REQUEST FOR URGENT WITHDRAWAL OF THE PROVISION IN THE LIST OF ACTIVITIES REGARDING THE WEAKENING OF THE SULPHUR DIOXIDE NEW PLANT MINIMUM EMISSION STANDARDS FOR EXISTING PLANTS

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) and allied groups requested that the South African Minister of Environmental Affairs withdraw an October 2018 amendment to the List of Activities. The amendment doubled the permissible sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions for existing solid-fuel combustion plants (including Eskom and Sasol facilities) from 500mg/Nm3 to 1000mg/Nm3. The CER contends this was done without the legally required public consultation and threatened High Court litigation if the provision was not withdrawn by 10 December 2018.

• The amended List of Activities published on 31 October 2018 contains a provision that doubles the permissible sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions for existing solid-fuel combustion installations, increasing the limit from 500mg/Nm3 to 1000mg/Nm3. This change affects all of Sasol's coal boilers and Eskom's coal-fired power stations.
• The Centre for Environmental Rights and its partners argue that the amendment to the SO2 standards was made without public consultation, violating the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act, 2004 and the National Environmental Management Act. Specifically, they claim the public was not informed of the proposal to weaken subcategory 1.1 of the minimum emission standards (MES) and thus could not submit objections.
• The authors of the letter demanded the withdrawal of section 6 of the amendment regarding the weakening of the SO2 MES by 10 December 2018, threatening High Court litigation to review and set aside the amendment if the deadline was not met.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2018). REQUEST FOR URGENT WITHDRAWAL OF THE PROVISION IN THE LIST OF ACTIVITIES REGARDING THE WEAKENING OF THE SULPHUR DIOXIDE NEW PLANT MINIMUM EMISSION STANDARDS FOR EXISTING PLANTS. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/CER-letter-to-Minister-Mokonyane-re-SO2-MES_23-Nov-2018.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. REQUEST FOR URGENT WITHDRAWAL OF THE PROVISION IN THE LIST OF ACTIVITIES REGARDING THE WEAKENING OF THE SULPHUR DIOXIDE NEW PLANT MINIMUM EMISSION STANDARDS FOR EXISTING PLANTS. 2018. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/CER-letter-to-Minister-Mokonyane-re-SO2-MES_23-Nov-2018.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=REQUEST FOR URGENT WITHDRAWAL OF THE PROVISION IN THE LIST OF ACTIVITIES REGARDING THE WEAKENING OF THE SULPHUR DIOXIDE NEW PLANT MINIMUM EMISSION STANDARDS FOR EXISTING PLANTS |date=23 November 2018 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/CER-letter-to-Minister-Mokonyane-re-SO2-MES_23-Nov-2018.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2018request, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{REQUEST FOR URGENT WITHDRAWAL OF THE PROVISION IN THE LIST OF ACTIVITIES REGARDING THE WEAKENING OF THE SULPHUR DIOXIDE NEW PLANT MINIMUM EMISSION STANDARDS FOR EXISTING PLANTS}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2018}, month = nov, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/CER-letter-to-Minister-Mokonyane-re-SO2-MES_23-Nov-2018.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }