CEA - EIA in the Coast Conservation Act

The Coast Conservation Act No. 57 of 1981 together with the Coast Conservation (Amendment) Act, No. 64 of 1988 governs the Coastal Zone. This Zone comprises mainly "the area lying within a limit of three hundred meters landwards of the Mean High Water line and a limit of two kilometers seawards of the Mean Low Water line" (fig 1 - Coastal Zone). The EIA process is part of the permit procedure mandated in Part II of the Coast Conservation Act (CCA) for the approval of prescribed development projects and undertakings within the Coastal Zone. The Act states that the Minister in charge of the subject of Coast Conserva6tion "may, having regard to the effect of those development activities on the long term stability, productivity and environmental quality of the Coastal Zone, prescribe the categories of development activity, which may be engaged in within the Coastal Zone without a permit". Such activity should not however include any development activity already prescribed under the NEA.

Section 16 of the Coast Conservation Act (CCA) confers on the Director of Coast Conservation the discretion to request a developer applying for a permit (to engage in a development activity within the Coastal Zone) to furnish an Environmental Impact Assessment relating to the proposed development activity. The CCA does not however specify how and when this discretion should be exercised. The Coast Conservation Department (CCD) interprets this provision as requiring an EIA when the impacts of the project are likely to be significant. The application from for a permit includes several questions, the answers to which would help determine whether the development activity is likely to have significant impacts on the environment.

The Act requires the Director of Coast Conservation, on receiving an EIA Report, to make it available for public inspection and to entertain comments on it. The Act also requires the Director of Coast Conservation to refer the EIA report to the Coast Conservation Advisory Council for comment. The Council is an inter-department, inter-disciplinary advisory body. The Director of Coast Conservation may decide to.

(1) Grant approval for the implementation of the proposed project subject to specified conditions,

Or

(2) Refuse approval for the implementation of the project, giving reasons for doing so.

Part I of the Schedule (annex II) containing the list of projects prescribed under the NEA states that the CCA applies in the case of those projects, which lie wholly within the Coastal Zone. This indicates that the NEA expects the Coast Conservation Dept. to consider these projects as prescribed and that an Environmental Impact Assessment is required albeit under the provisions of the CCA.

In practice however the Coast Conservation Department is guided by their own rules and regulations in determining whether any of the prescribed projects under the NEA require an Environmental Impact Assessment.

Certain parts of the Coastal Zone, which are considered environmentally sensitive and declared as "no-build" areas automatically, rule out the need to consider development projects in such areas. Similarly, development projects proposed for location in environmentally sensitive areas (as specified in Part III of the Schedule of prescribed projects, Annex II) within the Coastal Zone are required to be submitted to the approval process specified in the NEA. Many of these environmentally sensitive areas have already been identified and listed by the Coast Conservation Department as "set-back" areas comprising reservation areas and restricted ar5eas in which development activities are prohibited or significantly restricted.

CCD Planning Division officers submit their recommendations regarding proposed development projects to the Planning Committee of the Coast Conservation Department. The three technical divisions of the Coast Conservation Department recommend the issue of a permit with or without an EIA. Where an EIA is recommended, scoping sessions are convened with representatives of concerned state agencies to determine the Terms of Reference for the EIA.

The long title of the Coast Conservation Act states that the Act is established to regulate and control development activities within the Coastal Zone. Therefore, the Coast Conservation Department is the final authority in determining whether to permit a development activity in terms of the CCA, even though such activity may be required go through the approval process laid down in the NEA.

CCD Planning Division officers submit their recommendations regarding proposed development projects to the Planning Committee of the Coast Conservation Department. The three technical divisions of the Coast Conservation Department recommend the issue of a permit with or without an EIA. Where an EIA is recommended, scoping sessions are convened with representatives of concerned state agencies to determine the Terms of Reference for the EIA.

The long title of the Coast Conservation Act states that the Act is established to regulate and control development activities within the Coastal Zone. Therefore, the Coast Conservation Department is the final authority in determining whether to permit a development activity in terms of the CCA, even though such activity may be required go through the approval process laid down in the NEA.