Abstract
M.Sc. (Environmental Management)
The minimum requirements for environmental impact assessment (EIA) in South Africa are prescribed in the 2010 EIA Regulations under the National Environmental Management Act (Act No. 107 of 1998) [NEMA]; where EIA is used as a decision-support tool by competent authorities in evaluating the environmental authorisation applications of activities likely to have adverse environmental impacts. Regulations under the National Environmental Management: Waste Act (Act No. 59 of 2008) [NEM:WA] define the nature and thresholds of those waste management activities for which environmental authorisation, in the form of a waste management licence, is required.
The aforementioned regulations make a distinction between Category A activities and Category B activities; where an application for authorisation for Category B activities needs to be supported by a comprehensive Scoping and EIA (SIA) process undertaken by an independent environmental assessment practitioner (EAP). With the exception of the disposal of general waste to land, Category B activities relate to hazardous waste storage, treatment, reuse, recycling, recovery and disposal. The above-mentioned SIA process is implemented in two distinct phases, the first of which is the scoping phase; which aims to identify the key potential impacts that could be realised from a development proposal and to set the terms of reference for the subsequent EIA phase. Scoping thus aims, inter alia, to ensure that the overall EIA is undertaken in an efficient and effective manner, with emphasis on identification of impacts of potential significance.
By using a modified version of the South African adapted Lee and Colley (1992) Review Package, this dissertation presents the findings of an evaluation of the quality of hazardous waste-related Scoping Reports prepared in South Africa. A sample of 20 Scoping Reports was assessed using the aforementioned review package. The results indicated that 75% of Scoping Reports were undertaken satisfactorily in terms of overall quality. Conversely, 25% of these reports were deemed to be of an unsatisfactory quality, with 10% having been very poorly attempted and deficient in many material respects. This is concerning in respect of the sectoral focus (hazardous waste management) of this research; where by definition, owing to the inherent physical, chemical or toxicological characteristics, the handling of hazardous waste may have a significant detrimental impact on human health and the environment if managed inappropriately.