Chapter 15:INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

Authors: Bryan Tladi(1) and Dries Visser(1)(Late)

1.Bohlweki Environmental(Pty)Ltd,Midrand Johannesburg

CONTENTS

Integrated Development and Planning Frameworks

Integrating Environmental Considerations into Decision Making

Environmental Management Systems

Indicators of General Environmental Management

References

15.1 Integrated Development and Planning Frameworks

15.1.1 Introduction

The Constitution of South Africa (Act No. 108 of 1996) gave rise to a new statutory framework including, inter alia, a change in the scales of planning, and gave effect to more appropriate legislation at national, provincial and local level. The provincial environmental responsibilities exist as part of the broader framework, which includes the national and local government tiers.

The provincial planning framework for the North West Province emanate from policies and strategies devolved from the national level to enhance implementation at the two subsequent tiers.
The National Environmental Management Act (Act No. 107 of 1998) (NEMA) is the framework legislation on which most of the subsequent provincial environmental responsibilities are based. Section 16(4)(b) of NEMA requires municipalities to adhere to relevant Environmental Implementation Plans (EIPs) and Environmental Management Plans (EMPs) when preparing any programme or plan including Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) and Land Development Objectives (LDOs).

Sustainable development should form the basis of environmental planning and management. Intrinsic to sustainable development, is the maintenance of essential ecological processes whilst preserving biodiversity and using natural resources wisely. Socio-economic dimensions of the environment are included in the sustainable development concept. Local Agenda 21 (LA21) is a localized adaptation of Agenda 21 - the United Nations blueprint on a global plan of action for integrating environmental issues (both the ecological/biological and socio-economic aspects) into development. LA21 focuses on partnerships involving the public and all relevant stakeholders to resolve development problems and plan strategically for the future. LA21 endorses the integration of the environment and development in decision-making, and acknowledges the role of local government in sustainable development. Chapter 8 of Agenda 21 deals with integrating environment and development in decision-making and specifically call for the development systems for monitoring and evaluation of progress towards achieving sustainable development by adopting indicators that measure changes across economic, social and environmental dimensions.

The various planning frameworks invariably influence the environment, development and the quality of life in the North West Province through the spatial implementation of these frameworks. It could, thus, be argued that the status quo of the environment is often a reflection of spatial planning. Subsequently, it is evident the State of Environment Report (SoER) should directly influence development planning decision-making in order to ensure the incorporation of environmental aspects into development actions at provincial level. The fact the IDP and SoER processes are currently not aligned may prove to be problematic for sustainable development in the Province.

15.1.2 Constitutional and legal requirements

Constitutional requirements

In terms of the Constitution, a co-operative relationship between national, provincial and local government is required. This suggests that the country, and therefore the Province, is to move away from the hierarchical direction and supply a "developmental society" in which policy, enablement and evaluation at the centre support innovation at the local level.

The South African Constitution (Act No. 108 of 1996) heralded a new era in urban planning and management, placing a special emphasis on the social and economic development of communities. The Local Government: Municipal System Act (Act No. 117 of 1998) requires all metropolitan local councils to formulate and implement an IDP incorporating metropolitan land-use planning, transport planning, infrastructure planning, social development and the promotion of economic development. The recently promulgated Municipal Structures Amendment Act (Act No. 27 of 2000) elaborates on these requirements and lays out a legal framework for local government planning and operations.

National Environment Management Act (NEMA) (Act No.107 of 1998) legislative provisions
The North West DACE is mandated through NEMA to administer the following sectors of legislation:

Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) geared towards the identification of significant environmental impacts and thus mitigation of negative environmental impacts caused by proposed developments.
EIA serves as a decision support tool and is a legislative requirement in terms of the Environment Conservation Act (No.73 of 1989). See section 15.2.2.
Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) aimed to determine the limitations that the environment places on future development options. SEA is a decision support tool but not a legislative requirement. See section 15.2.3.
Environmental Implementation Plans (EIPs), which are a requirement for all provincial departments that have a bearing to the environment. EIPs are aimed at aiding integrated decision-making and planning. NEMA (Section 16) indicates that all planning processes including IDPs and LDOs should be aligned with the EIP and EMP for the Province.

In terms of NEMA (Sections 12 - 16), each provincial government is required to submit EIPs to DEAT. This is largely in response to the current fragmentation of environmental functions between national departments and other levels of government, and that the environment is both a national and provincial responsibility.

The main purpose of an EIP is as follows:

EIPs are primarily statutory instruments for the promotion of co-operative governance for environmental management (Pech & Pegram 1999), and are aimed at protecting the environment within the context of sustainable development.
The South African Constitution, as well as chapter three of NEMA emphasise the need for co-operative governance between and across all three levels of government through "co-ordination and harmonisation". The development of EIPs promotes this need for co-operative governance for environmental management. This includes the harmonisation of environmental policies, plans and programmes and their resultant decisions in order to minimise duplication of functions and promote consistency in functions which significantly affect the environment (NEMA, Section 12) across all three levels of government (Pech & Pegram 1999). This is particularly applicable for departments that are responsible for projects and activities that could have a significant impact on the environment.
Prevent unreasonable actions by provinces in respect of the environment that are prejudicial to the economic or health interests of other provinces, or the country as a whole (Pech & Pegram 1999).
Enable the Minister to monitor the achievement, promotion and protection of a sustainable environment. This includes the development and utilisation of suitable indicators for sustainable development or key performance indicators. These are used for monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the EIP (Pech & Pegram 1999).

Key components of an EIP include: mandate and functions; institutional arrangements; policies, plans and programmes; recommendations, and indicators. The following provincial departments are to be involved with the development and implementation of the North West Province EIP:

Office of the Premier;
North West Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment (lead agent);
North West Department of Economic Affairs and Tourism;
North West Department of Housing;
North West Department of Public Works;
North West Department of Health;
North West Department of Transport;
North West Department of Safety and Liaison;
North West Department of Developmental Local Government;
North West Department of Arts Culture Youth and Sport.

The provincial government is to co-ordinate and support the actual implementation of developmental activities at municipal levels. As such, the Province needs to integrate sustainability and environmental concerns at the provincial- and local-level decision-making systems. The first edition of the North West Province EIP, published in 2001 by NWDACE is a statutory instrument designed to facilitate the development of a long term sustainable development policy, legislative and planning frameworks for the Province.

15.1.3 Legal requirements by Local Government (IDPs and LDOs)

The local government tier is required to facilitate several legislative planning and development processes which impact on the environment. Certain development activities as listed in the EIA Regulations are undertaken after evaluation by the provincial environmental authority in order to minimise the potential for adverse environmental impacts and promote sustainable development.
The legislative development and planning processes include:

Local Development Objectives (LDOs) as required by the Development Facilitation Act (Act No. 67 of 1995);
Integrated Development Plans (IDPs), which are strategic plans compiled by local authorities to guide all their development and budgeting processes over a five year period. These plans are required to cover physical, social, economic and institutional environments;
Local Economic Development (LED) initiatives. These projects are specifically aimed at initiating local job creation and economic growth, and
Local Agenda 21 requires various planning and development processes facilitating sustainable development.

The process to facilitate policy implementation and strategic planning at all levels of government is the Integrated Development Plan (IDP). The IDP is a five-year plan (up-dated, however, on a yearly basis) aimed at the integrated development and management of the area of jurisdiction of the local authority in terms of its powers and duties.

The IDP of each municipality is a strategic management tool defining the development direction and guiding all functions of each municipality. According to the Department for Provincial and Local Government, the IDP is essentially a tool to assist municipalities in achieving their developmental mandate.

The developmental outcomes of the IDP include:

Providing a strategic framework for municipal management, budgeting, delivery and implementation;
Ensuring political accountability and continuity;
Facilitating integration, engagement, communication and building of alliances;
Transforming local government into a vehicle for development;
Promoting socio-economic development, and
Assisting municipalities in producing holistic strategies for poverty alleviation and the creation of livelihoods.

In terms of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act (Act No. 32 of 2000), the core components of IDPs should include:

The municipal council's vision for the long-term development of the municipality, with special emphasis on the municipality's most critical development and internal transformation needs;
An assessment of the existing level of development in the municipality, including the identification of communities which do not have access to basic municipal services;
The council's development priorities and objectives for its elected term, including its internal transformation needs;
The council's development strategies which must be aligned with any national or provincial sectoral plans and planning requirements binding to the municipality in terms of legislation;
A spatial development framework, including basic guidelines for a land-use management system for the municipality;
The council's operational strategies;
A financial plan with a budget projection for at least the next three years;
The core components of the municipality's key performance indicators and targets; and
Various sector plans in terms of water, transport, housing, disaster management, waste environment and HIV/AIDS.

Several national acts and policies require local governments to produce sectoral plans when preparing an IDP, including:

Water Services Development Plan (Water Services Act, No. 108 of1997);
Waste Management Plan, Coastal Management Plan, and incorporating statutory requirements regarding environmental sustainability (NEMA);
Land Development Objectives (Development Facilitation Act, No 67 of 1995);
Land Use Management Plans (provincial planning legislation);
Housing provision (Housing Act, No. 107 of 1997);
Integrated Transport Plan (Land Use Transport Bill, 2000); and
Disaster Management Plan (Disaster Management Bill, 2000).

The Development Facilitation Act provides guiding principles for development and planning, which form the foundation of IDPs and Spatial Development Frameworks. The formulation of Land Development Objectives (LDOs) by local authorities is put forward in this Act. The Act also provides for land development in the form of township establishment and rezonings, adjudicated by Development Tribunals constituted for each Province, thus providing for a "fast track" land development route. However, according to this Act, no land development in a municipal area may be approved if it is not consistent with the LDOs set by the municipality.
According to DPLG, the developmental outcome of the first four years (1996-2000) of the IDPs has been disappointing in places. In many places the IDP has not had much practical impact. In others the first rounds of LDOs and IDPs are still due.

Due to the fact that the IDP process is a new developmental approach, recent assessments indicate that certain problems are experienced in its implementation, including:

Resistance to change by local officials;
Poor management of consultants by local councils (consultants are commonly and extensively used in the LDO and IDP processes);
Inadequate human and financial capacity within municipalities;
Limited knowledge and understanding of the "new" concept of IDP;
IDP documents frequently provide only limited guidance to municipal officials and the private sector;
Lack of commitment to local initiatives by provincial and national departments, and
Inadequate integration between strategies, plans, programmes and budgets within and between local, provincial and national levels of government.

