EIA-REP-325d-12 _BB_ - 201.09.14.pdf - SAHRA

PROCESS IN TERMS OF THE MPRDA, MPRDA AMENDMENT ACT AND NEMA
REGULATIONS
Mining operations require environmental authorisation from the DMR for the mining right application in terms of
Section 22 of the MPRDA. The following issues require consideration whilst compiling the Environmental Impact
Assessment Report.
• The objectives of the MPRDA include giving effect to Section 24 of the Constitution by ensuring that the
Nation’s mineral and petroleum resources are developed in an orderly and ecologically sustainable
manner while promoting justifiable social and economic development. (Section 2(h) of the MPRDA);
• Any prospecting or mining operation must be conducted in accordance with generally accepted principles
of sustainable development by integrating social, economic and environmental factors into the planning
and implementation of mining projects, in order to ensure that exploitation of mineral resources serves
present and future generations (Section 37(2) of the MPRDA);
• The principles set out in Section 2 of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act 107 of
1998)[NEMA] serve as guidelines for the interpretation, administration and implementation of the
environmental requirements of the MPRDA. (Section 37(1)(b) of the MPRDA);
• Section 38(1)(a) of the MPRDA requires that effect be given to the general objectives of Integrated
Environmental Management laid down in the NEMA. Integrated Environmental Management (IEM) is a
philosophy, which prescribes a code of practice for ensuring that environmental considerations are fully
integrated into all stages of the development process in order to achieve a desirable balance between
conservation and development; and
• The environmental management programme to be submitted is not limited to but must inter alia include
the requirements of regulation 51 of the MPRDA. For instance, where regulation 51(a)(ii) refers to
measures for the prevention, management and remediation of each environmental impact, these clearly
must be understood in the context of the NEMA where the general objectives of the IEM include ensuring
that the effects of activities on the environment receive adequate consideration before actions are taken in
connection with them. This clearly requires a description of the mining project that lists each activity
pertaining to the mining project, in order that each activity can be assessed.
The MPRDA Amendment Act further states that:
• Any person who wishes to apply for a mining right must simultaneously apply for an Environmental
Authorisation (Section 18);
• Environmental reports, as required in terms of Chapter 5 of the NEMA must be submitted to the DMR
(Section 18);
• Consultation with the landowner, lawful occupier and any interested and affected party must occur in the
prescribed manner and the result of the consultation must be included in the relevant environmental
reports (Section 18); and
• The mining right may only be granted if the mining will not result in unacceptable pollution, ecological
degradation or damage to the environment and an environmental authorisation is issued (Section 19).
EIA-REP-325d-11
October 2012
xv