CER welcomes the launch of EAPASA
7 April 2011 at 2:05 pm
The Centre for Environmental Rights welcomes the launch of the Environmental Assessment Practitioners’ Association of South Africa (EAPASA) earlier today. The establishment of this Association is a long-awaited and necessary step towards improving the quality of environmental assessment in South Africa. We particularly welcome the ongoing development towards introduction of a mechanism for the environmental assessment practitioners’ profession to hold their peers to account for unprofessional or unethical conduct, just like the attorneys’ profession.
It is of the utmost importance that practitioners undertaking environmental impact assessments for prospecting and mining also be required to be registered members of EAPASA, as recorded in our joint submission regarding amendments to the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 on 6 April 2011. Making the National Environmental Management Act and its 2010 EIA regulations applicable to mining will achieve just that.
7 April 2011