Scoping Report Scoping and Environmental Impact
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SCOPING REPORT SCOPING AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT FOR A MINING RIGHT APPLICATION FOR OFFSHORE MARINE DIAMONDS IN SEA CONCESSION 2C, WEST COAST, SOUTH AFRICA. SUBMITTED FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORISATION IN TERMS OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT ACT, 1998, IN RESPECT OF LISTED ACTIVITIES THAT HAVE BEEN TRIGGERED BY APPLICATIONS IN TERMS OF THE MINERAL AND PETROLEUM RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT, 2002 (MPRDA) (AS AMENDED). NAME OF APPLICANT: Belton Park Trading 127 (Pty) Ltd TEL NO: 021 510 1881 FAX NO: 021 510 5035 POSTAL ADDRESS: 29 Carlisle Street, Paarden Eiland, 7405 Cape Town PHYSICAL ADDRESS: 29 Carlisle Street, Paarden Eiland, 7405 Cape Town FILE REFERENCE NUMBER SAMRAD: NC30/5/1/2/2/10101MR Belton Park Trading 127: Proposed Offshore Mining for Marine Diamonds in Sea Concession 2C, West Coast, South Africa IMPORTANT NOTICE In terms of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (Act 28 of 2002 as amended), the Minister must grant a prospecting or mining right if among others the mining “will not result in unacceptable pollution, ecological degradation or damage to the environment”. Unless an Environmental Authorisation can be granted following the evaluation of an Environmental Impact Assessment and an Environmental Management Programme report in terms of the National Environmental Management Act (Act 107 of 1998) (NEMA), it cannot be concluded that the said activities will not result in unacceptable pollution, ecological degradation or damage to the environment. In terms of section 16(3)(b) of the EIA Regulations 2014, any report submitted as part of an application must be prepared in a format that may be determined by the Competent Authority and in terms of Section 17(1)(c) the competent Authority must check whether the application has taken into account any minimum requirements applicable or instructions or guidance provided by the competent authority to the submission of applications. It is, therefore, an instruction that the prescribed reports required in respect of applications for an environmental authorisation for listed activities triggered by an application for a right or permit are submitted in the exact format of, and provide all the information required in terms of, this template. Furthermore, please be advised that failure to submit the information required in the format provided in this template will be regarded as a failure to meet the requirements of the Regulation and will lead to the Environmental Authorisation being refused. It is furthermore an instruction that the Environmental Assessment Practitioner must process and interpret his/her research and analysis and use the findings thereof to compile the information required herein. (Unprocessed supporting information may be attached as appendices). The EAP must ensure that the information required is placed correctly in the relevant sections of the Report, in the order, and under the provided headings as set out below, and ensure that the report is not cluttered with un-interpreted information and that it unambiguously represents the interpretation of the applicant. OBJECTIVE OF THE SCOPING PROCESS 1) The objective of the scoping process is to, through a consultative process— (a) identify the relevant policies and legislation relevant to the activity; (b) motivate the need and desirability of the proposed activity, including the need and desirability of the activity in the context of the preferred location; (c) identify and confirm the preferred activity and technology alternative through an impact and risk assessment and ranking process; (d) identify and confirm the preferred site, through a detailed site selection process, which includes an impact and risk assessment process inclusive of cumulative impacts and a ranking process of all the identified alternatives focusing on the geographical, physical, biological, social, economic, and cultural aspects of the environment; (e) identify the key issues to be addressed in the assessment phase; (f) agree on the level of assessment to be undertaken, including the methodology to be applied, the expertise required as well as the extent of further consultation to be undertaken to determine the impacts and risks the activity will impose on the preferred site through the life of the activity, including the nature, significance, consequence, extent, duration and probability of the impacts to inform the location of the development footprint within the preferred site; and (g) identify suitable measures to avoid, manage, or mitigate identified impacts and to determine the extent of the residual risks that need to be managed and monitored. CCA Environmental (Pty) Ltd i DMR Scoping Report Template Belton Park Trading 127: