Environmental impact assessment follow-up has been widely addressed by various researchers. However, there is still a gap in the actual implementation of this process. This study addresses this gap by evaluating the effectiveness of implementing the environmental authorizations of Eskom’s Kusile and Medupi Power Stations during the construction phase. The main aim of the study is to determine whether the environmental authorization conditions were effectively implemented by project developers and whether full compliance which could lead towards sustainable development was at the forefront of Kusile and Medupi developments. The survey method was used whereby questionnaires were formulated and completed by fifty (50) participants involved in the implementation of both power stations’ environmental authorizations. The results showed that the importance of protecting the environment and overall compliance with the projects’ environmental authorization conditions are well understood and implemented. However, some of the responses indicated the difficulty in implementing certain environmental authorization conditions such as retaining existing vegetation cover. About Nineteen (19) external audit reports (of which nine were for Kusile and ten for Medupi) between the periods of 2008 to 2014 were reviewed and the audit results shown good percentage of over 90% compliance with the environmental authorization at both power stations. In conclusion, the environmental authorizations were well implemented by both Kusile and Medupi Power Stations. The environmental management through compliance with the environmental authorization is at the forefront of the Eskom’s developments and thus promotes sustainable development. The outcome of this study has a wide application that includes application to any new project that involves building infrastructure. / Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Environmental Management)

In the environmental impact assessment (EIA) field, much attention is paid to the process leading up to the granting of an environmental authorization, but very little is given to what happens after the consent decision is granted. This study aimed to address this lack through the implementation of an EIA follow-up procedure in a region of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Follow-up focused on assessing the amount of non-compliance with EIA consent conditions as well as the overall impact that projects had had on the environment. The results of this follow-up process were then used to develop a risk screening tool that could be used to screen out new EIA applications that were likely to require follow-up to control default or impact. Projects that showed the greatest amount of default were those submitted by local municipal proponents for basic infrastructure type activities such as sewage treatment works and low-income housing developments. Private companies that compete in the open market presented the lowest default risk. Default with consent conditions ranged between 0% and 100% with an average rate of default of 49%. The overall environmental impact for the majority (58%) of projects followed-up on was low (on a 5 point scale of low to high), with only 1% of projects scoring high on impact. The study found a moderate positive correlation between default and impact (rs = 0.48) although a significant percentage (39%) of projects scored high on default but low on impact. Follow-up appears to have had a positive effect on reducing the average amounts of default and to a lesser extent the degree of impact. The risk screening tool developed is promising with statistically significant matches between predicted and actual default and impact scores for three out of the four test samples. / Geography / D. Phil. (Geography)

The study focuses on the role of government in the provision of environmental programmes, events and campaigns. South Africa is a signatory to a number of environmental treaties and protocols hence it is expected to celebrate environmental days annually, such as World Wetland Day, National Water Week, World Environmental Week, Arbor Day and many more. The study considered the community of Masibekela, a remote rural village in Mpumalanga Province under the Nkomazi Local Municipality as its study area. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were applied to gather the necessary data from the four sets of respondents to a questionnaire survey, namely: the Sector Manager of Tonga Environmental Centre, traditional leadership and community members, learners and educators. The study discovered that the provision of environmental programmes, events and campaigns to the study area by the government leaves much to be desired. It lays bare that the community members of Masibekela are neglected environmentally by the government as compared to schools. The study also revealed contrasting features both in the knowledge and celebration of some of the environmental days by both the schools (learners and educators) and the general community members. A high percentage of learners and educators expressed their knowledge and celebration of environmental days since they are frequently visited by government officials to promote environmental programmes, events and campaigns geared towards environmental education and awareness but the same cannot be said about the traditional leaders and community members. It is recommended, among other things, that the Tonga Environmental Centre, as a custodian of provision of environmental programmes, events and campaigns, should be capacitated both in terms of human resources and strategic planning so as to meet its expectations. It is also recommended vi that more funding for bursaries for environmental studies for the youth should be made available and also more capital should be injected into the actual promotion of environmental programmes, events and campaigns. The National Department of Education in collaboration with the Department of Environmental Affairs should consider including Environmental Education in the school curriculum as a compulsory subject in all grades / Geography / M. A. (Geography)