The system of local integrated development plans has had limitations to its use in the Province mainly due to:

Lack of capacity to implement the system. In trying to minimise the problem, German funding has been secured through the Planning and Implementation Management Support System (PIMSS) initiative;
Lack of function integration internally and externally among the local authorities;
Lack or minimal integration between the actions, policies and programmes of national, provincial, and local spheres of government mainly with regards to:

The North West DACE has recently completed a Sustainable Development Framework, which will serve as a guide towards implementing Local Agenda 21 principles.

15.1.4 Conclusion and recommendations

The Constitution (Act 108 of 1996), as well as chapter three of NEMA emphasise the need for co-operative governance between and across all three spheres of government through "co-ordination and harmonisation" of activities.
EIPs are primarily statutory instruments required by provinces for the promotion of co-operative governance for environmental management (Pech & Pegram, 1999), and are aimed at protecting the environment within the context of sustainable development.
The North West Province has produced its first EIP in 2001 and interim IDPs have been produced by most municipalities.
However, despite this, there is currently a lack of integration of development and service delivery between the national, provincial and local tiers of government.
Planning processes implemented in municipalities so far, based on mainly IDP and LDO legislation and approaches have produced a variety of plans with uncoordinated views of provincial and district level development needs.
To make planning more efficient and useful for all stakeholders, the system needs strong support from provincial level co-ordination, which helps to integrate the municipal land use needs with their neighbourhood municipalities and provincial level priorities. A common framework must, therefore, be developed that will synchronise policies, plans, structures and other frameworks that will result in integrated and sustainable development and delivery in the North West Province.
Without monitoring the implementation of the relevant planning frameworks and subsequent evaluation of its effectiveness, it will not be possible to adapt these frameworks to ensure the required benefits and results. Monitoring and evaluation protocols should be established by both local and provincial government bodies to assess the effectiveness of any planning and development frameworks.

15.2 Integrating Environmental Considerations into Decision Making

15.2.1 Introduction

Integrated Environmental Management (IEM) is recognized as one of the major tools in integrating environmental considerations into decision-making. The objectives and implementation of Integrated Environmental Management (IEM) are laid out in NEMA chapter 5. The general objectives of IEM are to take into account the potential impact on the environment, socio-economic conditions and cultural heritage considerations when planning and managing a development activity. This includes the identification, prediction and evaluation actual and potential impacts and the risks, consequences and alternatives for mitigation of activities. Public participation in decisions that affect the environment is also a key component of IEM.

Implementing IEM requires that activities which may significantly impact on the environment, socio-economic conditions and cultural heritage, should, by law obtain authorisation from the Provincial or National Environmental authority before such activities can be implemented. The IEM process also requires the identification of activities which may not be commenced without prior authorisation from the National or Provincial Minister or MEC; the identification of sensitive areas and geographical areas where specified activities may not take place as well as a number of other considerations as stated in NEMA chapter 5.
Integrated Environmental Management (IEM) incorporates several environmental tools to aid government in making decisions to promote sustainable development and the protection of natural resources. Two such tools are Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

15.2.2 Environmental Impact Assessment

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a tool that is widely used to either prevent or minimise the environmental impact associated with various activities and to promote sustainable development, thereby maintaining an environment that is not harmful to people's health and well-being. The EIA regulations were published in Government Notice R1182 to R1184 of 5 September 1997 in terms of Section 21 of the Environment Conservation Act, as well as NEMA. A Guideline Document to the EIA regulations was published by DEAT in 1998. The regulations provide wide-ranging powers to different levels of government, and are used as a tool in decision-making. The listed activities for which an EIA is required to be undertaken are documented in GN R1182, and range from industrial activities to road developments and other rezoning and land-use changes.
EIA listed activities include the following:

The construction and upgrading of:-

facilities for commercial electricity generation and supply;
nuclear reactors and installations for the production, enrichment, reprocessing and disposal of nuclear fuels and wastes;
transportation routes and structures, and manufacturing, storage, handling or processing facilities for any substance which is dangerous or hazardous and is controlled by national legislation;
roads, railways, airfields and associated structures outside the borders of town planning schemes;
marinas, harbours and all structures below the high-water mark of the sea;
cableways and associated structures;
structures associated with communication networks, other than telecommunication lines and cables, as well as access roads leading to these structures;
racing tracks for motor-powered vehicles and horse racing, excluding indoor tracks;
canals and channels, including diversions of the normal flow of water in a river bed and water transfer schemes between water catchments and impoundments;
dams, levees or weirs affecting the flow of a river;
reservoirs for public water supply;
schemes for the abstraction or utilisation of ground or surface water for bulk supply purposes;
public and private resorts and associated infrastructure;
sewage treatment plants and associated infrastructure; and
buildings and structures for industrial and military manufacturing and storage of explosives or ammunition or for testing disposal of such explosives or ammunition.

The change of land use from-

agricultural or undetermined use to any other land use;
use for grazing to any other form of agricultural use; and
use for nature conservation or zoned open space to any other land use.

