Evaluating Environmental Impact Assessment report quality in South African national parks

Sandham, L.A.; Huysamen, Carla; Retief, François; Morrison‐Saunders, Angus; Bond, Alan; Pope, Jenny; Alberts, Reece

doi:10.4102/koedoe.v62i1.1631

Cited by 20 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Only some of the cases reviewed provided clear statements on the cumulative impacts associated with the particular project. The above aligns with previous research in the international and South African context, that found dealing with significance remains a key challenge (Arts et al 2012;Ehrlich and Ross 2015;Retief, et al 2016;Sandham et al 2020;Alberts et al 2021a)…”

Section: Significancesupporting

confidence: 88%

“…A distinction can however be made between 'administratively correct' EIA decisions and 'good' EIA decisions (Alberts et al 2021b) KPIs were chosen that are empirically measurable and for which data could be obtained from EIA case files. The KPIs addressed South African minimum legal requirements and international best practice for EIA report substance, based on an adapted and contextualised Lee and Colley method (Adapted from Alberts et al, 2020;Alberts et al 2021a;Sandham et al 2008aSandham et al , 2020 -see Table 2.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The quality or substance of EIA reports has been a particular focus of international and South African EIA research (Sandham et al 2008a;Jalava et al 2010;Bond et al 2018). Literature suggests that substantive weakness is an ongoing challenge for EIA practice both internationally and within the South African context (Wood 2003;Sandham et al 2010Sandham et al , 2013aSandham et al , 2020Alberts et al 2021a;Fischer and Retief 2021) with much being written on how to improve substance, including factors such as:…”

Section: Is Eia Just Admin?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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EIA decision-making and administrative justice: the substance of just decisions

Alberts

Retief

Arts

et al. 2022

Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal

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In this paper we aim at determining the link between EIA report substance and administratively just EIA decisions. In so doing, previous research based on 42 case studies from South Africa, which analysed whether they comprised administratively just decisions (i.e. that were lawful, procedurally fair and reasonable) were reviewed for the substance of the EIA reports on which the decisions were based. The research found that administratively just decisions can be achieved even with weak EIA report substance in areas such as: need and desirability, identifying alternatives, dealing with significance, and addressing mitigation measures. We thereby conclude that administrative justice may be a false safety net in ensuring more environmentally sustainable EIA outcomes if not supported and informed by good EIA report substance. We conclude by making recommendations to improve substance and thereby strengthening administrative justice in EIA.

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Section: Significancesupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Is Eia Just Admin?mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

EIA decision-making and administrative justice: the substance of just decisions

Alberts

Retief

Arts

et al. 2022

Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal

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“…Therefore, it is conceivable that you have a just (correct) but poor decision. Based on what other authors have found when looking at EIA outcomes and substance (Sadler 1996;Wood 2003;Morgan 2012;Jones and Fischer 2016;Sandham et al 2020), we suspect that this might be happening regularly. An important question arising is then to what extent poor substance is being incorporated into just or administratively correct EIA decisions?…”

Section: Conclusion and Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 65%

“…Secondly, the EIA system is also well researched with a meaningful body of evaluation literature (see for example Retief 2010;Retief, Fischer, et al 2020;Hallat, Retief, and Sandham 2015;Sandham, Moloto, and Retief 2008;Sandham, Hoffman, and Retief 2008;Sandham, Carrol, and Retief 2010;Sandham et al 2013;Sandham, Van der Vyver, and Retief 2013;Sandham et al 2020;Kidd, Retief, and Alberts 2018;Swanepoel et al 2019). Finally, administrative justice in South Africa is a wellentrenched legal principle, with a specific constitutional right (in Section 33 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa) as well as national legislation protecting this right to just administrative action (Kotz e 2004;Kidd, Retief, and Alberts 2018).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

EIA decision-making and administrative justice: an empirical analysis

Alberts

Retief

Roos

et al. 2021

Journal of Environmental Planning and Management

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Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is implemented in most countries as an administrative procedure. In this context, it is subject to the principles of administrative justice. However, to date, no empirical research has been conducted to determine the extent to which EIA decisions comply with the principles of administrative justice. In this paper, empirical data from 42 EIA cases in South Africa are used to establish EIA compliance with the administrative justice principles of lawfulness, procedural fairness and reasonableness. This is achieved by measuring EIA decisions against specially developed key performance indicators (KPIs). Overall, decisions were found to mostly comply with the principles of administrative justice. However, questions arise with regards to the quality and substance of the information feeding into the decision-making process and on which decisions are ultimately based.

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Developing an evaluation approach to consider the influence of country context on environmental impact assessment performance, from a southern African perspective

Aljareo

Watson

Schwaibold

2023

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

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Environmental impact assessment (EIA) as an environmental policy has been adopted in some countries. However, in terms of achieving its stated objectives in the developing country context, EIA system performance often falls short compared with the developed country context. Evaluation of EIA system performance has gained considerable attention with the aim of ensuring the achievement of its purpose, most recognizably the promotion of sustainable development through informed decision‐making. Different evaluation approaches have been developed and applied to explore areas of inadequacy in the EIA system components, EIA implementation, and EIA report. Researchers have considered the context of the EIA system as the underlying cause of its limited performance in developing countries. However, the literature has not rigorously explored the relationship between EIA system performance and country context, and it is the subject of ongoing debate. Our aim in this article is to contribute to the practical analysis of the influence of country context on EIA system performance. Drawing on the conceptual frameworks and evaluation methods in the literature, we propose an evaluation approach to the EIA system performance that combines the importance of considering the country context in the evaluation process. It consists of EIA system components, EIA report, and an indicative set of country context indicators. The developed evaluation approach was validated by applying it to four case studies from southern Africa. The South African case study results are presented here. The outcome is a practical evaluation approach that promotes understanding of the relationship between EIA system performance and country context and can improve EIA system performance. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;00:1–15. © 2023 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

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Evaluating Environmental Impact Assessment report quality in South African national parks

Cited by 20 publications

References 34 publications

EIA decision-making and administrative justice: the substance of just decisions

EIA decision-making and administrative justice: the substance of just decisions

EIA decision-making and administrative justice: an empirical analysis

Developing an evaluation approach to consider the influence of country context on environmental impact assessment performance, from a southern African perspective

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