| New anti-pollution law made public |
| Monday, 24 May 2010 20:34 |
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The recently published Air Quality Act (AQA), known as the National Framework for Air Quality Management, has been described as a skeleton – to which further flesh and muscles will be added over the next few years, says The Mercury. The Air Quality Act is set to completely replace the Air Pollution Prevention Act in 2009. Previously, all major polluters operated in terms of a once-off registration certificate, but from now polluters will be regulated by more stringent atmospheric emission licences, which will be reviewed and tightened up every five years. Greg Scott, a former Durban air-quality scientist who has been appointed as technical adviser to the government's air quality directorate in Pretoria, says two new types of speed limits will come into force once AQA is in place. The first type will regulate the volume of noxious chemicals and dusts, which are pumped out of individual chimneystacks, or the exhaust pipes of cars and trucks. The second will cover ambient air quality standards, and these will regulate the total load of pollutants in the air that most people breathe. AQA does have some teeth (in the form of hefty fines and a criminal record for the CE of the polluting company), as well as the more persuasive legal authority to revoke a licence and effectively shut a company down. There could be some carrots as well, in the form of tax rebates for the importation of expensive pollution-control equipment, or other forms of tax relief from the national Treasury from polluters who heed the new legislation. http://nfaq.csir.co.za/cocoon215/nfaqg/docs/index.htm |
