PRELIMINARY SUBMISSIONS RELATING TO AIR QUALITY AND WASTE ON THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT LAWS AMENDMENT BILL [B 14D-2017]

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) submitted preliminary comments on the National Environmental Management Laws Amendment Bill [B 14D-2017], specifically focusing on the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act, 2004 (NEMAQA) and the National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008. The CER requested an extension until 13 February 2020 to provide further submissions on the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (NEMA) and mining matters, citing the festive season closure of their offices.

• The CER strongly opposes a proposed amendment to Section 13 of the NEMAQA (Clause 51 of the Bill) that would give the Minister discretionary power to establish the National Air Quality Advisory Committee, arguing that this should not be a discretionary power.
• Regarding air quality, the CER identifies a lack of clarity concerning the licensing authority for atmospheric emission licence (AEL) applications for independent power producer coal-fired power stations, noting that authority currently varies between the province, municipality, and the Department.
• The CER argues that Section 47 of NEMAQA, which covers AEL renewals, should be amended to explicitly require public participation, as they believe this is required by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 and the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, 2000 (PAJA).
• Concerning the Waste Act, the CER highlights several gaps in contaminated land provisions, including the need for a consistent notification threshold for both land owners and those undertaking activities on the land, and the need for public notice when land is identified as an investigation area since the Bill intends to remove the contaminated land register of investigation areas.
• The CER recommends clarifying the definition of "contaminated" in Section 1 of the Waste Act to focus on risks to human health and the environment, and suggests including groundwater sampling as a method to indicate soil contamination.

APA

Centre for Environmental Rights (2020). PRELIMINARY SUBMISSIONS RELATING TO AIR QUALITY AND WASTE ON THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT LAWS AMENDMENT BILL [B 14D-2017]. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Letter-to-Select-Committee-CER-Comments-on-NEMLAB-14D-2017-AQA-and-Waste-Act-24.01.2020.pdf?x21779

Chicago

Centre for Environmental Rights. PRELIMINARY SUBMISSIONS RELATING TO AIR QUALITY AND WASTE ON THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT LAWS AMENDMENT BILL [B 14D-2017]. 2020. https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Letter-to-Select-Committee-CER-Comments-on-NEMLAB-14D-2017-AQA-and-Waste-Act-24.01.2020.pdf?x21779.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Centre for Environmental Rights |title=PRELIMINARY SUBMISSIONS RELATING TO AIR QUALITY AND WASTE ON THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT LAWS AMENDMENT BILL [B 14D-2017] |date=24 January 2020 |url=https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Letter-to-Select-Committee-CER-Comments-on-NEMLAB-14D-2017-AQA-and-Waste-Act-24.01.2020.pdf?x21779 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centreforenvironmentalrights2020preliminary, author = {{Centre for Environmental Rights}}, title = {{PRELIMINARY SUBMISSIONS RELATING TO AIR QUALITY AND WASTE ON THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT LAWS AMENDMENT BILL [B 14D-2017]}}, publisher = {Centre for Environmental Rights}, year = {2020}, month = jan, url = {https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Letter-to-Select-Committee-CER-Comments-on-NEMLAB-14D-2017-AQA-and-Waste-Act-24.01.2020.pdf?x21779}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }