Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) for large scale infrastructure projects 1 Presented by: Lydia Cape (Pr. Sci. Nat. Environmental Sciences) Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa Email: lcape@csir.co.za Tel.: +27(0)21 888 2429
Why SEAs? determine environmental implications of national policies & plans integrate environmental and sustainability objectives into strategic decision-making rather than focusing merely on the assessment of impacts to establish a pro-active decision support tool capable of shaping future development and onsite assessment requirements integrate environmental, social and economic considerations into strategic long-term decision-making 2
Environment Economics Social Interdepartmental Intergovernmental Private Sector Cabinet (Ministers) Gazette IDPs & SDFs Plans & Policies Streamlined Authorisations Strategic Investment 3
South Africa's National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) [Act No. 107 of 1998] NEMA promotes the integrated environmental management of activities that may have a significant effect (positive or negative) on the environment. NEMA provides for Environmental Management Instruments 24(5)(bA), among others (largely untested): environmental management frameworks; strategic environmental assessment; environmental management programmes; norms or standards; spatial development tools; minimum information requirements. 4
Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs) SIP 1: Unlocking the northern mineral belt with Waterberg as the catalyst SIP 2: Durban-Free State-Gauteng logistics and industrial corridor SIP 3: South-Eastern node & corridor development SIP 4: Unlocking the economic opportunities in North West SIP 5: Saldanha-Northern Cape development corridor Geographic SIP 9: Electricity generation to support socio-economic development Energy SIP 6: Integrated municipal infrastructure project SIP 7: Integrated urban space and public transport programme SIP 11: Agri-logistics and rural infrastructure SIP 12: Revitalisation of public hospitals and other health facilities SIP 13: National school build programme SIP 14: Higher education infrastructure SIP 15: Expanding access to communication technology SIP 5 17: Regional integration for African cooperation and development SIP 18: Water and sanitation infrastructure Infrastructure Social Knowledge
SEAs for the Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs) Development opportunities Areas for prioritisation of services Poorest areas Bulk infrastructure requirements related to electricity, water, transport, town planning ports etc. 6
SEAs for the Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs) cont. Provides a spatial context for environmental assessment Cumulative impacts on a regional and project scale Appropriate development at an appropriate scale Opportunity for proactive integration of requirements between authorising departments agreements through a Cabinet process Focused policy development Scale allows application of NEMA environmental instruments DEA has committed to streamlining and integrating as far as possible environmental legislative requirements 7
SIP 8: Green energy in support of SA economy more than 550 projects proposed in SA no spatial reference for RE allocation Difficulties for eskom to plan ahead and allocate budget for upgrade 8
Identification of Renewable Energy Development Zones 9
SIP 8: Study Outputs Geographical Areas: 8 Renewable Energy Development Zones (REDZs) Protocols: minimum requirements and streamlined environmental assessment process Scoping level pre-assessment datasets (incl. Agriculture, Landscape, Heritage, Terrestrial & Aquatic Biodiversity, Birds, Bats, Civil Aviation, Defence, Telecommunication, Weather Services, SKA, Mining, Noise, Flicker) creation of an online screening tool hosted by DEA 10 Updated Legislation: Gazette and Exception Notice for the SIPs SEAs findings
SIP 10: Electricity transmission and distribution for all Fundamental shift in South Africa s energy generation footprint Current grid network inadequate to meet demands of diversifying energy mix Most of easy grid capacity been accessed through REIPPPP Need to expand grid and do it quickly to bring new generation online Problem: Long lead times for grid expansion 1. Protracted Environmental Authorisation and permitting process Long time frame for EIAs 2. Retrospective servitude negotiation process Solution: Strategic planning 1. Identify strategic areas for future grid expansion 2. Undertake environmental pre-assessment of strategic areas 3. Enable streamlined environmental and permitting procedures inside of strategic and pre-assed areas 4. Facilitate proactive investment inside of strategic areas 11
SIP 10: Electricity transmission and distribution for all H G S G S G G N 12 G N W N G
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SIP 16: SKA & Meerkat MeerKAT telescope: 64 interlinked receptors on 2 farms: Losberg farm and Meys dam farm (13 500 hectares ) The first phase of the SKA midfrequency dish array in South Africa (SKA1_MID): 133 additional interlinked receptors The SKA1_MID SEA study area covers an area of approximately 470 000 hectares and includes a core (38 land parcels / approx. 131 000 hectares) and 3 spiral arms (78 land parcels / approx. 339 000 hectares) 14
SIP 16: Study Outputs The SEA aims to provide an evidence-based knowledge set upon which strategic decisions can be made with respect to: o the identification of no go areas and assessment of key potential impacts of SKA activities and infrastructure; o mitigation measures and management actions to be implemented during the design, construction and operation phases of the SKA; and o long-term research and monitoring programmes to be implemented within the SKA core area during the lifetime of the SKA 15
SEA for the roll out of Wind and Solar PV renewable energy in SA : http://redzs.csir.co.za/ SEA for the Expansion of the South African Electricity Grid Infrastructure: http://egi.csir.co.za/ SEA for the Square Kilometre Array Phase 1 South Africa Project: http://skaphase1.csir.co.za/ SEA for the development of Shale Gas for Hydraulic Fracturing in SA: http://seasgd.csir.co.za/ SEA for for Aquaculture Development in South Africa: http://aquasea.csir.co.za/ 16 Lydia Cape Pr.Sci.Nat., CSIR South Africa Email: lcape@csir.co.za Phone: +27 21 888 2429