound to accept the lowest bid. Incomplete/altered/conditional bids/bids with missing prices shall not be entertained in any case and shall be rejected straight away.

8.3 Failure and Termination

If the Service Provider fails to fulfil the contract within the agreed specifications, GRC reserves the right to take legal action against the Service Provider. The client may even consider blacklisting the Service Provider.

8.3 Good governance and social responsibility

The tenderer will be excluded if:

The Company/Service Provider is bankrupt or being wound up, is having its affairs administered by the courts, has entered an arrangement with creditors, has suspended business activities, is the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or is in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations. The Company/Service Provider has been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means that the contracting authority can justify. The Company/Service Provider has failed to fulfil obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions or the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the country in which it is established, with those of the country of the contracting organization, or those of the country where the contract is to be carried out. The Company/Service Provider has been the subject of a judgment that has the force of res judicata for fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organization, or any other illegal activity detrimental to the organization’s financial interests. The Company/Service Provider has been declared to be in serious breach of contract for failure to comply with its contractual obligations pursuant to another procurement procedure or grant award procedure financed through this organization.
The Company/Service Provider fails to sign and agree to the terms mentioned in the “Declaration of Conformity”.

For any clarification, please feel free to contact:

Mr. Abdul Ghani Khan

Position: Manager Finance & Admin

Cell No: 03005552117, E: [email protected]

TORs accepted and signed:

Acceptance by the bidder:

I hereby confirm that the Terms and Conditions as per TORs for the services mentioned above are acceptable to me and that I shall abide by these Terms and Conditions.

Bid Validity days NTN: ______________

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Stamp, Date & Signature ________________________________________________________

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