NATIONAL AIR QUALITY OFFICER’S DECISIONS REGARDING APPLICATIONS FOR POSTPONEMENT/SUSPENSION OF COMPLIANCE TIME-FRAMES RELATING TO THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: AIR QUALITY ACT 39 OF 2004 MINIMUM EMISSION STANDARDS IN RESPECT OF ESKOM HOLDINGS SOC LTD

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), acting for Earthlife Africa and groundWork, has formally raised concerns regarding the notification process and timelines for appealing the National Air Quality Officer's (NAQO) October 2021 decisions on Eskom's applications for postponement or suspension of compliance with Minimum Emission Standards (MES).

• The National Air Quality Officer (NAQO) issued decisions on 30 October 2021 regarding Eskom's applications for the suspension or postponement of compliance with Minimum Emission Standards (MES), or alternative limits, for its gas-to-power and coal-fired power stations.
• Interested and Affected Parties (I&APs) were notified of the NAQO's decisions on 14 December 2021, which was one day after Eskom had reportedly lodged an appeal against those decisions on 13 December 2021.
• The CER argues that the notification timeline is inconsistent with the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (NEMA) and section 33 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, noting that the public participation process began in August 2018 and final objections for the Matimba and Medupi stations were submitted in August 2020.
• Due to the lack of reasonable time to analyze the decisions and the absence of Eskom's appeal submission, the CER indicates that any appeal lodged by its clients may occur after the 25 January 2022 deadline, necessitating an application for condonation or extension under section 47C of NEMA.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2022). NATIONAL AIR QUALITY OFFICER’S DECISIONS REGARDING APPLICATIONS FOR POSTPONEMENT/SUSPENSION OF COMPLIANCE TIME-FRAMES RELATING TO THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: AIR QUALITY ACT 39 OF 2004 MINIMUM EMISSION STANDARDS IN RESPECT OF ESKOM HOLDINGS SOC LTD. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Annexure-A2_CER-Letter-to-DFFE-Appeal-and-Review-Directorate.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. NATIONAL AIR QUALITY OFFICER’S DECISIONS REGARDING APPLICATIONS FOR POSTPONEMENT/SUSPENSION OF COMPLIANCE TIME-FRAMES RELATING TO THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: AIR QUALITY ACT 39 OF 2004 MINIMUM EMISSION STANDARDS IN RESPECT OF ESKOM HOLDINGS SOC LTD. 2022. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Annexure-A2_CER-Letter-to-DFFE-Appeal-and-Review-Directorate.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=NATIONAL AIR QUALITY OFFICER’S DECISIONS REGARDING APPLICATIONS FOR POSTPONEMENT/SUSPENSION OF COMPLIANCE TIME-FRAMES RELATING TO THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: AIR QUALITY ACT 39 OF 2004 MINIMUM EMISSION STANDARDS IN RESPECT OF ESKOM HOLDINGS SOC LTD |date=21 January 2022 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Annexure-A2_CER-Letter-to-DFFE-Appeal-and-Review-Directorate.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2022national, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{NATIONAL AIR QUALITY OFFICER’S DECISIONS REGARDING APPLICATIONS FOR POSTPONEMENT/SUSPENSION OF COMPLIANCE TIME-FRAMES RELATING TO THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: AIR QUALITY ACT 39 OF 2004 MINIMUM EMISSION STANDARDS IN RESPECT OF ESKOM HOLDINGS SOC LTD}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2022}, month = jan, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Annexure-A2_CER-Letter-to-DFFE-Appeal-and-Review-Directorate.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }