Centre for Environmental Rights – Advancing Environmental Rights in South Africa

• National Environmental Management Laws Amendment Act No. 2 of 2022  (date of commencement for certain sections proclaimed to be 30 June 2023)
• National Environmental Management Laws Amendment Act, No. 25 of 2014
• National Environmental Management Laws Amendment Act, No. 14 of 2013
• National Environmental Management Laws Second Amendment Act, No. 30 of 2013
• Amendments to Schedules 1 and 2 of NEMA (28 February 2014)
• National Environmental Management Amendment Act, No. 62 of 2008

• National Environmental Management Laws Amendment Bill, 2017 and explanatory memorandum (31 March 2017) and subsequent versions:
  • NEMLAB B 14A-2017
  • NEMLAB B 14B-2017 (19 June 2018)
  • NEMLAB B 14C-2017 (19 February 2019)
  • NEMLAB B 14D-2017 (6 December 2018)
• National Environmental Management Laws Draft Amendment Bill, 2015 (13 October 2015)
• National Environmental Management Third Laws Amendment Bill, 2013  [B26-2013] (NEMLAB3)
• National Environmental Management Second Laws Amendment Bill [B13-2013]
• National Environmental Management Laws Amendment Bill, 2011 (R.586 of 2011, Government Gazette 34558, 26 August 2011)
• National Environmental Management Laws Amendment Bill dated November 2011
• The National Environmental Laws First Amendment Bill, 2012 [B13B-2012]
• The National Environmental Laws Second Amendment Bill, 2012 [B13A-2012]
• The National Environmental Management Laws Third Amendment Draft Bill

Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations

• Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2014 (4 December 2014) – consolidated version with amendments up to 3 March 2022.

Listing Notices:

• • Listing Notice 1 (as amended)
  • Listing Notice 2 (as amended)
  • Listing Notice 3 (as amended)
• National Appeal Regulations (8 December 2014)
• National Exemption Regulations (8 December 2014)

financial provisioning regulations

• Regulations pertaining to the Financial Provision for Prospecting, Exploration, Mining or Production Operations (20 November 2015) to be read with amendment to the transitional arrangements in GN 3841 in GG 49220 of 1 September 2023 (which delays compliance with these regulations to 19 February 2024).

Section 24H Registration Authority Regulations (the EAPASA Regulations)

• Section 24H Registration Authority Regulations (EAPASA Regulations) (22 July 2016) – as amended on 29 July 2022
• Extension of the appointment of the Environmental Assessment Practitioners Association of South Africa (EAPASA) as the single registration authority in terms of section 24H(3) read with 24H(6) of NEMA for a period of twelve (12) months (GN 3017 in GG 47988 of 6 February 2023)

Other

• Regulations relating to the procedure to be followed and the criteria to be considered when determining a fine in terms of section 24G (21 July 2017)
• Identification of Environmental Management Inspectors (1 July 2005)
• Environmental Management Framework Regulations (18 June 2010)
• Fees for consideration and processing of applications for environmental applications and amendments thereto (28 February 2014)
• Regulations to phase out the use of polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) materials and PCB contaminated materials (10 July 2014)
• Regulations for Admission of Guilt Fines (27 February 2015)
• Regulations regarding the procedure to be followed when oral requests are made (10 April 2015)
• Regulations relating to the qualification criteria, training and identification of, and forms to be used by, environmental management inspectors and environmental mineral resource inspectors (31 May 2017)
• Regulations relating to the procedure to be followed and criteria to be considered when determining an appropriate fine in terms of section 24G (20 July 2017)
• Procedure to be followed in applying for environmental authorisation for large scale wind and solar photovoltaic energy development activities in geographical areas of strategic importance (16 February 2018)
• Procedure to be followed in applying for environmental authorisation for large scale electricity transmission and distribution development activities in geographical areas of strategic importance (16 February 2018)
• Regulations laying down the procedure to be followed for the adoption of spatial tools or environmental management instruments contemplated in section 24(2)(c) and (e) (5 April 2019)
• Regulations to phase out the use of persistent organic pollutants (10 September 2019)