Proposed Offshore Mining for Marine Diamonds in Sea Concession 2C, West Coast, South Africa 1. CONTACT PERSON AND CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESS 1.1 DETAILS OF THE EAP WHO PREPARED THE REPORT: The details and role of the environmental assessment practitioner (EAPs) that were involved in the preparation of this scoping report are provided in Table 1-1 below. Neither CCA Environment (Pty) Ltd (CCA) nor any of the specialists involved in the environmental assessment process have any interest in the project other than fair payment for consulting services rendered as part of the environmental assessment process. Table 1-1: Details of the EAP Name of the practitioner Jonathan Crowther (Project Reviewer) Tel No.: 021 461 1118/9 Fax No.: 021 461 1120 E-mail address [email protected] 1.2 EXPERTISE OF THE EAP NAME Jonathan Crowther RESPONSIBILITY ON PROJECT Project leader and quality control. DEGREE B.Sc. Hons (Geol.), M.Sc. (Env. Sci.) PROFESSIONAL REGISTRATION Pr.Sci.Nat., CEAPSA EXPERIENCE IN YEARS 28 Jonathan Crowther has worked in the environmental consulting field since 1988 and is currently the Managing Director of CCA Environmental (Pty) Ltd. He has expertise in a wide range of environmental disciplines, including Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), Environmental Management Plans/Programmes, Environmental Planning & Review, EXPERIENCE Environmental Control Officer services, and Public Consultation & Facilitation. He has project managed a number of offshore oil and gas EIAs for various exploration and production activities in South Africa and Namibia. He also has extensive experience in projects related to roads, property developments and landfill sites. NAME Nicholas Arnott RESPONSIBILITY ON PROJECT Project consultant and report writing. DEGREE B.Sc. Hons (Earth and Geographical Science) PROFESSIONAL REGISTRATION - EXPERIENCE IN YEARS 10 Nicholas Arnott has worked as an environmental assessment practitioner since 2006 and has been involved in a number of projects covering a range of environmental disciplines, including Basic Assessments, EXPERIENCE Environmental Impact Assessments and Environmental Management Programmes. He has gained experience in a wide range of projects relating to mining, infrastructure projects (e.g. roads), housing and industrial developments. Proof of registrations of the EAP is provided in Appendix 1 and the relevant curricula vitae are attached in Appendix 2. CCA Environmental (Pty) Ltd 1 DMR Scoping Report Template Belton Park Trading 127: Proposed Offshore Mining for Marine Diamonds in Sea Concession 2C, West Coast, South Africa 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPERTY The proposed mining activities would be undertaken within Sea Concession 2C, which is located off the West Coast of South Africa. Farm Name N/A - Sea Concession 2C is an offshore area located approximately 5 km seaward off the West Coast of South Africa. Corner of property point co- 1 28.874876405° S 16.238534076° E ordinates 2 28.874457770° S 16.560831282° E 3 29.091420267° S 16.719919216° E 4 29.091419590° S 15.877949526° E 5 28.874876405° S 16.238534076° E Application area (Ha) 135 996.27 ha Magisterial district N/A Distance and direction from The inshore boundary of Sea Concession 2C is located 5 km nearest town seaward of the coast. The nearest towns to the western boundary of the sea concession include Port Nolloth (located approximately 25 km to the south) and Alexander Bay (located approximately 30 km to the north). 21 digit Surveyor General Code for each farm portion N/A - the proposed project is located offshore. 3. LOCALITY MAP A map showing the locality of Sea Concession 2C is provided in Appendix 3. 4. DESCRIPTION OF THE SCOPE OF THE PROPOSED OVERALL ACTIVITY 4.1 LISTED AND SPECIFIED ACTIVITIES The EIA Regulations 2014 promulgated in terms of Chapter 5 of National Environmental Management Act (NEMA), 1998 (Act 107 of 1998), and published in Government Notice (GN) No. R982, provides for the control of certain listed activities. These activities are listed in GN No. R983 (Listing Notice 1), R984 (Listing Notice 2) and R985 (Listing Notice 3) of 4 December 2014, and are prohibited until Environmental Authorisation has been obtained from the competent authority. The Minister of Mineral Resources remains responsible for the granting of Environmental Authorisation for Mining Right Applications in term of NEMA. Such Environmental Authorisation, which may be granted subject to conditions, will only be considered once there has been compliance with GN No. R982. GN No. R982 sets out the procedures and documentation that need to be complied with when applying for environmental authorisation. A Basic Assessment process must be applied to an application if the authorisation applied for is in respect of an activity(ies) listed in Listing Notice 1 and / or 3 and a Scoping and Environmental