The concentration of livestock in a confined structure for the purpose of mass commercial production.

The intensive husbandry of, or importation of, any plant or animal that has been declared a weed or an invasive alien species.

The release of any organism outside its natural area of distribution that is to be used for biological pest control.

The genetic modification of any organism with the purpose of fundamentally changing the inherent characteristics of that organism.

The reclamation of land below the high-water mark of the sea and in inland water including wetlands.

The disposal of waste in terms of section 20 of the Environment Conservation Act, 1989.

Scheduled processes listed in the Second Schedule to the Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Act (Act No. 45 of 1965).

Figure 15.2.1 illustrates the EIA process to be followed to obtain authorisation to commence with a listed activity.

Figure 15.2.1: A schematic representation of the standard EIA process to be followed to obtain authorisation to commence with a listed activity (Source: DEAT, 1998).

Under ECA, provinces are also required to administer declared Protected Natural Environments (PNEs). The North West Province has one such PNE, the Magaliesberg Protected Natural Environment (MPNE), which was declared as such in May 1994. The Administrator also passed directions for the conservation and management of the area in Administrator's Notice 127 of the Official Gazette No 4996 vol.237. Strict adherence to the EIA regulations are required for developments in the MPNE as well as to other restrictions such as:

Subject to the purviews of any other Act, no person shall in the area of the MPNE as defined in the Schedule to Administrators Notice NO. 126 of 4 May 1994 -

Erect any structures or buildings which is larger than 2 meters, or enlarge existing structures or buildings;
Install any water-, fuel- or mineral pipeline;
Construct roads or erect power lines, canals, reservoirs, cable ways or structures for radio- and telecommunication purposes;
Initiate any excavation of any nature;
Construct any waste disposal site or dump any litter or waste;
Introduce hiking trails for outdoor recreation purposes; or
Make any name, message or sign by means of lime or paint on the ground except by virtue of a written approval acquired on application from the Administrator or the Chief Director: Nature and Environment Conservation, and the subject to the conditions set out in such approval.

Any application for approval as envisaged in item 1 shall be made on the form approved by the Administrator.

The Consolidated Environmental Implementation and Environmental Management Plan (DEAT 2000), indicates that several priority programmes have been developed for implementation and ensuring compliance to legislation. Tables 15.2.1 and 15.2.2 outline these programmes in terms of NEMA and the Environment Conservation Act respectively. The nine provincial environmental authorities assist DEAT with the implementation and administration of the EIA regulations and are the primary co-operative governance partners for this function.

Table 15.6: Priority programmes in terms of the National Environmental Management Act (Act No. 107 of 1998)

PRIORITY PROGRAMMES FOR 2000 -2004	OUTPUTS	TIMEFRAME
Produce new regulations on environmental impact assessment	New regulations for EIAs in terms of Section 24 (2) of NEMA, to replace the existing EIA regulations promulgated in 1997 under the Environment Conservation Act, 1989 formulated	2001
	Proper appeal procedure with regard to decisions taken on applications by the relevant authorities created	2001
	Proper appeal procedure with regard to decisions taken on applications by the relevant authorities created	2001
	Efficient and effective processing of applications achieved	2004
	Computerised management systems for EIA applications on a national basis (includes the creation of a "one stop shop" for EIA authorisations developed)	2004
Produce Regulations Environmental Management Co-operation Agreements (EMCAs)	Discussion document for Environmental Management Co-operation Agreements (EMCAs) published	2000
	EMCAs guideline document published	2001

Table 15.2.2: Priority programmes in terms of the Environment Conservation Act (Act No. 73 of 1989).

PRIORITY PROGRAMMES FOR 2000 -2004	OUTPUTS	TIMEFRAME
Evaluate and Authorise EIAs	EIA register on a national level for national projects developed	2001
	National standards for evaluating EIAs developed	2002
	EIAs processed according to set time-frames	2004
	All Environmental Potential Atlases (ENPATs) compiled and updated	2002

15.2.3 Strategic Environmental Assessment

While EIA aims to assess the impacts of a proposed activity on the environment, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) aims to assess the effect of the environment on a proposed activity. SEA is becoming an accepted tool for addressing environmental issues at an early stage in the formulation of priorities, plans and programmes. A SEA does not replace an EIA, but complements it by providing an instrument at the wider planning level, which provides the context for lower levels of planning and development. SEA identifies the opportunities and constraints which the environment places on a proposed development, integrates environmental issues across regions and sectors, improves the way in which the cumulative effects of the development are dealt with and provides guidelines to ensure sustainable development or the maintenance and enhancement of a chosen level of environmental quality. SEA is currently not legally binding in South Africa.

However, NEMA makes provision for the development of assessment procedures that aim to ensure that the environmental consequences of plans and programmes are considered. This provision indicates a need for legislation in South Africa for the use of SEA. The key elements of a SEA process are shown in Figure 15.2.2.

Figure 15.2.2: Key elements of a SEA Process (Source: DEAT 2000a).