Chemical (gaseous) emissions from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) are perceived as odour and can generate undesirable health reactions. These could affect the quality of life to those regularly albeit intermittently exposed, although regular exposure may result in tolerance and loss of recognition of the odour. Consequently, research is necessary to establish the role of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in ensuring that facilities such as WWTP do not pose a threat to local communities, particularly in relation to housing developments for poor communities. The aim of this study was to investigate if the EIA regulations were effectively implemented before building of the Residential Development Proiect (RDP) houses at KwaMathukuza, in Newcastle South Africa. Furthermore, the study intended to determine the impact the (WWTP) has on the health of people who reside close to the site and to establish if the families staying close to the WWTP have any common ailments such as handicapped babies, early deaths within families. Findings would also indicate if RDP houses should be built in close proximity to such sites. Data was collected through a survey of 85 residents living within five kilometers and ten residing beyond five kilometers from the WWTP. The participants were selected randomly. Municipality employees who worked with the WWTP were also sampled together with healthcare givers. Data included information about health of the community, their perception of the gases released from the WWTP as well as EIA meetings and processes related to the construction of the RDP houses. The outcome of this study revealed that EIA regulations were not adequately implemented and that this residential site was unsuitable for the construction of RDP houses. It emerged that the residence regularly experience unpleasant odours released from the WWTP. These could be associated with ill-health of the residents as well as v degradation the environment in general. The study also found that the effect of the WWTP affects even those communities who reside beyond five kilometers from the WWTP. The researcher argues for more stringent mechanisms to ensure that EIA regulations are properly implemented to prevent adverse effects on the communities. / Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Environmental Management)

Thesis (MPhil (Sustainable Development Planning and Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / Despite our best planning and Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”) efforts we seem to be failing in our pursuit of Sustainable Development. In South Africa we find ourselves confronted with the harsh reality that after 14 years of democracy, more than a decade of compulsory EIA, and 12 years of legislated Integrated Development Planning (“IDP”), poverty remains widespread and persists alongside affluence, while inequalities are also growing. In addition South Africa’s life-supporting ecosystems continue to deteriorate at an alarming rate. Critically reflecting on what is going wrong, it is clear that there is an emergent consensus in the discourse that points towards the inadequate consideration of alternatives. A literature review of the historical development and social construction of the concept of “sustainable development”; a theoretical analysis of sustainable development, planning and EIA; as well as an analysis of the legislative and policy framework for EIA and IDP in South Africa, shows that the consideration of alternatives is the “heart” and “soul” of EIA and IDP, and therefore of the pursuit of sustainable development in South Africa. A content analysis of a sample of EIAs and IDPs undertaken and produced in the Western Cape Province of South Africa, however, indicates that alternatives are not being adequately considered during the current practice of EIA and IDP in South Africa – resulting in only slightly less unsustainable development and a perpetuation of the unsustainable and unjust “business-as-usual” development types and patterns of the past. EIA and IDP can never be, and were never supposed to be completely separate processes. EIAs must be considered within the context to be provided by the sustainable development vision, goals and objectives to be formulated in, and the desired spatial form and pattern of land use to be reflected in an area’s IDP and Spatial Development Frameworks (“SDF”). Properly informed Strategic Environmental Assessment based IDPs and SDFs, refined by Environmental Management Frameworks, should therefore provide the strategic context and decision-making framework for the consideration of need, desirability and alternatives; with the actual and potential socio-economic and ecological impacts of a specific proposal to be considered during the project-level EIA. Project-level EIAs in turn providing “feedback” to the planning processes to ensure reflexivity and continued improvement. The improved integration and convergence of IDP and EIA decision-making methodologies and practice are therefore paramount to the adequate consideration of alternatives and the pursuit of sustainable development in South Africa. While the challenges to be addressed by EIA and IDP in South Africa are complex and ‘wicked’, and the pursuit of sustainable development solutions is therefore also a complex and ongoing process, the need for fundamental alternatives that will lead to drastic and urgent change for the better are, however, just as real. The urgency and importance of the sustainable development challenge for South Africa calls for bold decisions and the search for sustainable alternatives that will deliver urgent and fundamental change for all South Africans. The practice of EIA and IDP should be driven by these realities and reflect the need for urgent and fundamental change.

Orientador: Manuel Rolando Berríos Godoy / Banca: Cláudio Di Mauro / Banca: Sylvio Andreozzi / Banca: Cenira Maria Lupinacci da Cunha / Banca: Solange Terezinha de Lima Guimarães / Resumo: O aumento do rebanho de suinos no Brasil, em especial, no Triângulo Mineiro (Minas Gerais), que poderá gerar diversos impactos ambientais nos solos, na água e no ar. Para minimizar os impactos desse processo, foi elaborado a carta de aconselhamento, com vistas à alocação de granjas de suinos em áreas menos vulneráveis aos impactos de seus dejetos (resíduos) percolados na água subsuperficial da bacia do córrego Bebedouro (BCB), afluente do Rio Araguari, no município de Uberlândia - MG. Na carta em questão delimitou-se os locais menos susceptíveis às alterações ambientais geradas por esses empreendimentos, que são áreas de solos argilosos e águas subsuperficiais mais profundas, entre outros atributos, por meio do cruzamento de mapas de declividade, substrato rochoso, materiais inconsolidados e profundidade do nível de água subsuperficial. A qualidade da água subsuperficial da BCB, conforme estudo de caso, foi analisada com vistas a conhecer as possíveis alterações da granja de suínos do Instituto Federal do Triângulo Mineiro - IFTM - Campus Uberlândia - neste corpo hídrico. Os parâmetros de análise da água de subsuperfície foram: nitrogênio amoniacal, nitrito, nitrato, fósforo, cobre, zinco, DBO, sulfeto, coliformes termotolerantes, bactérias heterotróficas, pH e condutividade elétrica. Os parâmetros para a análise química do solo foram: CTC, fósforo, nitrogênio amoniacal, nitrito, nitrato, zinco, cobre, sulfeto, pH, condutividade e matéria orgânica e para a análise física foram: porosidade, permeabilidade e granulometria. Salienta-se que foram verificados alguns impactos em relação aos parâmetros em tela... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The increase in the pork herd in Brazil, especially in the Triangulo Mineiro region (Minas Gerais), will possibly generate several environmental impacts in the soil, water and air. In order to minimize these impacts in the process, a geo-environmental mapping, with the purpose of allocating pork farms in less vulnerable areas to the impacts of its trash (residues) diffused in the sub-superficial water of the basin of Bebedouro stream (BBS), an Araguari River affluent, in Uberlandia - MG. The mentioned map, limited itself to the less tendentious places to environmental changes, caused by these achievements, which are areas with clayey soilsdind deeper sub-superficial water, among other characteristics, through the crossing of the slope maps, rocky substratum, unconsolidated materials and depth of the subsuperficial water level. The quality of the sub-superficial water in the BBS, according to a case of study, was analyzed aiming at knowing the possible changes in the pork farm of the Instituto Federal do Triângulo Mineiro - IFTM - Uberlandia Campus - in this water body. The parameters of the sub-superficial water analysis were: ammoniac nitrogen, nitrite, nitrate, phosphorus, copper, zinc, bio-chemical Oxygen Demands (BOD), sulfide, thermo tolerant coliforms, heterotrophic bacteria, pH and electric conductivity. The parameters for the chemical analysis of the soil were: cation exchange capacity, ammoniac nitrogen, nitrite, nitrate, phosphorus, copper, zinc, sulfide, pH, conductivity and organic matter, and for the physical analysis were: porosity, permeability and granule metric. It is important to mention that some impacts were noticed related to the parameters in screen (BOD, nitrate, phosphorus, conductivity, thermo... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

The study focuses on the role of government in the provision of environmental programmes, events and campaigns. South Africa is a signatory to a number of environmental treaties and protocols hence it is expected to celebrate environmental days annually, such as World Wetland Day, National Water Week, World Environmental Week, Arbor Day and many more. The study considered the community of Masibekela, a remote rural village in Mpumalanga Province under the Nkomazi Local Municipality as its study area. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were applied to gather the necessary data from the four sets of respondents to a questionnaire survey, namely: the Sector Manager of Tonga Environmental Centre, traditional leadership and community members, learners and educators. The study discovered that the provision of environmental programmes, events and campaigns to the study area by the government leaves much to be desired. It lays bare that the community members of Masibekela are neglected environmentally by the government as compared to schools. The study also revealed contrasting features both in the knowledge and celebration of some of the environmental days by both the schools (learners and educators) and the general community members. A high percentage of learners and educators expressed their knowledge and celebration of environmental days since they are frequently visited by government officials to promote environmental programmes, events and campaigns geared towards environmental education and awareness but the same cannot be said about the traditional leaders and community members. It is recommended, among other things, that the Tonga Environmental Centre, as a custodian of provision of environmental programmes, events and campaigns, should be capacitated both in terms of human resources and strategic planning so as to meet its expectations. It is also recommended vi that more funding for bursaries for environmental studies for the youth should be made available and also more capital should be injected into the actual promotion of environmental programmes, events and campaigns. The National Department of Education in collaboration with the Department of Environmental Affairs should consider including Environmental Education in the school curriculum as a compulsory subject in all grades / Geography / M. A. (Geography)

