Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning
(a) How many (i) environmental impact assessment (EIA) applications and (ii) applications for EIA exemption have been submitted to his Department for consideration in the (aa) 2016/17, (bb) 2017/18 and (cc) 2018/19 financial years, (b) how many applications were (i) approved and (ii) turned down and (c) what has been the average turnaround time for his Department to pronounce on the various EIA applications submitted?
The Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning received a total of 472 development applications in terms of the EIA Regulations, 2014 over the 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 financial years, and finalized 466 applications over the same period. The Department issued 355 environmental authorizations (that is, decisions) over this period; with 350 environmental authorizations (“EA’s”) granted and 5 environmental authorizations refused. The competent authority issued 98% (or 348) (please note that the Annual Performance Plan target is 95%) of the 355 decisions within the regulated prescribed timeframe (which is 107 days) and took on average approximately 95 days to finalize these applications. Please note that 111 applications either lapsed or were withdrawn by the applicant/s over these three financial years. Furthermore, these statistics reflect the number of Basic Assessment and Scoping & Environmental Impact Assessment Report applications processed in terms of the EIA Regulations, 2014, but exclude amendment applications.
Find below the number of applications per financial year:
Financial Year | Applications received | Applications Finalized | Withdrawn/ lapsed applications | EA’s issued | EA’s granted | EA’s refused | Granted/ Refused WITHIN timeframe | Granted/ Refused OUTSIDE timeframe | Avg. turn-around time for EA |
2016/17 | 153 | 178 | 47 | 131 | 128 | 3 | 129 (98.5%) | 3 (2.3%) | 90 days |
2017/8 | 140 | 136 | 25 | 111 | 111 | 0 | 109 (98.2%) | 2 (1.8%) | 92 days |
2018/19 | 179 | 152 | 39 | 113 | 111 | 2 | 110 (97%) | 3 (2.7%) | 103 days |
TOTAL | 472 | 466 | 111 | 355 | 350 | 5 | 348 | 8 | - |
Average | 157.3 | 155.3 | 37 | 118.3 | 116.7 | 1.7 | 116 (98%) | 2.67 (2.2%) | 95 days |
This Department further received 16 applications in terms of the National Exemption Regulations, 2014 over the 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 financial years and finalized 22 applications over the same period (please note that this number includes applications received during the previous financial year(s) and that was finalized during the period in question). Unfortunately, the database that captures exemption applications does not allow the Department to provide you with more detailed information as requested.
Find below a summary of the number of National Exemption Regulations, 2014 applications per financial year:
Financial Year | Applications received | Finalized application granted | Finalized applications refused |
2016/17 | 8 | 20 | 0 |
2017/8 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
2018/19 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
TOTAL | 16 | 22 | 0 |
