Legislative Basis for these Guidelines. SANParks is bound by a number of statutes with relevance to environmental and conservation management of Parks, including the National Environmental Management Act of 1998 (NEMA), Environment Conservation Act of 1989, National Parks Act of 1976 and National Water Act of 1998. Key requirements resulting from these various statutes are discussed below. The South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) has adopted an Integrated Environmental Management (IEM) Procedure1 to guide the planning and implementation of development proposals. According to DEAT, the purpose of the IEM procedure is “to ensure that the possible environmental consequences of development proposals are investigated and understood before decisions are taken, enabling informed decision-making and accountability for decisions taken.” The IEM procedure applies to a prescribed set of activities, as well as to any development that might affect a “designated area or feature,” one of which is “national, provincial and municipal nature reserves.” A key component of the IEM procedure is the preparation of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the proposed development. Under the IEM framework, EIA’s must be prepared for prescribed activities and/or activities that might affect a designated area such as a national park. In March 1994 XXXX published draft legislation for compulsory EIA’s. In April 1998, under the authority of the Environment Conservation Act, DEAT promulgated a Guideline Document for implementing the EIA regulations.2 The Guideline Document further specifies activities for which an EIA is required to include “public and private resorts and associated infrastructure,” where a resort is defined as “a place frequented by people for holiday, recreation, health or similar purpose.” Under the EIA Guidelines, XXX’s must be prepared by an independent consultant.3 The EIA for each Management Area must rely on detailed information provided by the Operator in the Development and Environment Proposal, supplemented by specialists' reports and input from interested and affected parties (IAPs) during the EIA process.4 The Development and Environment Proposal must be sufficiently detailed regarding key aspects of the development to enable evaluation at the time the Bids are reviewed. Development and Environment Proposals lacking sufficient detail may be disqualified. The EIA’s for all Management Area developments will be reviewed by DEAT, the "relevant environmental author...