A study was undertaken to determine if light-weighting orbital launch vehicles (rockets) improves lifetime environmental impacts of the vehicle. Light-weighting is performed by a material substitution where metal structures in the rocket are replaced with carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP’s). It is uncertain whether light-weighting the rocket in the same way as traditional vehicles are light-weighted would provide similar environmental benefits. Furthermore, the rocket system is significantly different from traditional vehicles and undergoes an atypical lifecycle, making analysis non-trivial. Seventy rocket configurations were sized using a Parametric Rocket Sizing Model (PRSM) which was developed for this research. Four different propellant options, three staging options, and eighteen different lift capacities were considered. Each of these seventy rockets did not include CFRP’s, thus establishing a baseline. The seventy rockets were then light-weighted with CFRP’s, making a total of seventy pairs of rockets. An environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was performed on each of the rockets to determine lifetime environmental impacts. During the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI), a Carbon Fiber Production Model was developed to determine the environmental burdens of carbon fiber production and to address issues identified with carbon fiber’s embodied burdens. The results of the LCA were compared across all rockets to determine what effects light-weighting had on environmental impact. The final conclusion is that light-weighting reduces lifetime environmental impacts of Liquid Oxygen-Rocket Propellant 1 and Nitrogen Tetroxide-Unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine rockets, while it likely benefits Liquid Oxygen-Liquid Hydrogen rockets. Light-weighting increases lifetime environmental impacts of Solid Propellant rockets.

CIDA, the leading Canadian agency in the area of international assistance, is responsible for approximately 78% of the country's aid budget. The Agency's mandate to "support sustainable development in developing countries, in order to reduce poverty and contribute to a more secure, equitable, and prosperous world" indicates that the Agency is concerned with social and cultural factors. However, CIDA does not have any specific mechanisms or tools such as SIA to help achieve its social and cultural sustainability goals. The objectives of this thesis were: a) to develop an analytical framework for undertaking and analysing SIA, and b) to compare CIDA's SIA-related strategies, procedures and mechanisms as they stand now to what is stated in the literature, so as to indicate how and when the Agency uses them, and also to assess their quality and effectiveness. The overarching question that constituted the pillar of this thesis was a two-pronged question: Do CIDA's strategies, procedures and mechanisms equal SIA without being SIA? And are those strategies, procedures and mechanisms adequate to cover issues that are normally dealt with through traditional SIA? This question was answered through 1) the application of the analytical framework on two proposals submitted to CIDA, and 2) an analysis of CIDA's SIA-related procedures based on the framework, key informant interviews, and a review of the literature on the Agency's policies, guidelines, and practices. Based on the literature review, the application of the analytical framework, and on the comments of the informants, the need for an SIA-type procedure for assessing social and cultural effects and impacts for CIDA funding is suggested. Such a practice might very well clarify the Agency's requirements in relation to the consideration of social and cultural factors in the development of projects. Also, it is important to stress that the process should not be reduced to a bureaucratic procedure blindly applied. CIDA could go without formulating a distinct protocol for SIA, as it already has several project planning tools and procedures that could lend themselves very well to the purpose of SIA. Indeed, the Agency's results-based management (RBM) framework could be altered so as to make it more holistic in that it would take into consideration both intended and unintended effects and impacts, and would better take into account social and cultural factors. The application of the logical framework analysis (LFA) can also be expanded to achieve similar goals. Further, the Agency could focus on developing a more integrated and comprehensive type of impact assessment that would touch on all the required types of assessments.

