PUBLIC PARTICIPATION – Umhlaba Environmental Consulting

Public participation is a widely used term that describes information sharing between an applicant and various role players commonly referred to as stakeholders or interested and affected parties (I&APs). These role players encompass representatives and individuals from a diverse range of groups including:

Landowners,
NGO’s,
Decision makers on all levels of government, and
Any other individual, company or organisation that has a particular interest in the project.

The public participation process is predominantly carried out as part of a legal environmental authorisation process, such as; Mining and/or Prospecting Applications, Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), Basic Assessments, Waste Licences, Atmospheric Emissions Licences (AEL) and Water Use Licence (WUL). Although the requirements for public participation processes may differ between these environmental authorisations, the fundamental principles of transparency, fairness and reasonableness are enshrined as the core values of public participation in all environmental authorisation processes.

In an attempt to reach as many people as possible, Umhlaba Environmental Consulting has created this web site as one of the ways of making documents available to I&APs. Projects current available for review are towards the bottom of this web page, under the heading – DOCUMENTS AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC REVIEW.

YOUR INVOLVEMENT

If you are accessing information from this web site we would like to request that you please do the following:

Register with us as an I&AP) either using the details on this web site (see contact details left of page) or by filling in your details on the web site (register here). Even if you do not wish to make any comment on the document(s) we request that you register with us to enable us to determine the public’s interest in the project/ development.
Comment: After reviewing the relevant document(s) please submit your comments to us in writing (as required by the Regulations).

Comments must be received within the timeline stated on the file name of the relevant document. Comment sheets will be e-mailed to you when you register as an I&AP but can also be download with the documents listed under each project. You may also request that a comment sheet be sent to you via alternate means using the details on this web site (see contact details left of page).

Please note that both POSITIVE and NEGATIVE comments are requested.

OUR RESPONSIBILITY

Should you contact Umhlaba and submit comments on an environmental authorisation which is being subjected to a public participation process, then it is our responsibility to;
Act as an independent environmental assessment practitioner (EAP),

Record and present all comments received and response to these comments within the documentation that forms part of the environmental authorisation submission. It is these documents that the authorities will consider to make an informed decision.

DOCUMENTS AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC REVIEW

Please note, where I&AP comments are required to be submitted during a specified comment period, the date displayed in the file name of the report is the deadline for submission of comments. For other reports, the date displayed will refer to the audit date / date of completion of the report / the submission date.

List of acronyms:

BA – Basic Assessment
BAR – Basic Assessment Report
CA – Competent Authority
DMRE – Department of Mineral Resources and Energy
EA – Environmental Authorisation
EAP – Environmental Assessment Practitioner

EIA – Environmental Impact Assessment
EMPr – Environmental Management Program report
I&AP – Interested and Affected Parties
MPRDA – Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act
NEMA – National Environmental Management Act
RoD – Record of Decision

AfriSam (South Africa) Properties (Pty) Ltd – EMPr revision Umlaas Road Quarry:

In response to the findings of the December 2020 Environmental Audit, AfriSam (South Africa) Properties (Pty) Ltd Umlaas Road Quarry revised their approved Environmental Management Program report (EMPr) during 2021. Prior to circulating the revised EMPr for public comment, the process was put on hold due to a land claim on one of the properties within the Mining Right area. As a decision on the land claim has been made, the EMPr revision process is being re-initiated.

The revision process requires consultation with potential interested and affected parties (I&AP). The Background Information Document (BID) was made available during mid-June (a copy is still available below the EMPr and Appendices). The DRAFT Environmental Management Program report (EMPr) is available for review, available from 1st July 2022. A copy of the EMPr is at the top of the list of documents below, followed by the supporting documents / Appendices. To facilitate ease of download, some appendices are provided as separate reports. The list of Appendices is extensive as many specialist studies have been undertaken since the approval of the previous EMPr. These studies have been used to guide management practices that are implemented and documented in the EMPr.

We request that written feedback please be provided by the 9th August 2022. A copy of the EMPr is also available at the mine.

The BID circulated in mid-June is available below.

REGISTRATION

Please register as an interested and affected party (I&AP) by filling in your details below. The relevant comment sheet will be forwarded to you by your preferred method of communication.