Case Decision - 200306

Interim Comment
The SAHRA APM Unit acknowledges receipt of the BID application and request that the following is undertaken in terms of section 38(3) of the National Heritage Resources Act (25 of 1999) as part of the EA application process.
The proposed offshore drilling  has the potential to impact negatively on heritage and/or cultural resources, therefore a maritime heritage impact assessment must be conducted. A field-based assessment of the impact to archaeological resources, ship wrecks, and other maritime cultural resources must be conducted by a qualified maritime archaeologist. The report must comply with section 38(3) of the NHRA and the SAHRA 2006 Minimum Standards: Archaeological and Palaeontological Component of Impact Assessments, and the 2012 Minimum Standards: Archaeological Component of Heritage Impact Assessments. The Minimum Standards provides allowance for a Letter of Recommendation for Exemption that can be submitted by a qualified archaeologist should they deem it appropriate.
In addition, a Desktop Palaeontological Study with a Fossil Chance Finds procedure must be drafted by a suitably qualified palaeontologist familiar with continental shelf that must be used in the event that some fossiliferous rocks and fossils are identified. Other exploration blocks have identified underwater fossils. The report must comply with section 38(3) of the NHRA and the SAHRA 2006 Minimum Standards: Archaeological and Palaeontological Component of Impact Assessments, and the 2012 Minimum Standards: Palaeontological Component of Heritage Impact Assessments. The Minimum Standards provides allowance for a Letter of Recommendation for Exemption that can be submitted by a qualified palaeontologist should they deem it appropriate.
The assessment should include any other heritage resources that may be impacted such as built structures over years old, sites of cultural significance associated with oral histories, burial grounds and graves, graves of victims of conflict, and cultural landscapes or viewscapes must also be assessed.
Further comments will be issued upon receipt of the above.