LCL has in place a comprehensive environmental management system which is strictly applied at all operations both of which are certified against ISO 14001. The company is also committed to provide a safe work environment to its employees and conducts risk assessments on an ongoing basis to identify all risks that may cause harm in the workplace. LCL management is also committed to following environmentally sustainable practices regarding optimization of resource inputs, including energy efficiency, and the appropriate management of gaseous emissions, particulate matter, noise levels, effluent (sewage) and solid waste. These principles will also be applied at NYA. Thus, to build up the management systems for NYA, the company is relying on expertise at the LCL corporate level in Pakistan, and from consultants. Thus NYA with support from LCL will develop its environmental and social management system (ESMS) in accordance with LCL?s existing corporate policies, systems, and procedures, DRC law, and IFC Performance Standards. This requirement is defined in the project ESAP. 

Environmental and Social Assessment and Management System, Policy: NYA currently has a Sustainable Development Policy; a Health and Safety Policy; a Human Resources Policy; and a Human Rights Policy. The Sustainable Development Policy states that NYA is ?committed to responsible management practices that avoid and minimize adverse health, safety, social and environmental impacts, and aim to enhance the benefits associated with its activities, products and services.? The policy also states that the company has in place an Environment, Health, Safety and Community Management System for its activities that drive continual improvement. This draft management system is presented in Section 9.2 of the ESIA and will need to be finalized and implemented during the pre-construction stage; this requirement is stipulated in the ESAP.

Identification of Risks and Impacts: The NYA project was approved by local authorities in 2011, following an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) by an accredited local consultant, OEMS. Although this met DRC legislative requirements, it did not meet lender requirements; therefore an ESIA was commissioned and submitted in March 2013 by the Pakistani consulting firm ECTECH. However, gaps in this ESIA were identified through an environmental and social due diligence undertaken by ERM, a recognized international environmental consulting firm, on behalf of the lenders. To address these gaps, NYA appointed SRK to prepare an updated ESIA and updated Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) in line with the requirements of the IFC Performance Standards. The SRK ESIA did not constitute a complete revision of the ECTECH ESIA but rather focused on addressing the gaps identified where possible, and noting remaining gaps requiring further investigations. These are further discussed below though notably the gaps include that related to the geohydrology, hydrology, traffic, in-migration, aquatic biodiversity and the need for a detailed Resettlement Action Plan, amongst others. It is therefore important to note that this ESRS is based on information that was available at the time of review. The studies that are still to be undertaken will inform the final ESIA and associated management and action plans.  

The potential exists for cumulative impacts to transport and influx, and air quality due to the proposed NYA project. The new 1.25 metric tpa cement plant PPC is developing some 30 km east of the NYA project site and Cimenterie de Lukala (CILU), an existing cement facility is situated at Lukala, approximately 37 km east of project site on the road to Kinshasa. Whilst a high level assessment of these cumulative impacts has been undertaken during the current ESIA, these will be further addressed during supplemental ESIA work as discussed in subsequent sections of this document.

Management Programs: As part of the ESIA, SRK developed a series of Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) management plans. These include: A Labor and Human Resources Plan (LHRP); Occupational Health and Safety Plan (OHSP); Community Health and Safety Plan (CHSP); Green House Gas (GHG) Emission Assessment and Management Plan (GHGP); Waste Management Plan (WMP); Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan (EPRP); Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP); and a Framework Resettlement Action Plan (FRAP). All of these are currently at a high level that will require further enhancement to make them more definitive and applicable. In particular, this is the case with the CHSP, WMP, and FRAP and the requirement to enhance them further is defined in the ESAP as detailed in the relevant sections below. A number of other plans have not yet been developed, but have been committed to by NYA. Again, these are referenced below where necessary. In addition to this, NYA and its contractors will develop and implement a chance finds procedure for its activities on an ongoing basis.

Organizational Capacity and Competency: NYA?s organizational capacity and competency for Environmental and Social management is currently minimal, though the company has committed to implementing the sustainable development management structure as outlined in the ESIA. This very clearly outlines accountability and responsibilities for EHS issues throughout the project lifecycle and describes EHS roles at Board, senior and middle management level. Currently, the CEO, CFO and Environmental Manager take accountability for EHS requirements. Once funding is approved, the principal position in relation to EHS management will be the Sustainable Development (SD) Manager (likely to be NYA?s current Environment Manager). Reporting to this SD Manager will be a Health and Safety Coordinator with a team of officers; a Community Development Coordinator with additional support staff reporting to him/her and an Environmental Coordinator, supported by a team of environmental officers. 

Emergency Preparedness and Response: NYA has developed a high level Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan (EPRP) as per the requirements of DRC?s Mining Code and the requirements of the Performance Standards. This provides an operational framework to be developed prior to construction. The EPRP covers potential sources of risk for all phases of the project, and provides an overview of NYA?s capacity to respond to emergencies, including security emergencies, occupational health and safety emergencies and environmental emergencies. The EPRP also sets out planning steps for developing the more detailed operational plan. 

Monitoring and Review: An environmental monitoring plan and a social monitoring plan are provided in Sections 9.12 and 13.7 of the ESIA respectively. These were developed based on compliance with environmental standards as prescribed by the DRC Mining Regulations and the World Bank Group (WBG) EHS Guidelines. Monitoring of the various environmental and social issues such as drinking water quality, surface water quality, treated sewage effluent quality, noise, air quality, etc. is included in the various management plans as described above. NYA will include results of its monitoring activity in the Annual Monitoring Report (AMR) to be submitted to IFC on an annual basis. 

Grievance Mechanism: A grievance mechanism is provided in Section 12 of the ESIA, providing a description of both formal and informal channels for addressing grievances. Another is included in the Stakeholder Engagement Plan as developed for the project. Both address important requirements for addressing grievances and NYA will be required to define which will be adopted as their grievance mechanism, revised and developed to be appropriate to the project as per the finalized ESIA, including clear provisions for implementation during both construction and operation. This requirement is specified in the ESAP.