The NEMA EIA Regulations, which came into effect on 8 December 2014, form part of a holistic attempt by government to consolidate regulations pertaining to the EIA authorisation process. The move impacts the mining industry in particular, as well as industrial and development projects which require EIA authorisation.
SRK Consulting's Briony Liber, principal environmental scientist and a partner in the firm, admitted that, a year ago, SRK had joined the industry in greeting the proposed regulations with a mix of scepticism and confusion. "Over the past year we've had a chance to work through the information and engage in workshops with the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA)," said Liber. "We now understand the principles behind the thinking and we are excited about the new regulations."
With the arrival of the new 2014 EIA regulations the importance of social licence to operate, stakeholder relationships and pre-planning has again come full circle, with the permitting process currently being the only part of the new authorisation system to be regulated.
Shift in thinking
"The authorisation process is not a new concept. The shift in thinking is to commence the authorisation process once a project is well defined, as opposed to defining the project in parallel with the authorisation process," Franciska Lake, principal environmental scientist at SRK, noted.
SRK's senior environmental scientist, Selma Nel, noted that with the strict permitting time frames in place, project proponents cannot afford to start the EIA permitting 300 day 'stop watch' if they haven't done their pre-planning and, most importantly, if the project description is still evolving. This is because the time frames do not allow for any material changes to the project description.
"Our recommendation to all our clients is that before you come to permitting, know who your stakeholders are, engage with them on project alternatives, identify opportunities to avoid impacts through designing them out of your project," Liber stressed. "Don't submit your application until you have a project description freeze, because you will very likely get kicked back to day one or miss your deadlines."
Dee Fischer, chief director of Integrated Environmental Management at the DEA, noted that the central premise behind the changes was to create a parallel process for the full suite of permitting requirements, from water to waste management, air quality and basic assessments, scoping and Environmental Impact Reporting.
The aim is to reduce administrative steps within the EIA process to improve efficiencies, provide consistency, ensure greater guidance is offered, and, within a short period of time, create an online application process which will allow for greater screening and the collation of information. "We want to focus on the entire impact footprint," explained Fischer, and create a greater alignment among permitting authorities by improving systems, processes and access to environmental data.
It will be key for independent consultants operating in this space and proponents to fully understand the opportunities provided in the amendments to the regulations and work within the new provisions. Due to the limited time frames for gathering additional information through the process, more negative decisions may be passed down if sufficient information is not provided during the process.
For Fischer, one of the key changes enacted by the new regulations is the ability to now issue single or multiple environmental authorisations (EAs). This means that a single combined process may be undertaken for several activities of the same type at different locations or interrelated activities at the same or different locations, for example in an Industrial Development Zone, for which either a single or multiple EAs could be issued.
In conclusion, SRK's view is that the quantum of work required to undertake an EIA is essentially unchanged; however, proponents should not be lulled into the false sense of security that all this work can be completed in the 300 day authorisation period.
