Statement by the Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism on 8 September 2004

New EIA Regulations: Ensuring the Strongest Possible Product

WEDNESDAY, 08 SEPTEMBER 2004: The Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism (DEAT) has taken note of recent media reports and editorial comment expressing the concerns of certain environmental stakeholders about the new draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations, and the drafting process thereof.

Our single over-riding consideration is to ensure that our EIA regime is as strong as possible to ensure effective protection and management of our natural resources. The current EIA process is neither the most efficient nor the most effective form of impact management, with relatively minor EIA’s clogging the system to the point of log-jam. After seven years of EIA experience, our Department and our provincial partners have identified a number of issues in need of improvement - and it is these issues that the new EIA regulations, published for comment on 25 June 2004, aim to address.

The concerns reported by some media outlets about a lack of inclusivity in the drafting process are without foundation. Our Department remains 100% committed to public inclusivity because ensuing the strongest possible EIA product entails making full use of the experience, knowledge and insight of all interested parties. We welcome the levels of interest in this process, and encourage all individuals and organisations to engage with us about their concerns.

It is for this reason that the initial draft regulations were published for comment for an extended period of 60 days. This resulted in more than 100 exceptionally valuable and constructive comments being submitted to our Department. There was also a series of workshops held in all nine provinces, in addition to ongoing bilaterals with selected major stakeholder groupings, which continue apace.

All comments received, both written and verbal, are being processed, and we aim to publish an amended version of the draft regulations by early November - for a further round of public comment and consultation. We will also be arranging targeted stakeholder fora for further in-depth engagement. On the basis of all of these discussions, we aim to promulgate the final draft regulations by March 2005 - in order to ensure that the regulations take effect by 1 April next year.

It should also be noted that the National Environmental Management Act amendment in terms of which these draft regulations will be promulgated provides for a wide range of tools enabling and empowering environmental management - of which EIA’s are only one instrument. Our department will, in the near future, also be producing further guidelines and possible regulations around other potential tools like Strategic Environmental Assessments and Risk Assessments.

For more information contact: J P Louw (Chief Director: Communications)
Mobile: (082) 569-3340 | E-mail: mailto:[email-masked]