Environmental impact assessments
The Director-General of Environmental Affairs, Nosipho Ngcaba, said the department was attempting to tackle the backlog in environmental impact assessments, and believed that the department had made progress.
However, Ngcaba said the demand in applications - driven by the growth in renewable energy projects - had increased to 900 applications last year, while the department can only process 400 applications a year.
Currently 1,300 active applications are being processed by the department.
Molewa said the department had introduced a streamlined environmental authorisation process to fast track the implementation of the Presidential Infrastructure Co-ordinating Commission's (PICC) Strategic Infrastructure Projects.
She said other tools, such as strategic environment assessments are being developed to further accelerate authorisations, particularly those in renewable energy resources.
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