Handbook on Environmental Assessment Legislation in the SADC Region

1
Handbook on Environmental Assessment Legislation
in the SADC Region
Presentation by Bryony Walmsley
2
Rationale and background

• Major developments in EIA legislation over the
  past 10 years in SADC region
• Changes, revisions and amendments are
  continuously occurring
• Development in SADC region is booming and
  developers and consultants are becoming more
  regional in their scope of work
• Development finance is in demand
• Projects need to be compliant with national EIA
  legislation as well as with each countrys
  international and SADC obligations with regard to
  treaties, protocols and conventions

3
Rationale and background

• In some cases information on EIA laws,
  regulations, policies and guidelines is
• Difficult to find
• Not in the English language
• Disseminated
• Not in electronic format
• Confusing and complex
• In 2003, EIA in Southern Africa was published
  by SAIEA with DANIDA funding, but the sections on
  EIA legislation are now mostly out of date

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Need for Handbook

• Therefore DBSA contracted SAIEA to compile a
  Handbook on EIA legislation for each SADC
  country, in order to
• Empower all players to be proactive wrt
  compliance with environmental legislation
• Reduce project risk
• Reduce delays in project authorisation
• Assist developers to use EIA tools to promote
  sustainable development in the region

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Structure of Handbook

• Preface
• Introduction
• Background and summary of EIA legislation,
  administrative structures and procedures summary
  of international and SADC obligations
• DBSA EA Policy and Procedures
• DBSA profile and overview of the EA process and
  procedures
• Country Chapters
• Angola, Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Madagascar,
  Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia,
  Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania,
  Zambia, Zimbabwe

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Structure of Country Chapters

• The Constitutional requirements for environmental
  protection
• The institutional and administrative structures
  for EIA
• The policy and legal framework for EIA, including
  information on the relevant
• policies
• acts
• regulations
• guidelines
• penalties
• fees
• environmental standards
• EAP certification and registration requirements

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Structure of Country Chapters contd.

• The EIA procedural framework including the steps
  to be followed through screening, scoping, EIA
  and EMP, as well as the Authority review process
  and the appeal procedures
• A summary of other potentially applicable
  environmental legislation
• Appendices containing lists of projects which
  require EIA
• Acronyms and useful contacts.

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Key findings

• All countries have recognised the need for
  environmental protection through Constitutions,
  NAPs and NEAPs, Visions, Policies and Strategies
• All countries have an EIA Act (draft or final)
  except DRC, which only has EIA requirements in
  the Mining Code
• Most countries have EIA regulations or guidelines
  in which the EIA process is specified
• All countries have a dedicated national agency
  for environmental management and control is
  centralised (except RSA and Tanzania)

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Key findings contd.

• Most countries follow the traditional EIA
  process
• Screening scoping EIA
• but terminology differs
• Weaknesses/inconsistencies include
• ToR approval
• Public consultation
• EMPs
• SEA required for PPPs in Botswana, Lesotho,
  Mauritius, Namibia, RSA, Swaziland and Tanzania

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Key findings contd.

• Registration of consultants at present, only 3
  countries require EAPs to be registered
  (Botswana, Mozambique and Tanzania)
• 4 countries are busy with certification systems
  (Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland and RSA)
• Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland will require
  reciprocity of certification schemes

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Document Availability and Updates

• Hard copies published in 2007
• Update currently underway
• Websites
• www.dbsa.org
• www.saiea.com
• Needs to be widely advertised
• Aim to revise and update bi-annually

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Conclusion

• The Handbook has already proved to be an
  invaluable source of informationbut
• Legislation is changing all the time, so always
  check first with local environmental authorities
  and check for updates on our websites.
• Thank You!