Environmental Management Programme
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EMPr – May 2015 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME PROPOSED UPGRADE OF 30KM ACCESS ROADS AT MBHASHE AND KSD LM, EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE DEDEAT Reference: 14/12/16/3/3/1/1372 Prepared for: Element Consulting Engineers 52 Stewart Drive Baysville East London 5241 South Africa Prepared by: EAST LONDON 16 Tyrell Road, Berea East London, 5241 043 726 7809/8313 Also in Grahamstown, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, JHB and Maputo www.cesnet.co.za May 2015 EOH Coastal & Environmental Services i EMPr – May 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 3 1.1 Objectives of an EMPr ..................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Form and function of an EMPr ......................................................................................... 4 1.3 Legal requirements .......................................................................................................... 5 1.4 Environmental authorisation ............................................................................................ 6 2 DETAILS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT TEAM ............................................... 7 3 PROPOSED ACTIVITY ........................................................................................................... 8 3.1 Description of proposed activity ....................................................................................... 8 3.1.1 Site Location ................................................................................................................ 8 4 SCOPE OF THE EMPR .......................................................................................................... 9 4.1 Layout of the EMPr .......................................................................................................... 9 4.1.1 Construction Phase ..................................................................................................... 9 4.1.2 Operational and maintenance phase ........................................................................... 9 4.1.3 Closure and decommissioning phase .......................................................................... 9 5 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES ....................................................................................... 10 5.1 Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) ..................................... 10 5.2 Contractor...................................................................................................................... 10 5.3 Environmental Site Officer ............................................................................................. 10 5.4 Environmental Control Officer ........................................................................................ 11 6 MITIGATION AND/OR MANAGEMENT MEASURES .......................................................... 13 6.1 Planning and Design Phase .......................................................................................... 13 6.2 Construction Phase ....................................................................................................... 14 6.3 Operational Phase ......................................................................................................... 20 7 ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING ....................................................................................... 21 7.1 General environmental monitoring ................................................................................. 21 8 ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS ....................................................................................... 22 8.1 Monitoring of environmental training .............................................................................. 23 9 COMPLIANCE WITH THE EMPR ......................................................................................... 24 9.1 Non-compliance............................................................................................................. 24 9.2 Emergency preparedness .............................................................................................. 25 9.3 Incident reporting and remedy ....................................................................................... 25 9.4 Penalties ....................................................................................................................... 25 10 CLOSURE PLANNING ......................................................................................................... 27 10.1 Post-Construction environmental audit .......................................................................... 27 10.2 Management review and revision of the EMPr ............................................................... 27 10.3 General review of EMPr ................................................................................................. 27 11 REPORTING ......................................................................................................................... 28 11.1 Administration ................................................................................................................ 28 11.2 Good housekeeping ...................................................................................................... 28 11.3 Record keeping ............................................................................................................. 28 11.4 Document control .......................................................................................................... 29 12 CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................... 30 EOH Coastal & Environmental Services ii EMPr – May 2015 1 INTRODUCTION The department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) proposes to pave approximately 30 km of existing access roads at King Sabatha Dalindyebo (KSD) Local Municipality within OR Tambo District Municipality, and at Mbhashe Local Municipality within Amathole District Municipality (as shown in Figure 1.1 below), both in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Element Consulting Engineers, as the project engineers, have appointed EOH Coastal & Environmental Services (CES) to conduct the Environmental Impact Assessment. The proposed access roads are within ward 19 & 20 of KSD Local Municipality, within OR Tambo District Municipality, and ward 7 & 8 of Mbhashe Local Municipality within the Amathole District Municipality. The two local municipalities are adjacent to each other, and are separated by the Mbhashe River. Figure 1.1: Locality map indicating the access roads proposed for upgrade within ward 7 & 8 of Mbhashe LM and ward 19 & 20 of KSD LM. This Environmental Management Programme (EMPr) has been prepared as part of the basic assessment process to provide specific environmental guidance for the planning, construction and operation of the KSD and Mbhashe LM access roads. The competent authority, being the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), requires that an environmental management programme (EMPr) be submitted in accordance with Regulation 33 of the regulations published in Government Notice No. R. 543 of 18 June 2010, which should be read with Section 24 N of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA), 1998 (Act 107 of 1998), as amended. 1.1 Objectives of an EMPr The EMPr has been compiled to provide recommendations and guidelines according to which compliance monitoring can be done during the upgrade of the access roads as well as to ensure that all relevant factors are considered to ensure for environmentally responsible development. EOH Coastal & Environmental Services 3 EMPr – May 2015 This EMPr informs all relevant parties [the Project Coordinator, the Contractor, the Environmental Control Officer (ECO) and all other staff employed by contractor at the site as to their duties in the fulfilment of the legal requirements for the construction, operation and decommissioning of the bridge with particular reference to the prevention and mitigation of anticipated potential environmental impacts. All parties should note that obligations imposed by the EMPr are legally binding in terms of the environmental authorisation granted by the relevant environmental permitting authority. The objectives of an EMPr are to: Ensure compliance with regulatory authority stipulations and guidelines which may be local, provincial, national and/or international; Ensure that there is sufficient allocation of resources on the project budget so that the scale of EMPr-related activities is consistent with the significance of project impacts; Verify environmental performance through information on impacts as they occur; Respond to unforeseen events; Provide feedback for continual improvement in environmental performance; Identify a range of mitigation measures which could reduce and mitigate the potential impacts to minimal or insignificant levels; Detail specific actions deemed necessary to assist in mitigating the environmental impact of the project; Identify measures that could optimize beneficial impacts; Create management structures that addresses the concerns and complaints of I&APs with regards to the development; Establish a method of monitoring and auditing environmental management practices during all phases of the activity; Ensure that safety recommendations are complied with; Specify time periods within which the measures contemplated in the final