The laws and regulations governing environmental-impact assessments (EIAs) have grown incrementally and erratically over time and were now exceedingly complex, University of Cape Town environmental studies Professor Richard Fuggel argued on Monday.

Speaking at a ten-year assessment of EIAs conference, under way in Cape Town, Fuggel also called for the creation of a “consolidating Act” to draw together and simplify EIA legislation and regulations and to make them enforceable.

“I believe that it is fair to say that no sector involved with South African EIAs – government, professionals and nongovernmental organisations – believe that the country has an effective and efficient EIA system,” he said, adding that a consolidated Act could also help harmonise the system with laws relating to natural resources management and planning.

“A new short, sharp Act, in the suite of National Environmental Management Acts – consolidating the EIA provisions from the Environmental Conservation Acts of 1982 and 1989, the National Environmental Management Act of 1998, as well as the numerous amendments to these Acts and their subordinate regulations  – is overdue,” he said.

The National Environmental Laws Amendment Bill, which was currently before Parliament, failed to meet this aspiration. “If anything, it is adding to the confusion and complexity of environmental legislation,” Fuggel argued, adding that experienced environmental assessment practitioners should be consulted when such a law was drafted.

“In my view, the South African experiment of combining the screening and scoping elements of assessments into one has failed.

“Lengthy and costly scoping reports are being prepared for trivial developments that should be the subject of class assessments.

“For larger projects, our so-called scoping reports have, in fact, become what in most countries would be regarded as full-scale EIAs – this is not cost-effective or efficient.”

Procedural detail had also become more important than the quality and substance of the assessments. “If our EIAs are going to be efficient and effective, their focus must be changed from matters of procedure to matters of substance,” Fuggel averred.

Should the National Environmental Laws Amendment Bill be passed, the Minister would be empowered to establish advisory forums, which Fuggel believes could create an opportunity to rekindle the kind of cooperative interaction that characterised the National Environmental Management Act.

“An environmental assessment advisory committee of this nature could contribute significantly to re-establishing trust and respect between the country’s environmental assessment practitioners, environmental nongovernmental organisations, and national and provincial environmental departments,” he asserted.

Such a forum could also advise on required standards of competence, appropriate monitoring and follow-up mechanisms, the consolidation of fragmented legislation, and on practical ways to draw together planning and environmental-assessment procedures.

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