OBJECTIONS TO THE 22 MAY 2019 PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE LIST OF ACTIVITIES AND ASSOCIATED MINIMUM EMISSION STANDARDS IDENTIFIED IN TERMS OF SECTION 21 OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: AIR QUALITY ACT 39 OF 2004

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), representing the Life After Coal campaign and several environmental justice alliances, formally objects to a proposed amendment by the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries to double the Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) Minimum Emission Standard (MES) for new plants in sub-category 1.1 from 500 mg/Nm3 to 1000 mg/Nm3. The CER argues that this weakening of standards is unlawful, violates the South African Constitution's right to a healthy environment, and would lead to significant premature deaths and exacerbated air pollution in priority areas.

• The proposed amendment to increase the SO2 MES limit from 500 mg/Nm3 to 1000 mg/Nm3 would make South Africa's standards significantly weaker than those of other developing nations, being approximately 10 times weaker than India's equivalent standard and 28 times weaker than China's.
• A health assessment by Lauri Myllyvirta projects that doubling the SO2 emissions limit would result in an estimated 3,300 premature deaths, with annual excess deaths peaking at 170 in 2025-26. Approximately 1,000 of these deaths are projected to occur in Gauteng, with the highest impacts attributed to emissions from Medupi, followed by Matimba, Kendal, and Majuba.
• The CER disputes the Department's legal authority to weaken the MES, asserting that such a move is contrary to the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act (AQA) and the Constitution. They argue that the MES were established to limit toxic emissions and that any decision to weaken them would be "unlawful and invalid".
• The proposed amendment would disproportionately affect three priority areas—the Highveld Priority Area (HPA), the Vaal Triangle Airshed Priority Area (VTAPA), and the Waterberg-Bojanala Priority Area (WBPA)—all of which are currently in non-compliance with National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
• The CER challenges the Department's assumptions regarding abatement technologies, stating that Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) is the Best Available Technology (BAT) and that its water consumption is not significant compared to other power station uses. They further argue that the proposed alternative, Dry-Sorbent Injection (DSI), is not significantly cheaper when accounting for operating costs and adverse impacts such as increased particulate matter and mercury emissions.
• The document notes that Eskom's coal-fired power stations and Sasol's facilities have already been granted postponements, meaning they would only be required to comply with the new plant SO2 MES by 1 April 2025. However, Eskom has indicated it may not meet these standards even by that date for most of its facilities, except for Kusile and Medupi.
• An air pollution dispersion study by Dr. Andy Gray found that 14 facilities (12 Eskom stations and two Sasol facilities) were responsible for the majority of air pollution in the HPA region in 2016. The study suggests that compliance with the 2020 MES would reduce SO2 emissions from these facilities by 78% relative to 2016 levels.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2019). OBJECTIONS TO THE 22 MAY 2019 PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE LIST OF ACTIVITIES AND ASSOCIATED MINIMUM EMISSION STANDARDS IDENTIFIED IN TERMS OF SECTION 21 OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: AIR QUALITY ACT 39 OF 2004. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/CER-submissions-opposing-proposed-doubling-of-2020-SO2-MES_5-July-2019.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. OBJECTIONS TO THE 22 MAY 2019 PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE LIST OF ACTIVITIES AND ASSOCIATED MINIMUM EMISSION STANDARDS IDENTIFIED IN TERMS OF SECTION 21 OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: AIR QUALITY ACT 39 OF 2004. 2019. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/CER-submissions-opposing-proposed-doubling-of-2020-SO2-MES_5-July-2019.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=OBJECTIONS TO THE 22 MAY 2019 PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE LIST OF ACTIVITIES AND ASSOCIATED MINIMUM EMISSION STANDARDS IDENTIFIED IN TERMS OF SECTION 21 OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: AIR QUALITY ACT 39 OF 2004 |date=5 July 2019 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/CER-submissions-opposing-proposed-doubling-of-2020-SO2-MES_5-July-2019.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2019objections, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{OBJECTIONS TO THE 22 MAY 2019 PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE LIST OF ACTIVITIES AND ASSOCIATED MINIMUM EMISSION STANDARDS IDENTIFIED IN TERMS OF SECTION 21 OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: AIR QUALITY ACT 39 OF 2004}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2019}, month = jul, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/CER-submissions-opposing-proposed-doubling-of-2020-SO2-MES_5-July-2019.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }