Section 23, 62 of the Environmental Protection Act, 2008, the Board hereby makes

(1) After receipt of the application documents for anenvironmental licence, the Executive Chairman or Authorised Officer shall widely disseminate and distribute the documents to local communities in order to raise awareness of its contents and seeks comments thereto. (2) The Executive Chairman or Authorised Officer shall disseminate notice to the public and the local community of all Category A, B and C projects through a variety of information outlets including radio broadcasts, posting details of the Category A, B or C project in local community, facilitate meetings with local community groups or civil society groups. (3) Members of the public and the local community shall be given fourteen days from the date of the last dissemination of information to submit written comments to the Executive Chairman or Authorised Officer. compile a comprehensive list of all comments received from public consultation including details of the comments and who provided the comments. (5) All documents submitted to the Executive Chairman or Authorised Officer as part of an application for an environmental licence shall be reviewed by officers with the relevant technical skills, discipline and experience. (6) The documents referred to in sub-regulation (1), together with a report of the internal evaluation and list of public comments prepared by an Executive Chairman or Authorised Officer and endorsed by the Executive Chairman shall be submitted to the Board at least five days prior to the Board meeting in which the issue is to be addressed. (7) The Board may, by simple majority decision, either- (a) approve the documents and application and request the Executive Chairman to grant an environmental licence, (b) conclude that there are inadequacies in the assessments and return the application and documents to the applicant with the option of rectifying the inadequacies and resubmitting them within 21 days. (c) conclude that the scale of adverse environmental or social impacts is so great, and is incapable of being avoided, mitigated or compensated for, such that an environmental licence shall not be granted. (8) The quorum of the Board for any decision to grant a Category A or B environmental licence shall be two-thirds of appointed members. 36 37 Inadequate and social assessments Review of licence application PART V – OBLIGATIONS OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL LICENCE HOLDER 24 (1) The holder of an environmental licence shall prepare an Environmental Management Plan and a Social Impact Management Plan and shall - (a) review the contents of such plans on each anniversary of the commencement of works (b) update the plans to accommodate any changes that have occurred in the method of mining, and area of operations, or other activities that could affect environmental protection and ultimate restoration or rehabilitation of the affected areas . (2) The holder of an environmental licence shall submit an updated Environmental Management Plan and a Social Management Plan to the Director of Mines and the Board within one month of the anniversary of the commencement of works.