15.2.4 Application of the IEM in the North West Province

The NWDACE Directorate of Environmental and Conservation Management has the primary function of ensuring that IEM is practiced in the Province. Within this directorate, is the sub-directorate of Environmental Impact Evaluation, which has the following strategic objectives:

Evaluation of environmental impact assessments (EIAs) of development applications;
Evaluation of environmental implementation plans (EIPs) and environmental management plans (EMPs);
Evaluation and management of protected natural environments, in this case the Magaliesberg Protected Natural Environment (MPNE);
Evaluation of environmental management programmes and rehabilitation plans of mines;
Evaluation of environmental aspects of subdivisions and business rights applications;
Waste management, sanitation and pollution control;
Participation in, and evaluation of, spatial development initiatives; and
Co-ordination of general forums with regard to environmental management issues.

Tables 15.2.3 to 15.2.7 provide information on the applications i.t.o the EIA regulations which were processed by NW DACE in 2000.

Table 15.2.3: Applications processed by NW DACE in terms of the EIA Regulations (2000) (Source: NW DACE 2001).

Type of Application	Exemptions	ROD	Rejected	Pending	Comments to DEAT	Total
1. Township Development	5	10	2	12	0	29
2. Power Lines	3	3	0	1	0	7
3. Fertiliser Plants	0	0	0	1	1	2
4. Smelters and other Scheduled Processes	0	2	0	6	0	8
5. Sewage Treatment Plants and associated Structures (water supply reservoirs, reticulation/ pipe lines, etc)	11	4	0	6	2	23
6. Solid Waste Sites and associated Structures (landfills, incinerators, etc)	1	1	0	4	0	6
7. Hazardous Substances (storage, transportation, petrol stations, etc)	7	8	0	9	2	26
8. Abattoirs	0	0	0	3	0	3
9. Agricultural Projects - confining of living organisms in a closed system (e.g. animals)	2	0	0	2	0	4
10. Community Centres	1	0	0	1	0	2
11. Border Posts	0	0	0	1	0	1
12. Community Base Stations, Army Bases and Police Stations	0	0	0	4	0	4
13. Public and Private Resorts and associated Structures	3	1	0	10	0	14
14. Roads and associated Structures and activities outside the Borders of the Planning Schemes	0	5	0	9	1	14
15. Change of land use for Nature Conservation or Zoned Open Space to any other Land Use	3	2	0	0	0	5
16. Change of land use from Agricultural or undetermined Land Use	4	5	0	5	0	14
17. Reclamation of land below the High Water mark in initial water including Wetlands	0	0	0	3	0	3
18. Release of any organisation outside natural area of distribution for biological pest control	0	0	0	3	0	3
19. Telecommunication Masts	3	0	0	66	0	69
TOTAL	43	41	2	146	6	239

Table 15.2.4: Comments on mining activities (Source: NW DACE 2001).

Type of Application	Received	Commented	Pending
EMPR for mining authorisation	33	23	10
EMPR for closure/rehabilitation	3	2	1
SEMP for precious stones	30	30	0
SEMP for prospecting	8	5	3

Notes: EMPR: Environmental Management Programme Report SEMP: Standard Environmental Management Plan

Table 15.2.5: EIA applications received within the MPNE (Source: NW DACE 2001).

Activity	Approved	Rejected	Pending	Illegal/Non-compliance	TOTAL
Structures/buildings exceeding 2 meters	0	1	8	3	12
Reservoirs and pipelines	0	0	0	1	1
Roads and cable ways	1	1	0	1	3
Excavations	0	0	0	2	2
Hiking trails	1	0	0	0	1
Subdivisions	2	0	5	0	7
TOTAL	4	2	13	7	26

Notes:

MPNE: Magaliesberg Protected Natural Environment

Type of Application	Type of Application
Business rights	27
Subdivisions	67
Others (e.g. graveyards, etc)	6
TOTAL	100

Table 15.2.7: Percentages of all applications in relation to regions in the Province (Source: NW DACE 2001).

Region	EIA's (%)	EMPR's (%)	SEMP's (%)
Eastern	52	81,8	0
Central	29	15,9	30
Western	19	2,3	70
TOTAL	100	100	100

Notes: EIA: Environmental Impact Assessment
EMPR: Environmental Management Programme Report
SEMP: Standard Environmental Management Plan

15.2.5 Major environmental issues and challenges

Challenges experienced by North West DACE regarding applications in terms of the EIA regulations include (NW DACE 2001):

Township developments - Township developments are mainly based on economic viability and an already overloaded housing need. Environmental impact is seen as irrelevant, largely due to the fact that some of these townships were mentioned in strategic development plans before the regulations pertaining to impact assessment existed. Local government does not accept their responsibility in the light of co-operative governance. This may lead to conflict within provincial government and needs to be addressed urgently. This goes hand-in-hand with change of land use. Previous zoning documents are often seen as permission to develop, regardless of the EIA regulations.

Telecommunications - Participants in this industry largely ignored the implementation of EIA regulations in 1998. However, 1999 saw an improvement, especially with regard to cellular networks. Several non-compliance investigations had to be instituted by North West DACE.

Resorts - The development of resorts has increased on the Vaal River and in the Magaliesberg. The most important one is the illegal development of a naturist resort at Olifantsnek. In general, the management of the Magaliesberg is a problem area due to lack of infrastructure and personnel.

