SUBMISSIONS ON THE DRAFT AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT BY-LAW

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) provides detailed legal and technical submissions on the draft Air Quality Management By-law for the Ngkawi District Municipality (NDM). The CER recommends aligning the by-laws with national legislation, such as the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act (AQA) and the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA), and suggests stricter local emission and dust standards to protect human health, particularly given the area's location within a High Priority Area (HPA).

• The CER recommends that the draft by-laws clearly distinguish between municipal authorisations and other regulatory tools, such as atmospheric emission licences (AELs) and compliance notices issued by environmental management inspectors under NEMA.
• The CER argues that the current definition of 'dust' is too narrow because it aligns with the National Dust Control Regulations, 2013, which may exclude fine particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5, and PM1.0) that causes significant human health effects and premature mortality.
• Because the NDM is located within a High Priority Area (HPA), the CER urges the municipality to establish local emission standards that are stricter than national minimum emission standards (GN 893 of 2013) without delay.
• The CER suggests that the by-laws should require authorisations for existing small boilers to enable air quality officers to monitor and enforce compliance with emission standards within the five-year window provided by national declarations.
• The CER criticizes the National Dust Control Regulations, 2013, for relying on 30-day averaged dustfall rates, arguing that regulation should instead be based on ambient air quality monitoring for PM10 and PM2.5.
• Regarding agricultural burning, the CER recommends that any person burning plantations or agricultural land must obtain prior written authorisation from the Council and notify adjacent properties and communities within 150 metres.
• The CER proposes replacing multiple specific notices (repair, removal, and abatement) with a single general 'compliance notice' that can direct persons to abate nuisances, remove items, or pay administrative fines.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (n.d.). SUBMISSIONS ON THE DRAFT AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT BY-LAW. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Annexure-C-Submissions-NDM-AQMP-Bylaws.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. SUBMISSIONS ON THE DRAFT AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT BY-LAW. n.d. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Annexure-C-Submissions-NDM-AQMP-Bylaws.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=SUBMISSIONS ON THE DRAFT AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT BY-LAW |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Annexure-C-Submissions-NDM-AQMP-Bylaws.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centreforenvironmentalrightsndsubmissions, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{SUBMISSIONS ON THE DRAFT AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT BY-LAW}}, institution = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Annexure-C-Submissions-NDM-AQMP-Bylaws.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }