Global mining consultancy firm SRK Consulting hosted a workshop for its mining clients which aimed to assist them in unpacking the new National Environmental Management Act (Nema): Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations last month.

The regulations, which came into effect in December last year, are an attempt by government to consolidate regulations pertaining to the EIA authorisation process and support the development of an ‘One Environmental System’ for South Africa. The move impacts on the mining industry, in particular, as well as industrial and development projects that require EIA authorisation.

Explaining the regulations in more depth, Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) integrated environmental management chief director Dee Fischer noted during the workshop 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,” she said.

Fischer added that the DEA wants to focus on the entire impact footprint and create a greater alignment among permitting authorities by improving systems, processes and access to environmental data.

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.

“It will be key for independent consultants and proponents operating in this space to fully understand the opportunities provided in the amendments to the regulations and work within the new provisions,” she mentioned, noting that, owing to the limited timeframes for gathering additional information through the process, more negative decisions may be passed down if sufficient information is not provided during the process.