Environmental Impact Assessment
•  What is an EIA?
•  Why do we need an EIA?
•  Which activities are subject to EIA?
•  Guidelines for submission of EIA in soft copy version
•  EIA Reports
•  Decision on EIA Applications
Preliminary Environmental Report(PER)
• What is a PER?
• Which activities are subject to PER?
EIA/PER Guidelines
• PER Guideline for Rearing of Poultry above 5000 heads
• EIA Guidelines for Proposed Desalination Plants
• EIA Guidelines for Proposed Stone Crushing Plants
• EIA Guideline for Proposed Residential Morcellement Projects(Under review)
• A proponent's guide to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
• EIA Guideline for Proposed Coastal Hotel Projects     (under review)
• A Proponent's guide to preliminary Environmental Report(PER)
• EIA Guidelines for fish farming in the sea

What is an EIA?

EIA is a study that predicts the environmental consequences of a proposed development. It evaluates the expected effects on the natural environment, human health and on property. The study requires a multi-disciplinary approach.

The EIA compares various alternatives by which the project could be realized and seeks to identify the one which represents the best combination of economic and environmental costs and benefits. Alternatives include location as well as methods, process technology and construction methods.

Why do we need an EIA?                                            

EIA is one of the most important tool for sound decision making and for achieving sustainable development.

Mauritius first adopted formal procedures for EIA in June 1993 following the amendment of the Environment Protection Act (EPA) 1991. In order to further consolidate and reinforce the institutional and legal framework for the protection of the environmental assets of Mauritius and a sustainable development, a new Environment Protection Act is in force as from 5 September 2002. The EPA 2002 provides for environmental stewardship, greater transparency and public participation in the EIA mechanism as well as a streamlining of the EIA procedures. The EPA 2002 also specifies the contents of the EIA.

Which activities are subject to EIA?

Undertakings requiring an EIA licence are listed in Part B of the Environment Protection (Amendment of Schedule) Regulations 2006. The EPA 2002 also empowers the Minister to request an EIA for any non- listed activity, which, by reason of its nature, scope, scale and sensitive location could have an impact on the environment.

List of undertakings requiring an Environment Impact Assessment

• Asphalt plant
• Assembly of motor vehicles
• Block making plant manufacturing above 10,000 blocks per day
• Bulk processing, storage and handling of petroleum products, liquefied gas, coal and petro-chemical products
• Clinic and hospital, including animal hospital
• Construction of airports and runways
• Construction of breakwaters, groins, jetties, revêtements and seawalls
• Construction of dam and dyke
• Construction of marinas
• Conversion of forest land to any other land use
• Creation of, and/or development on, barachois
• Desalination plant
• Distillery
• Dyehouse
• Fishing port
• Golf course
• Harbour dredging operation, construction and development
• Highway and mass transit system
• Hotel and Integrated Resort Scheme, including extension, with first boundary within 1 kilometre from high water mark
• Housing project and apartments above 50 units within 1 kilometre from high water mark
• Incineration of municipal solid waste, quarantine waste, medical and clinical wastes
• Industrial manufacture of beer, wine and spirit
• Lagoon dredging and reprofiling of sea beds
• Land clearing and development, including installation of high tension lines in environmentally sensitive areas such as water catchment areas, waterlogged areas, wetlands, mountain slopes and islets.
• Landfill
• Manufacture of batteries
• Manufacture of dangerous chemicals, chemical fertilizers and pesticides
• Manufacture of lime
• Manufacture and packing of cement
• Manufacture of pharmaceutical products
• Modification of existing coastline such as beach reprofiling, coastal protection works and removal of basaltic and beach rock
• Municipal wastewater treatment plant
• Offshore sand mining
• Parcelling out of land above 5 hectares -
  • otherwise than by way of division in kind among heirs;
  • to be allocated to persons other than such persons as may be approved by the Minister responsible for the subject of agriculture and who are-
• bona fide occupiers of housing units forming part of sugar estate camps owned by sugar milliers or sugarcane planters;
• bona fide occupiers of housing units forming part of tea estate camps;
• workers affected by the closure of a sugar factory; or
• workers opting for the Voluntary Retirement Scheme
• Petroleum refinery
• Power generating plants
• Pulp and paper manufacture
• Rearing of monkeys
• Rock quarrying
• Sea outfall
• Shipyard and dry dock
• Stone crushing plant
• Sugar factory or refinery
• Tannery and leather finishing
• Transfer station for solid waste
• Used or waste oil treatment and disposal

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GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION OF EIA REPORTS IN SOFT COPY VERSIONS

1.0  INTRODUCTION

As you may be aware under Section 18 of the New Environment Protection Act 2002 and to allow more transparency, applicants submitting EIA reports should submit same in both hard copy and soft copy versions. The objective of adhering to the specifications, as set down below is to ensure that users can download the EIA reports through the Ministry’s Website in a more user-friendly format. In this connection the Ministry strongly appeals to you for your collaboration and co-operation in this matter.

2.0  SPECIFICATIONS OF SOFT COPY VERSION

2.1 The soft copy version of the report, which should be identical to the hard copy version, should be submitted in electronic file preferably on a CD or in WinZip format in floppy disks.

(a)    The document should be broken into its different chapters with each chapter in a separate file. The executive summary also should be treated as a chapter and submitted in a separate file. If a chapter exceeds 50MB, then it should be further broken down into files of less than 50 MB.

(b)   The table of contents also should be submitted in one separate file.

All the chapters/headings/appendices listed under the table of contents should have proper naming. This is important to allow the user to know which file he/she is accessing.

      e.g Chapter 10 - Mitigative measures

(c)    The table of contents should provide links to the different chapters including the executive summary and appendices.

(d)   All filenames must

(i)                  be less than 8 characters

(ii)                be in small letters

(iii)               start with a letter

2.2 The soft copy version should be page numbered, in the same order as the hard copy and should be submitted in any one of the following 2 different formats:

• Html format.
• PDF format
  

2.3    All html files must be in the htm extensions file format. All image files must be in the gif/jpg extension file format.

2.4 The EIA section will open the electronic file in the presence of the applicants in    order to ensure that the hard and soft copy versions are absolutely the same. In case the soft copy version does not contain documents, which are present in the hard copy version, the applicants would be called upon to fill in the form as per Annex 1. Decision to accept or reject the soft copy version would be taken by the EIA Division and the applicants would be informed at a later stage.

3.0   The Ministry encourages applicants to submit their soft copy version reports at the  time of submission of the EIA reports (hard copy versions) in order to allow timely processing.

Ministry of Environment

     8 January 2004

ANNEX I

Please indicate which documents are missing from the softcopy version of the EIA report

TITLE OF REPORT: ……………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………

1.      …………………………………………………………………………………………..

2.      …………………………………………………………………………………………..

3.      …………………………………………………………………………………………..

4.      …………………………………………………………………………………………..

5.      …………………………………………………………………………………………..

6.      …………………………………………………………………………………………..

7.      …………………………………………………………………………………………..

8.      …………………………………………………………………………………………..

9.      …………………………………………………………………………………………..

FULL NAME: …………………………………………………………………………...

DESIGNATION: ………………………………………………………………………..

PHONE: ……………….        FAX: ………………   EMAIL: ………………………….

SIGNATURE: …………………………………………………………………………...

DATE: …………………………………………………………………………………...

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What is a PER?

Undertakings requiring a Preliminary Environment Report (PER) are listed in Part A of the Environment Protection (Amendment of Schedule) Regulations 2006. These undertakings of a lesser scale and by their very nature, are not highly polluting.

PER is a short form of EIA and this preliminary analysis is undertaken to identify the impacts associated with the proposed development and the means of mitigation. PER is also a tool to ascertain whether the project can go ahead as proposed or whether there are sufficient likely significant adverse environmental impacts to warrant a full EIA.

List of undertakings requiring a Preliminary Environment Report as per Part A of the First Schedule to EPA 2002

1. Construction of helipads

25. Sawmill

26. Slaughter house

27. Textile industry associated with washing, bleaching and printing

NOTE:
         *As per a Cabinet Decision of 07/04/2006 no new licences for night clubs, except for hotels should be issued. 
       **Applies for the rearing of more than 20 cattle heads, more than 50 goat heads and more than 50 sheep heads.
Livestock rearing on a smaller scale upto 20 cattle heads, upto 50 goat heads and upto 50 sheep heads has to be carried through self adherence to the Environmental Guideline: livestock rearing including cattle, goat and sheep for self adherence available on this Ministry's website.