The concept of environmental Protection and environmental ri g ht s are the recentrndevelopments in the world . It is after the 1972 Stockholm conference on humanrnenvironment that the world became aware of the necessi ty of env ir onmental protectionrnand the relationship between environment and human rights . Since then s ig nificantrnnumber of instruments are deve loped and adopted in different times in the world to makernthe environment safe for the health and wellbeing of mankind .rnSimilarly in E thiopia since the formation of modern state or government , there werernprovisions under the laws protecting the environment. Especially beginning with thernregime of Emperor Menelik II, and onwards until the coming in to power of the EPRDFrnled government in the year 1991 , there are provisions under the laws that o ne way or thernother protect the environment. However, they are criticized as inadequate, dispersed,rnlacked comprehensiveness and focused on the economic advantages of the naturalrnresources than focusing on the health and wellbeing of the society.rnTaking the weakness of the previous regimes and the global development of thernenvironmental protection efforts into considerations, the [PROF led government enactedrnthe FDRE Constitution in the year 1995 which g uarantee and recognize environmentalrnrights of the people both in substantive as well as procedural manner. That means, itrnrecognize the right to clean and healthy environment as substantive right as well as thernright of the people to participate in environmental decision making together w ith accessrnto information and access to justice as a procedural environmental rights . Thesernconstitutionally guaranteed rights of the people are n.lrther elaborated by th e EPE, thernCSE and by the environmental leg islati ons such as [lAP, [PCP and SWMP . However ,rnthe mere constitutional guarantee of the rights does not mean that the right s of the peoplernare respected . There has to be the mechanism and in stitu tion for the implementation andrnthe monitoring of the same. As a result , the EPA is established a t the federal level tornmonitor the implementation of environmental laws in Ethiopia . In so doing the authorityrnhas to play number of roles which among others are playing the role of leadership inrnestablishing strategies and priorities, in formulating practicable environmental standards,rnin assigning environmental inspectors, in in stalling so und technologies and the likes.rnWhen we see the practical application of the roles of E PA in monitoring thernimplementation of environmental laws, the writer can say the authority is not effective inrnperforming its role of monitoring the implementation of en viro nmen tal laws that wouldrnprotect the environmental right s of the people. That is due to external as we ll as internalrnsources of problems which need measures to be taken on the part or the government onrnthe one hand a nd on the part of the auth ori ty on the other.