ABSTRACT

Due to high development demands, environmental impact assessment (EIA) systems internationally are under increasing pressure to simplify, streamline and demonstrate efficiency. South Africa, as a country, has decades of experience in finding solutions to this challenge. Here we aim to provide a critical reflection on the different streamlining interventions implemented over time. Five key interventions are covered, namely: exemptions, refined screening activities, norms and standards, stricter time frames, and the introduction of strategic instruments. We conclude that although well intentioned, attempts at continually refined and expanded legislation, policy, guidelines and protocols have had the opposite effect, by making the system inefficient, overly complex and confusing. Two pragmatic recommendations are made, namely: (i) to provide for more discretion in decision-making, especially during screening, and (ii) to provide for an exit decision after scoping.

摘要

由于高发展需求，国际上的环境影响评估 (EIA) 系统在简化、简化和展示效率方面面临越来越大的压力。南非作为一个国家，在寻找应对这一挑战的解决方案方面拥有数十年的经验。在这里，我们旨在对随着时间的推移实施的不同精简干预措施进行批判性反思。涵盖五项关键干预措施，即：豁免、完善的筛选活动、规范和标准、更严格的时间框架以及战略工具的引入。我们的结论是，尽管用意良好，但不断完善和扩大立法、政策、指南和协议的尝试却产生了相反的效果，使系统效率低下、过于复杂和混乱。提出了两项​​务实的建议，即：