The work presented in this thesis stemmed out of the apparent lack of a method for incorporating salinity effects into environmental life cycle assessments. Salination of the water resources is a well-known problem in South Africa, and is of strategic concern. Any environmental decision support. tool that does not allow the evaluation of salinity effects therefore has limited applicability in the South African context. The starting-point for the work presented in this thesis was to evaluate existing impact categories, and the characterisation models used to calculate equivalency factors for these impact categories, in an attempt to incorporate salinity effects into existing categories and/or characterisation models. The types of effects that elevated (above normal background levels) dissolved salt concentrations have on the natural and man-made environment were evaluated, and it was concluded that, although there was some overlap with existing impact categories, some of the salinity effects could not be described by existing impact categories. It was also concluded that there are clear and quantifiable causal relationships between releases to the environment and salinity effects. A separate salinity impact category was therefore recommended that includes all salinity effects, including; aquatic ecotoxicity effects, damage to man-made environment, loss of agricultural production (livestock and crops), aesthetic effects and effects to terrestrial fauna and flora. Damage to the man-made environment is evaluated in terms of effects on equipment and structures, interference with processes, product quality and complexity of waste treatment, and is used as an indicator for the environmental consequences derived from the caused additional activity in the man-made environment. Once a conceptual model for a separate salinity impact category had been formulated, existing characterisation models were evaluated to determine their applicability for modelling salinity effects. Salination is a global problem, but generally restricted to local or regional areas, and in order to characterise salinity effects, an environmental fate model would be required in order to estimate salt concentrations in the various compartments, particularly surface and subsurface water. A well-known environmental fate and effect model was evaluated to determine if it could be used either as is, or in modified form to calculate salinity potentiaIs for LCA. It was however concluded that the model is not suitable for the calculation of salinity potentials, and it was therefore decided to develop an environmental fate model that would overcome the limitations of existing model, in terms of modelling the movement of salts in the environment. In terms of spatial differentiation, the same approach that was adopted in the existing model was adopted in developing an environmental fate model for South African conditions. This was done by defining a aunit South African catchmenta (including the air volume above the catchment), which consists of an urban surface; rural agricultural soil (and associated soil moisture); rural natural soil (and associated moisture), groundwater (natural and agricultural) and one river with a flow equal to the sum of the flows of all rivers in South Africa, and a concentration equal to the average concentration of each river in the country. A non steady-state environmental fate model (or, hydrosalinity model) was developed that can predict environmental concentrations at a daily time-step in all the compartments relevant to the calculation of salinity potentials. The environmental fate model includes all the major processes governing the distribution of common ions (sodium, calcium, magnesium, sulphate, chloride and bicarbonate) in the various compartments, and described as total dissolved salts. The effect factors used in the characterisation model were based on the target water quality ranges given by the South African Water Quality Guidelines in order to calculate salinity potentials. The total salinity potential is made up of a number of salinity effects potentials, including; damage to man-made environment, aquatic ecotoxicity effects, damage to man-made environment, loss of agricultural production (livestock and crops), aesthetic effects and effects to terrestrial fauna and flora. The total salinity potentials for emissions into the various initial release compartments are shown in the table below. Initial release compartment Atmosphere River Rural natural surface Rural agricultural surface Total salinity potential (kg TDS equJkg) 0.013 0.16 0.03 1.00 The salinity potentiaIs are only relevant to South African conditions, and their use in LeA in other countries may not be applicable. This, in effect, means that the life cycle activities that generate salts should be within the borders of South Africa. It has been recognised that the LCA methodology requires greater spatial differentiation. Salination is a global problem, but generally restricted to local or regional areas on the globe, and it is foreseen that local or regional salinity potentials would need to be calculated for different areas of the earth where salinity is a problem. The LCA practitioner would then need to know something about the spatial distribution of LCA activities in order to apply the relevant salinity potentials. The LCA practitioner should also take care when applying the salinity potentials to prevent double accounting for certain impacts. Currently, this is simple because no equivalency factors exist for common ions, or for total dissolved salts as a lumped parameter. The distribution of salinity potentials, which make up the total salinity potential, appears to be supported by the environmental policies and legislation of South Africa, in which irrigation using saline water is listed as a controlled activity, and subject to certain conditions. The major recommendations regarding further work are focussed on the collection of data that will allow further refinement of the model, and to decrease the uncertainty and variability associated with the results. The values of the published equivalency factors are dependent on the mathematical definition of the local or regional environment, and these values have been calculated for Westem European conditions. Equivalency factors may vary by several orders of magnitude, depending on how the local or regional conditions have been defined. It is therefore recommended that the model developed in this work ultimately be included into a global nested model that can be used to calculate equivalency factors for other compounds, including heavy metals and organic compounds. This would result in equivalency factors for all compounds that are relevant to South Africa. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.