Section 24G of NEMA - National Environmental Management Act

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Written by Enviroadmin

Monday, 24 May 2010 20:21

In terms of the Bill of Rights included in the Constitution of South Africa, the citizens of South Africa has the right to have the environment protected and to live in an environment that is not harmful to human health or well-being. One of the legal instruments developed to ensure that this right is given effect to, is the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations promulgated in terms of the Environment Conservation Act in 1997.

The EIA regulations have identified activities that may result in substantial impacts to the environment. The regulations require that an environmental impact assessment process be undertaken for these activities and submitted to the relevant authority for consideration. Commencement with any of the listed activities prior to obtaining authorisation from the relevant authority is prohibited by these regulations and constitutes an offence.

Unauthorised commencement or continuation of activities identified in terms of the Environment Impact Assessment regulations can be rectified by means of an application to the Minister or relevant MEC, depending on who will be the competent authority for such authorisation in accordance with the current delegations, in terms of Section 24G of NEMA, read with section 7 ( Transitional provision) of the National Environmental Management Amendment Act (Act No. 8 of 2004). This opportunity to rectify is limited to a 6 month period starting from the date that the latter Act came into force (7 January 2005) and will accordingly lapse on 6 July 2005.

NEMA requires that application for rectification be subject to an administration fine that may not exceed R1 000 000 (1 million Rand). A fine calculator was developed to determine the fine for each case.

In terms of NEMA, the Minister or relevant MEC must consider applications received and decide on what additional information or reports are required. He/she must also decide on a fine. After payment of the fine, the Minister or relevant MEC must consider the reports / information submitted and either grant an environmental authorisation or direct the applicant to cease the activity and rehabilitate the site. Non-compliance with conditions of an authorisation granted or with a directive issued will constitute an offence in terms of the Act.

As a general rule, the Minister and relevant MEC, delegate their powers and functions to officials in the responsible departments and components of government to execute the provisions of the legislation. Any reference to Minister or MEC in this document must therefore be understood as also applying to officials acting under delegation.

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