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Calendar: elma.pollard@gmail.com
Title: Environmental Impact Assessment Course
When: 20.11.2012 - 22.11.2012
Location: Cape Town, Western Cape
Description: Understanding the NEW 2010 Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations

20th – 22nd November 2012, SOUTHERN SUN CULLINAN HOTEL, CPT, SA

Anthropogenic activities and facilities, including domestic residences, commercial properties, municipal services and facilities, agricultural, industrial and mining activities and infrastructure, have a potential impact on the environment, the very same environment that provides our living space and the resources we need for our continued existence. With increasing population growth and density, urbanisation, industrialisation, and the ongoing need for mineral and food resources, it becomes more and more essential to ensure the pro-active assessment of impacts on the environment, so that management measures can be implemented that will prevent these impacts from occurring, as such impacts will have long term detrimental effects on society, and consequent legal and financial implications and liabilities.

In South Africa, with its unique biodiversity, the economic potential for tourism, as well as with its mineral riches and its socio-economic need for poverty alleviation and economic growth, the importance of appropriate environmental impact assessment and management cannot be underestimated. The publication of Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”) Regulations in 1997 was the start of ensuring the appropriate management of environmental impacts in South Africa. Chapter 5 of the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 (“NEMA”) contained stronger environmental protection provisions under a new Constitution, and new regulations have been made in terms of the NEMA, which has been updated a number of times. The latest of these updated EIA-Regulations were published in August 2010, and contains a number of differences from previous regulations.

It is thus essential that professionals working for municipalities, provincial and national government, industries, and mines, especially those dealing with planning, design, engineering and management, be equipped with knowledge pertaining to the concepts and principles underpinning sustainable integrated environmental management, as well as the applicable requirements of the new August 2010 EIA Regulations that will enable them to act within compliance of these Regulations.

Course Facilitator:

Carin Bosman is regarded as one of the leading professionals in environmental and water resource management in SA, and is the Director of Carin Bosman Sustainable Solutions (CBSS), which provides advisory services and capacity building in these fields. She is has more than 20 years’ experience, and was the Director: Water Resource Protection and Waste Management at the department of Water Affairs until 2007.

Carin specialises in environmental governance, and focusses on integrated water resource management (specifically ground and surface water quality issues); integrated waste management (focusing on waste classification and hazardous waste treatment and disposal) and remediation of contaminated land. She also develops environmental management and legislative tools for co-operative governance over environmental impacts and conducts forensic investigations into ground- and surface water pollution problems.

To facilitate better understanding of these complex issues among both professionals and communities, Carin also facilitates training and capacity building workshops, and provides community assistance. She is revered as an excellent trainer and facilitator, having been a lecturer at the North West University’s Centre for Environmental Management for three years. She is also a guest lecturer at the Law Faculties of the University of the Witwatersrand and the NWU, and presented the Environmental Elective course for MBA students at the Tshwane University of Technology.

Specific Course Outcomes and Key Benefits

· explain the need for Environmental Governance and the Concept of Sustainable Integrated Environmental Management;

· explain the difference between “Pollution” and “Sustainable Use” or “Efficient and Beneficial Use in the public interest”;

· understand the difference between planning authorisations and operational authorisations, and explain the role of EIA as a management decision-making tool during the planning phases of a project;

appreciate the Concepts and Principles underpinning Environmental Authorisations in South Africa:

· understand the South African Legislative Process on the different tiers of government;

· grasp certain critical principles of Sustainable Integrated Environmental Management in South African Environmental Framework Legislation;

· understand duties and liabilities associated with potential pollution or detrimental environmental impacts;

· understand the concepts of ‘just administrative action’ and ‘access to information’

understand the procedural and substantive aspects of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA):

· be able to facilitate the EIA process by understanding the contexts of and differences between the different phases and components, including Screening, Scoping, Specialist Studies, Assessment, Reporting, Decision0making and Appeal;

· explain the differences between EIA and Precautionary Environment Risk Assessment;

· understand the concept of Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA)

· grasp the difference between Strategic EIA (SEA) and Planning EIA; and

· explain how to identify, analyse and mitigate environmental impacts;

· be able to deal with issues in EIA: Significance, Uncertainty, Integration, and Cumulative Impacts;

Interpret the new 2010 EIA Regulations in order to undertake an EIA in compliance with these regulations:

· Understand how to use the Regulations for Screening;

· understand the roles and responsibilities of the different role-players;

· understand the concept of independence of Environmental Assessment Practitioners (EAP’s);

· discuss the current status of the process for the registration of EAP’s;

· Understand the difference between Basic Assessments and Full EIA’s;

· Prepare Basic Assessments, EIA Reports and EMPs that can be implemented to achieve management objectives and that will ensure legal compliance;

Avoid pitfalls in environmental authorisations:

· Explain the importance of Public Participation in Environmental Authorisation Processes;

· explain the theory behind, and best approaches for, Public Participation;

· grasp the importance of Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and the difference between SIA, Public Participation and Scoping;

· Understand how EIA Applications are reviewed and how to deal with decision-makers;

Dovetail and integrate information, monitoring and reporting requirements for different Environmental Authorisation procedures:

· Explain linkages between EIA and Waste Management Facility licenses under the National Environmental Management Waste Act 59 of 2008 (NEM:WA), including Integrated Waste Management Plans (IWMP’s);

· Explain the role of EIA in Mining Authorisations under the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act 28 of 2002 (MPRDA), including Environmental Management Plans and Programmes;

· Explain the overlaps between EIA and water uses that require authorisation under the National Water Act 36 of 1998 (NWA), including water use licenses, general authorisations, and existing lawful water uses

Translate EIA into management plans:

· be able to establish Sustainable Integrated Environmental Management Objectives for Integrated Environmental Management Plans (EMPs), and ensure public acceptance thereof; and

· understand multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) as a tool to assist in the evaluation of alternatives for Environmental Management, and to select the Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO);

Who Should Attend:

• Environmental and Occupational Health
• Safety Managers
• QHSE
• Loss Prevention
• Senior Environmental Officers, Principal Environmental Officers
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