Environmental impact management and planning: - Norway

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Developing a national environmental authorisation system as a web-basedelectronic database for EIA and other environmental authorisationsPurpose: To provide a system that indicates the status ofindividual EIA applications and information for strategicmanagement decisions.OverviewThe National Environmental Authorisation System (NEAS)is a web-based electronic database that has beendeveloped to assist the South African governmentauthorities to capture, track and report EIA applications. Itis an integrated environmental management tool aimedat providing an environmental reporting mechanismat national and provincial level through the use ofcentralised information. The system has been designedto also handle waste and air pollution, as well as all othertypes of environmental authorisations.The main aims of the system are to:• improve the processing of EIA applications;• track and report on the status of an application;• have database storage;• identify bottlenecks in the process;• generate reports and statistics on applications;• be a decision support system;• provide information for strategic managementdecisions;• integrate with other environmental systems; and• be flexible and adaptable to the changes inlegislation.ProgressNEAS has been fully developed and rolled out at all nineprovincial environmental authorities and the nationalDepartment of Environmental Affairs. The DEA is also providingassistance to provinces in terms of human resource capacityto capture the backlog of EIA applications on the system. Thedepartment is providing training to all users of the system.BenefitsNEAS provides benefits to all the relevant stakeholders interms of its ability to provide readily available backgroundand historical information on a particular project or EIAapplication. The system also provides the current status ofthe application, together with the responsible official at everystage. In order to improve the processing of applications,NEAS is a process-driven system with time frames for everystage, as stipulated in the EIA regulations. For example,if a decision for an application is delayed by an officialusing the system, NEAS will send a notification indicatingthe delay in the process. Officials can record the numberof applications awaiting their response. Most importantly,the system is developed in such a way that the time framesand dates on which the application was received by thecompetent authority and the decision taken cannot betampered with. The NEAS database can also be exportedto a geographical information system (GIS) format to bedisplayed in map layers. This is currently being done.Possible further workNEAS Phase III entails the development of a public portalso that the general public can have access to the EIAapplications submitted to the environmental authorities.This will enable environmental assessment practitionersto track the status of their applications and informpotential developers of the project’s progress. The NEASdatabase can be exported to an ArcView reader GISapplication to display visual information in this regard.Additional environmental reports will be incorporatedinto the system to cater for the differing reporting needsof all the users.6
Review of the Efficiency and Effectiveness (REE) of the South AfricanEIA systemPurpose: To review the successes and failures of EIA as a toolfor impact management and to identify alternative tools.OverviewThe new EIA regulations of 2006 (promulgated in termsof NEMA) were implemented on 3 July 2006. Given theexperience of almost 10 years of regulating EIA in SouthAfrica, the DEA decided to embark on a process to reviewthe efficiency and effectiveness of the EIA as a tool forenvironmental impact management in South Africa.The study had the following aims:• Review the efficiency and effectiveness of the EIAprocess as a tool for managing environmental impactsin terms of the NEMA EIA regulations.• Provide a retrospective view on the performance of EIAas a tool for EIM by considering:- Whether the EIA process achieves the intended goal.- Where goals were met, what were the critical successfactors and how can these be optimised.- Where goals were not met, what were the reasons forthis and how can it be rectified.- Whether the EIA, in terms of specific listed activities, isthe most appropriate tool for impact managementand, where it is not, to identify alternative tools.- To what extent the EIA tool contributed to meet thenational objectives and how effective and efficient it isin promoting benefits for the users (applicants, businessand industry, non-governmental organisations, thepublic and authorities on national, provincial andmunicipal level).- The identification of key constraints and opportunitiesof the current EIA system and ways to improve thesystem.- Where EIA may be falling short in adding value tothe decision-making process.ProgressThe study followed a phased approach, which comprisedtwo main parallel parts:• Investigating the effectiveness and efficiency of EIAs byreviewing historic EIA processes against set criteria andcomparing these to other processes.• Assessing the views of stakeholders involved in the EIAprocess.The study is completed and its outcomes have been madeavailable in a final closing report for the project. The outcomeshighlighted several problems and issues of concern, and anumber of recommendations have been made to addressthese. This process was followed by the 10 years of EIA inSouth Africa Conference in November 2008, where theexperience of the previous 10 years and the findings of thisreport were critically examined, and decisions were madeon the way forward.BenefitsIt was accordingly agreed by all stakeholders that they wouldparticipate in the formulation of the National EnvironmentalImpact Assessment and Management Strategy (EIAMS). Thestakeholders also agreed on the process to be followed,the structures to be put in place, and the themes to beaddressed in the strategy. The findings of the REE form amajor part of this process.Possible further workThe REE has been concluded, but, as indicated above,it has been followed up by the EIAMS and there is scopefor international participation in this process. One of thestructures in this process is an advisory group, consisting ofinternational and local experts, who will provide commentsand advice on documents and deliverables. Mr Terje Lind,Deputy Director-General of the NMoE, has been selectedto serve on this body. There is a need in this process for thefunding of specialist reports, workshops and the publicationof documentation.7
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Environmental impact management and planning: - Norway

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