ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: LATEST AMENDMENT ACT PARTIALLY IN FORCE

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT: LATEST AMENDMENT ACT PARTIALLY IN FORCE

• 30 June 2023
• Environmental Law
• SA Legal Academy

Most sections of the National Environmental Management Laws Amendment Act are now in force, according to a presidential proclamation gazetted on 30 June 2023. A related Department of Forestry, Fisheries & Environment media statement not only unpacks the Act’s provisions but also notes the implications of a 26 June 2023 Constitutional Court ruling on some of the definitions it still seeks to amend.

The judgement focused on Parliament’s failure to fulfil its constitutional obligations in respect of public participation, specifically regarding the definition of ‘waste’ in sub-section 61(k) of the 2022 amendment Act.

The Act’s overarching objective is to clarify certain matters in environmental legislation on protected areas, biodiversity, air quality, coastal management and waste.

Sections and sub-sections of the Act not yet in force are:

• 11 (repealing section 24S inserted into the National Environmental Management Act, 1998, by the National Environmental Management Laws Amendment Act, 2014, dealing with the management of residue stockpile and deposits)
• 35(a) (affecting appeals against decisions made under the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act, 2004, as previously amended)
• 57 (inserting provisions affecting the revocation or suspension of atmospheric emission licences granted under made under the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act)
• 60 (repealing Chapter 9 of the National Environmental Management: Integrated Coastal Management Act, 2008, dealing with appeals)
• 61(c), (j) and (k) (dealing with definitions in the National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008, as previously amended)
• 62 (dealing with residue stockpiles regulated under the National Environmental Management: Waste Act)
• 63-66 (establishing a Waste Management Bureau and dealing with related governance and administrative matters)
• 72, 76 and 77 (amending or repealing sections of the National Environmental Management: Waste Act), and
• 86-88 (related transitional provisions under the National Environmental Management: Waste Act).

Please click the links below for more information:

• presidential proclamation
• Constitutional Court ruling
• media statement

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

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