published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

In this thesis I develop a critical theory of public participation and deliberation in post-communist Romania. Primarily, this theory is developed from a critical assessment of two intermediate-level Romanian institutions: the deliberative system that has formed to debate the authorisation of a proposed gold mining project in Roșia Montana, Romania and the legitimacy claims of the series of hybrid forums that were convened as part of that project's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The hybrid forum legitimacy claims were assessed based on a standard of hybrid forum legitimacy developed in this thesis from deliberative democracy theory and practice. Grounded in new institutionalism theory, this thesis describes the historical and contemporary socio-economic conditions that have shaped Romanian public participation and deliberation.

published_or_final_version / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts in Transport Policy and Planning

This environmental assessment document has been prepared pursuant to the requirements of Section 102 (2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (PL 91 -190, 42 USC 4321 et. seq.), Tide V of the Airport and Airway Improvement Act of 1982 (PL 97 -248, as amended by the Airport Safety and Capacity Act of 1987), and other laws as applicable. The format and subject matter included in this report conform to the requirements and standards set forth by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as contained principally in Order 5050.4A, Airport Environmental Handbook, but also addresses appropriate items in FAA Order 1050.1 D, Policies and Procedures for Considering Environmental Impacts.

These photographs offer illustrations of the people, places and resources in the 9 proposed solar energy zones (SEZs) visited during the Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement.

These four presentations were prepared for the Society for Applied Anthropology's annual meeting in 2012 in Baltimore, Maryland. These presentations present findings from the Solar PEIS Native American ethnographic study. / The Ethnographic Research team at BARA in the School of Anthropology, UofA has shifted to what we are calling “ethnography in bits and pieces” for situating American Indian cultural concerns. We wanted to provide essays that would more directly target the resources, places, and landscapes actually identified by tribal representatives during field work. We chose to negotiate the essays with the tribal representatives. We chose to have the essays follow the discussion of tribal cultural concerns and thus be directly responsive to those concerns. This session provides cases from three studies and assessment of this new methodology.

The traditional lands of the Southern Paiute people are bounded by more than 600 miles of Piapaxa (Colorado River) from the Kaiparowits Plateau in the north to Blythe, California in the south. According to traditional beliefs, Southern Paiute people were created in this traditional land and, through this creation, the Creator gave Paiute people a special supernatural responsibility to protect and manage this land including its water and natural resources. Puaxantu Tuvip (sacred land) is the term that refers to traditional ethnic territory. Within these lands no place was more special than Piapaxa 'uipi (Big River Canyon) where the Colorado River cuts through the Grand Canyon.

In the pursuit of sustainable development, Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) are acknowledged globally as a tool designed to assist governing authorities by providing the information required to make an informed decision regarding development proposals. South Africa has entrenched this EIA requirement in the presiding environmental legislation: the National Environmental Management Act (Act 107 of 1 998). In the effort to manage the negative impact of development on the rocky ridges of Johannesburg, the Gauteng Department of Agriculture, conservation, Environment and Land Affairs (GDACEL) has introduced a buffer zone requirement in the procedure of the EIA. The Red Data Plant Policy for Environmental Impact Evaluations for GDACEL described a buffer zone as a collar of land that filters out inappropriate influences from surrounding activities. As a tool in the EIA, a buffer zone is a worthwhile concept. However, the determination of the dimension of the buffer zone on rocky ridges, is non-discriminatory between sites, and thus, presents potential contention between decision-making authorities and developers. There is a need for further research to establish a scientifically acceptable method of determining site-specific buffer zones for individual EIA applications. The key objective of this paper is to suggest the possibility of determining a buffer zone that accommodates the unique environmental aspects of each site. This is achieved by determining the distance between the edge of existing developments and the point at which the successional climax community within the adjacent natural vegetation is established. Three suitable study sites, consisting of developed residential estates on ridges adjacent to nature reserves, were identified within the greater Johannesburg metropolis. The three study sites identified for this assessment include Kloofendal (west), Morning Hill (east) and Kliprivier (south). Within each study site field surveys were conducted along transects starting 5m from the development edge and ending 75m within the nature reserve adjacent to each site. Quantitative (species density) and qualitative (Braun-Blanquet cover-abundance values) data analysis was employed to describe and evaluate the identified plant communities. The data in this study provides clear indication that a 25-35m buffer zone would suffice for these specific plant communities to maintain a climax successional status if impacted on by residential development. This paper thus makes a case for permitting the determining of variable buffers zones, based on a gradient analysis of a plant community, as a potential panacea to the problem of resistance and reluctance to accept present standard buffer zones. / Thesis (M. Environmental Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

South Africa is one of the world's foremost mining nations and mining and its associated industries continue to form the cornerstone of the country's economy. However, the mining industry has, by its very nature, the potential to endanger human health and safety, as well as the physical environment. Consequently, mining will always contend with major environmental challenges and remain under constant public pressure to demonstrate its commitment to responsible environmental management. The key to effective environmental management is the use of a systematic approach to plan, control and improve environmental efforts. An Environmental Management System (EMS) employs such an approach and allows organisations to address environmental concerns in an orderly and consistent manner. Such a system allows organisations to anticipate and meet their environmental objectives and to ensure ongoing compliance with national and/or international requirements. An organisation with no existing EMS should, initially, establish its current position with regard to the environment by means of an initial review process. The aim should be to consider all environmental aspects of the organisation as a basis for establishing the EMS. Although a few gold mines in South Africa have implemented an EMS, the question of which significant environmental aspects need to be managed in such a system at a deep level gold mine shaft, remains largely unanswered. This study endeavoured to provide answers to this question and develop a generic model for the initial review process of a deep level gold mine shaft. The development of such a model should facilitate the development and implementation of an EMS at such shafts, thereby contributing to reduce the environmental impact of gold mines. The research consisted of a literature review of national and international literature on the topic and a comparative empirical study, which evaluated the mining operations of two deep level gold mine shafts. Data collection and analysis was done according to the IS0 14015 guideline on the environmental assessment of sites and organisations. Other techniques used included business process analysis, the use of modified Leopoldt matrices and risk analysis to determine the significance of the environmental impacts and aspects. This study contributed to a generic model for the initial environmental review process that precedes the development of an EMS at deep level gold mine shafts through: developing a generic sub-model that can be used to determine the scope of any deep level gold mine shaft; identifying some of the significant environmental impacts and aspects of deep level gold mine shafts, as well as identifying some generic business activities that are potentially destructive and carry a high risk of causing significant negative environmental impacts. / Thesis (M. Environmental Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

There is no doubt that the assessment of social impacts is as important, in some cases even more important, than the assessment of biophysical and economic impacts of development projects. Nonetheless, social impact assessment (SIA) has remained an "orphan" in the broader environmental impact assessment (EIA) context, both internationally and in South Africa, and is often neglected or treated as a less important aspect of an EIA. It was the aim of this study to measure perceptions of relative neglect of SIA in South Africa against the theory and practice of SIA as reflected in the literature. The basic hypothesis was that, whereas the theory and practice of SIA has reached a sophisticated level in the developed world, the practice of SIA in South Africa is not yet on a sound footing and that it does not receive the professional attention it deserves in a country beset by enormous social challenges. Thus the research problem was whether SIA is practiced at a satisfactory level of proficiency in South Africa. Social aspects of impact assessment in the North West Province of South Africa were investigated, with the aim to identify shortcomings and their possible causes and to make recommendations for improvement. The article format was used, and the main section of the study comprises two articles. The first article, a theoretical perspective based on a literature study, is a critical evaluation of SIA as part of the EIA process in South Africa against the background of international guidelines and best practices. The article includes sections on the historical background of the development of SIA in South Africa, the legal status and requirements of SIA in the country, and a critical evaluation of SIA regulation in South Africa. It was found that the persistent problems of SIA practice, experienced in other parts of the world, are also evident in South Africa. Apart from institutional, financial and professional constraints, there are also serious problems associated with approach and methods. The second article is an evaluation of and recommendations for the improvement of the practice of SIA in the North West Province. An empirical study of 26 EIAs, performed in the province between 1999 and 2002, was done. It was established that in terms of social baseline data, the identification of significant social impacts, specialist studies, public participation, recommended mitigation measures, and the attention paid to social impacts in records of decision (RODS) SIA practice in the North West Province is far from satisfactory. Apathy towards social impacts is associated with a general lack of SIA expertise. The following recommendations are made in the study to improve the level of SIA practice: a system of mandatory registration of SIA practitioners should be introduced; specialized SIA training programmes for SIA practitioners and officials should be developed and accredited; SIA specialists should be used to assess significant social impacts identified in EIAs; a policy framework and code of ethics for SIA practice should be developed; methodological guidelines for SIA should be supplied in or as a supplement to the new EIA guidelines; and the public participation process should be redesigned. / Thesis (M. Environmental Science)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.