Compliance monitoring is a continuous process used to ensure that conditions
stipulated in an environmental authorisation are adhered to. Compliance monitoring is a
key component of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and EIA follow-up. The aim
of this research was to critically assess EIA follow-up conditions formulated for
Environmental Authorisations in Mpumalanga Province. The practicability of conditions
set out in the authorisation for EIA follow-up are of particular concern. Forty-two (42)
environmental authorisations (EAs) issued under the 2010 NEMA EIA regulations were
reviewed and assessed to analyse information relating to follow-up practice.
In order to synthesise the data effectively and create a comprehensive analysis, the
EAs were divided into project type categories rather than listed activity categories. The
assessment results on the strengths and weaknesses related to compliance monitoring
and enforcement of the authorisation conditions revealed that the EIA follow-up
conditions in Mpumalanga do make provision of EIA follow-up. The EAs fulfils the
requirements of regulation 37 of the NEMA EIA regulations 2010 by promoting
compliance monitoring of impacts. However, some conditions raises difficulty in
monitoring due to their impracticability. Another weakness is that conditions focus
mainly on the construction phase and very little attention is paid to operational and
decommissioning impacts. The analyses results show that the practicability of the
authorised conditions for environmental compliance monitoring had the following
challenges: conditions intended to mitigate the adverse environmental impacts are
generic and do not apply to specific projects or activities being authorised and there are
no clearly defined timeframes for conditions requiring repetitive monitoring. Moreover,
the study revealed gaps in monitoring of the authorised conditions that included poor
clarity of roles of environmental control officers (ECOs) and auditors and a lack of
reference to sections to be complied with pertaining to other relevant legislation.
The critical assessment of the EIA follow-up conditions formulated for Environmental
Authorisations in Mpumalanga Province indicate that the formulation of conditions have
implications in ensuring that compliance is effectively implemented. Clearly defined
conditions will ensure proper interpretation and correct implementation for compliance
purposes. / M (Environmental Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/15469 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Ndlovu, Ntsanko Millicent |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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