Electricity and power lines - Eskom, as the largest supplier of electricity, participated in the new regulations and their rate of compliance was acceptable. It is, however, disturbing to mention that large portions of land are still disturbed for the development of power lines, especially in the Brits area. This is primarily due to mining development and the need for electricity supply.

Petrol stations - Local government is still not complying with the EIA regulations, especially in the approval of the development of petrol stations.
Due to the poor capacity of regulatory services, this is not considered a priority during non-compliance investigations.

Other challenges facing the North West DACE include:

The Environmental Impact Prevention Unit does not have sufficient staff to manage developments in the North West Province. The ratio of applications received versus staff members was abnormally high, so the Unit extended the review periods of the environmental impact assessment process;
There is no effective procedure to deal with emergencies of an environmental nature in North West Province, for example, when a spill or explosion occurs;
There is a general lack of interaction and coordination between government departments regarding environmental management;
The biggest challenge in the Eastern Region, the most rapidly developing region in the Province, is air quality due to heavy mining by platinum and chrome mines;
There is a lack of monitoring stations in the Eastern Region, which is a major concern of the public in terms of human health;
SEA, although used as a tool for environmental assessment, is not yet legally binding;
Granite mining requires the conservation of certain koppies for detailed studies, however, there is a lack of funding available for such studies;
There are no policies and criteria, or a management plan for the MPNE, whereby NW DACE can make decisions on development applications; and
There is no Advisory Committee, as required by law, to manage the MPNE. There is no baseline information available for the MPNE; the boundaries require revision; the title deeds require updating; there is no communication with landowners in the MPNE; and there is an increase in development in the MPNE without there being adequate buffer zones.

15.2.6 Conclusion and recommendations

NWDACE, as with the nine provincial environmental authorities, is required to assist DEAT with the implementation and administration of the EIA regulations and NWDACE is one of the nine primary co-operative governance partners for this function.
The NWDACE Environmental Impact Prevention Unit does not have sufficient staff to manage the large volume of developments in the North West Province optimally. The ratio of applications received versus staff members remains abnormally high, so the Unit has extended the review periods of the environmental impact assessment process. This shortage of staff affects the ability of government to monitor compliance of permit conditions, which needs to be addressed to ensure effective environmental management in the Province.
There is no effective procedure to deal with emergencies of an environmental nature in North West Province, for example, when a spill or explosion occurs. The development of a policy to deal with such emergencies is urgently required.
There is a general lack of interaction between government departments and tiers of government regarding environmental management.
The biggest environmental management challenge is the eastern region of the Province, which is the most rapidly developing and industrialized region in the Province.
While the EIA process has a legal basis, SEA, although used as a tool for environmental assessment, is not yet legally binding.
There are no policies and criteria, or a management plan for the MPNE, whereby NW DACE can make decisions on development applications. The Magaliesberg Advisory Committee, required by law to manage the MPNE, is still in the process of being established. The following issues have been reported for the MPNE:

There is little baseline information available for the MPNE;
The boundaries require revision; the title deeds require updating;
There is minimal communication with landowners in the MPNE; and
There is an increase in development in the MPNE without adequate buffer zones.

15.3 Environmental Management Systems

15.3.1 Introduction

Nowhere in the world is environmental management performance left to the sole discretion and willingness to perform of the private sector without any form of intervention from the authorities. In some quarters the mere mention of the word "self-regulation" is anathema to the concept of environmental control. However, this attitude implies at the same time distrust in the commitment and competency of the controlling authorities to exercise their legal controls over environmental management in an efficient and effective manner. However, controlled self-regulation can be implemented in many forms within different systems as will be discussed below.
It should also be noted that environmental "policing" in its purest form has never been successfully accomplished anywhere in the world (see section 16.2). The reasons for this are that no government can afford the appointment of enough inspectors to cover the 24-hour monitoring of industrial and business environmental performance as well as the legal administrators to enforce the legal performance requirements.

15.3.2 Environmental Management Co-operative Agreements

Section 35 of NEMA for the first time in our legal history provides specifically for the establishment of Environmental Management Co-operation Agreements (EMCAs) as a management tool, and prescribes the legal framework within which such agreements must be accomplished. Agreements between authorities and industry or business concerning environmental management performance are nothing new in the South African legal system. These agreements have usually been based on the following:

Sections in environmental laws and regulations which provide for the Ministers, MECs or organs of state to issue directives, for example Section 7 of the Conservation of Agricultural Resources Act (Act No. 43 of 1983).
Discretionary powers given to Ministers, MECs, local authorities and government institutions in terms of the legal provisions such as section 31A of the Environment Conservation Act (Act No. 73 of 1989) and Section 28 of NEMA.
The procedures implemented to obtain, for example, registration certificates in terms of the Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Act (Act No. 45 of 1965) water use permits in terms of the National Water Act (Act No. 36 of 1998) (also its predecessor the Water Act (Act No. 54 of 1956)) and waste disposal licenses in terms of Section 20 of the Environment Conservation Act (Act No. 73 of 1989).

However, co-regulation in the form of Environmental Management Co-operation Agreements, as provided for in section 35 of the National Environmental Management Act, differ in some significant aspects from the examples given above:

EMCAs can be established between authorities and communities;
EMCAs focus specifically on the broadly-defined environmental management principles contained in Section 2 of NEMA;
The need for agreement between all organs of state having jurisdiction in a specific matter and an, as yet to be defined, public participation process; and
The provision for the inclusion of agreed penalties in the case of non-compliance and/or motivational incentives.

From the above discussion it appears that EMCAs is just one form of controlled self-regulation, which the Province may implement if it so wishes. As will be shown below there are several other options, which the Province can exercise.

15.3.3 Environmental Management Programme Reports

The mining industry in the North West Province is one of the enterprise sectors that have a significant potential to pollute and degrade the environment. The Minerals Act (Act No. 50 of 1991) and the regulations promulgated there under, introduced both an integrated environmental management system and (with the recent amendments) the process of controlled self-regulation. The DME has published a guideline document entitled Aide-m�moire for the Preparation of Environmental Management Programme Reports for Prospecting and Mining, which prescribes the requirements demanded from the applicant for a prospecting or mining authorisation. The provincial government has a delegated function (in terms of the Environment Conservation Act) to review every EMPR in the Province. The current contrasts between the mining and non-mining projects include:

In the mining industry, the entire life cycle of the mine is covered by prescribed law in the EMPR process and procedure. For other projects only the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) during the planning phase, is prescribed by law.
The EMPR includes an EIA, an Environmental Management Programme (EMP), which includes plans, schedules, procedures and methods, an environmental management monitoring programme, as well as an independent environmental management auditing programme (or more correctly stated: an Environmental Management Programme Performance Assessment - EMPPA). The monitoring and auditing programmes were introduced recently with the amendment of Government Notice R.992 of 26 June 1970 through the addition of Regulations 15.17 to 15.18.11.2. For other projects, the Province and other organs of state can only enforce the introduction of Environmental Management Plans, monitoring and reporting programmes and auditing programmes by using their legal discretionary decision-making powers in terms of some environmental legislative provisions, for example the power to issue directives.

The characteristics of the EMPR process can be summarised as follows (Figure 15.3.1):

The Aide-m�moire prescribes the process for the integration of environmental management throughout the life cycle (cradle to grave) of the mining project (prospecting to mine closure;
An EIA, in which public participation is an essential component, must be included in the EMPR;
The EMPR must be based on the environmental management requirements highlighted by the EIA;
The applicant (mine owner) is responsible for accomplishing all the tasks associated with the compilation of the EMPR, namely information and data gathering, investigations, assessments, evaluations, procedures, methods, determination of required environmental performance standards, selection of appropriate technology (within the context of Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO), as required by the National Environmental Management Act), monitoring and auditing programmes, etc.;
The recently extended regulations of Government Notice R.992 (see Government Notice R.801 of 25 June 1999), in short, require of the applicant to:

The applicant must provide the decision-makers with all the above information and data;
The applicant must convince the decision-makers of the reliability and suitability of his/her information, data, programmes, standards, etc, which will enable him/her to comply with the prescribed environmental legal requirements and standards. The function of the authorities is to review and assess the proposals submitted by the applicant and judge whether they are appropriate in terms of the environmental legal provisions;
The applicant must effect all amendments to his/her draft proposals, demanded by the authorities, before a final EMPR document can be compiled; and
The applicant and the authorities must arrive at a final agreement on the scope and contents of the EMPR before it becomes a legal contract between the different parties.

These characteristics demonstrate that the EMPR reflects a contractual administrative agreement, within the context of controlled self-regulation, between the authorities and a private enterprise. At the same time it must be understood that this type of contractual agreement cannot be equated to a purely private law contract, but should rather be seen as an administrative agreement where the authorities stand in a position of governmental power.
It should also be noted that Government Notice R.992 also provides for the introduction and enforcement of "pecuniary measures". The implications of this regulation are:

The mine must submit a rehabilitation programme (including the prevention, curtailment and combating of all forms of environmental pollution) to the authorities for consideration and approval as part of the EMPR process;
The mine must determine the current and future costs of rehabilitation of disturbed mining land, waste dumps and other facilities;
The mine must decide on how much of the rehabilitation will be accomplished during the operational life-time of the mine and what proportion of it will be left for the decommissioning, dismantling, closure and post-closure phases. An agreement has to be reached with the authorities regarding this process and the associated costs;
After reaching an agreement on the foregoing, the mine must select one of three options:

Figure 15.3.1: Typical life cycle of a mine.

Thus, through these regulations, the government is ensuring that the polluter-pays principle is adhered to, and that the mine will be able to accomplish its rehabilitation commitments at all times. It is also apparent that the implementation of the regulations provides for a type of incentive, namely that the more effort the mine expends on rehabilitation during its operational life-time, the smaller will be the required financial contributions to one of the approved investment instruments.

15.3.4 Conclusions and recommendations

Considering the foregoing examples and discussions it is now incumbent upon the Province to take a strategic decision regarding the most efficient and effective manner of environmental law administration and enforcement, namely to choose between a direct "policing" system and the controlled self-regulation (or co-regulation) interactive relationship. In view of the proven non-viability of the "policing" system as a realistic option, the discussions below will concentrate on the co-regulation option. In view of the public sensitivity pertaining to the inclusion of the word "self" in controlled self-regulation, it might be expedient to use the concept of co-regulation as put forward by the National Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.
In considering the introduction of the co-regulation concept, the North West Province will have to focus on some of the more important parameters such as:

The Province's constitutional functions and responsibilities;
The national environmental management policy framework;
The national and provincial environmental legal framework;
The principles of sound environmental management (for example, section 2 of NEMA), which the provinces are obliged to implement, such as sustainability, transparency, polluter pays, cradle-to-grave responsibility, etc.;
The national policies and strategies, which curtail the unlimited expansion of provincial manpower resources;
The limitations on the resources available to the province, and
The availability of skilled and experienced staff to accomplish the objectives of co-regulation.

Within the scope of the national policies and the prescribed and discretionary environmental legal powers of the Province it will be possible to introduce co-regulation over the broad front of its governmental responsibilities, on condition that it is provided with:

adequate resources to accomplish the goals and objectives of co-regulation;
organisational and financial incentives to attract appropriately skilled and experienced staff; and
opportunities and means to train in-house staff to implement co-regulation.

If the system of co-regulation is accepted and implemented in the North West Province, it can expect the following benefits:

Staffing requirements will be lessened;
A significant savings in resources;
The Province will be better able to exercise a watching brief over the entire environment of the province;
The Province's hands will be freed to increase surveillance of local authorities' environmental performance;
More time and resources will be available to lead and assist local authorities;
Resources will be freed to initiate more new environmental management development programmes and projects;
The Province will be better positioned to assist communities in managing their environment and to establish more programmes for environmental improvement;
It will assist the Province in its endeavours to move industry, business and communities to undergo a shift in mindset (as required by the post-1994 legal and administrative environment) and to accept responsibility and accountability for their environmental performance, and
The Province will promote job creation in the private sector, because industry and business will have to employ increased numbers of skilled persons to fulfill their environmental management obligations.

15.4 Indicators of General Environmental Management

The South African national Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism is currently in the process of selecting national environmental indicators for use in South Africa. A list of potential indicators of General Environmental Management is presented in Table 15.4.1 as proposed in the National Core Set of Environmental Indicators (DEAT 2001). It is recommended that the North West Province identify appropriate indicators from this national set, which they can then use at a provincial level for reporting on general environmental management in the Province.

Table 15.4.1: The proposed list of general environmental management Indicators for South Africa (Source: DEAT, 2001).

Indicator	Type	Level	Frequency	Scale	Linkages
Number of ratified multilateral agreements	R	1	Annual	National	CSD Institutional
Budgetary allocation to resource management	R	1	Annual	National	HRC
EIA for sensitive ecosystems	R	2	Annual	Provincial
Inclusion of SEA into strategic planning exercises (IDPs & SDIs)	R	2	Annual	Provincial
Research and development capacity in South Africa	S	1	Annual	National	CSD Institutional
Implementation of ratified global agreements	R	2	Annual	National	CSD Institutional
Environmental litigation	R	3	Annual	National
Percentage of government research expenditure on environmental research and development	R	2	Annual	National	CSD Institutional
Corporate environmental responsibility	R	2	5 yearly	National
Government capacity for environmental management	R	2	Annual	National
Government expenditure on public environmental awareness programmes	R	2	Annual	Local	HRC
National expenditure on natural disaster relief	R	1	5 yearly	Provincial	CSD Institutional
Protection of environmental rights of vulnerable groups	R	3	Annual	National	HRC

CSD: Commission for Sustainable Development
HRC: Human Rights Commission
Type refers to the D-P-S-I-R model categories (Driving Forces, Pressures, States, Impacts, Responses respectively).
Level indicates the current availability of information pertaining to each indicator:

Frequency refers to the proposed frequency of reporting on each indicator for meaningful results and trends to be obtained. However, data collection will necessarily be more frequent than the reporting frequency.
Scale refers to the geographical scale at which the indicator is applicable: national, provincial, local or catchment level.
Linkages refers to possible commonalities between the particular indicator and other indicators used for reporting obligations as required by international conventions ratified by South Africa.
Please refer to the section on environmental and sustainable development indicators for more information on these proposed indicators for future monitoring and reporting.

References

Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT). 1998. Guideline Document to the EIA Regulations. DEAT, Pretoria.
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. 2000a. Guideline Document to Strategic Environmental assessment in South Africa. DEAT, Pretoria.
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. 2000b. Consolidated Environmental Implementation and Environmental Management Plan. DEAT, Pretoria.
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT). 2001. National Core Set of Environmental Indicators for the State of Environment Reporting in South Africa: Scoping Report. DEAT, Pretoria.
Environmental Impact Evaluation Unit of North West Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment. Annual Report 2000/2001. NW DACE, Mmabatho.
Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Government of the North West Province, Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (2001). Support to Environment and Sustainable Development in North West Province. 12 March 2001.
North West Province (2001). Environmental Implementation Plan (EIP). First Edition (1st Draft). March 2001.
Pech, G. & G. Pegram 1999. Guidelines for Preparation of the First Edition EIPs and EMPs. DEAT, Pretoria. 32pp.

Environmental Education

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Environmental monitoring