• Establishment of a designated national authority for the Clean Development Mechanism (22 July 2005)
• The Constitution of the National Environmental Management Advisory Forum (21 June 2007)
• Text for Multi-lateral Environmental Agreements for Chemicals Management (8 March 2010)
  • The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal
  • The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
  • The Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade
  • The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer as either adjusted and/or amended in London 1990, Copenhagen 1992, Vienna 1995, Montreal 1997 and Beijing 1999
• Identification of the Minister as the competent authority for considering and processing applications for environmental authorisation and amendments thereto for activities related to the Integrated Energy Plan 2010-2030 (1 July 2016)
• Appointment of the Environmental Assessment Practitioners Association of South Africa as the single registration authority in terms of section 24H (9 February 2018)
• Approval of fees for application for registration, lodging of appeals and annual fees for registered candidate environmental assessment practitioners and registered environmental assessment practitioners in terms of section 24H and Regulation 9 of the Registration Authority Regulations (7 March 2018)
• Generic environmental management programme relevant to an application for substation and overhead electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure which require environmental authorisation (22 March 2019)
• Environmental management instrument and exclusion of  Phase 1 of the Square Kilometre Array from the requirement to obtain environmental authorisation (22 March 2019)
• Notice of requirement to submit a report generated by the web based environmental screening tool (5 July 2019)
• Procedures for assessment and minimum criteria for reporting on identified environmental themes when applying for environmental authorisation (20 March 2020)
• Procedures for the Assessment and Minimum Criteria for Reporting on Identified Environmental Themes in terms of Sections 24(5)(a) and (h) and 44 of NEMA (30 August 2020)
• Adoption of the standard for the development and expansion of power lines and substations within identified geographical areas and the exclusion of this infrastructure from the requirement to obtain an environmental authorisation and Appendix 1 – the Standard (27 July 2022)

• National Biodiversity Offset Guideline (23 June 2023)
• 2010 EIA Regulations
  • Companion Guideline on the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2010
  • Guideline on need and desirability in terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2010 
  • Public Participation Guideline
• Environmental Management Framework Guideline (10 October 2012)
• Fee Regulations Guidance Document (April 2014)
• EIA Listed Activities and Timelines (January 2015)
• Section 24G and Similar Listings (January 2015)
• EIA Guideline for Renewable Projects (16 October 2015)
• Air quality offsets (18 March 2016)
• Guideline on Need and Desirability (2017) (not published in the Government Gazette; date of commencement is unclear)
• Public Participation Guideline (2017) (not published in the Government Gazette; date of commencement is unclear)

• Wild Coast (3 July 2014)
• Department of Human Settlements (3 September 2015)
• Department of Health (25 February 2016)
• Department of Energy 2015-2020 (16 March 2016)
• Department of Environmental Affairs (20 May 2015)
• Department of Mineral Resources (2 November 2018)

• Environmental Management Framework Regulations (18 June 2010)
• eMakhazeni Local Municipality (30 September 2009)
• Garden Route Area and the notice of adoption(4 November 2011)
• Dr Pixley Isaka Seme Local Municipality (21 February 2012) (contact casewatch at cer.org.za for a copy)
• City of Cape Town and the notice of adoption (13 September 2013)
• Vredefort Dome (19 December 2014) (available on the Department of Environmental Affairs’ website)
• Gauteng Provincial Environmental Management Framework (10 July 2015) (available on the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s website)
  • Adoption of Gauteng Provincial Environmental Management Framework Standard and exclusion of associated activities from the requirement to obtain environmental authorisation in terms of sections 24(2)(d) and 24(10) read with section 24(10)(d) of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998, for the implementation of the Gauteng Provincial Environmental Management Framework (2 March 2018)
• Msudunzi Municipality (3 September 2015) (available on KZN Department of Economic Development’s website)
• Richards Bay Industrial Zone and Port Expansion (14 April 2016)
• Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape World Heritage Site (3 February 2016)
• Greater Taung Local Municipality (31 October 2017) (no digital copy available online; a hard copy can be obtained from the addresses given in the notice)
• Sandveld (7 June 2019)
• Umgungundlovu District Municipality (1 August 2019)

• North West Province (15 May 2015)
• Department of Human Settlements (3 September 2015)
• Western Cape Province (2 October 2015)
• KwaZulu-Natal Province 2015-2020 (11 February 2016)
• Mpumalanga Province 2015-2020 (29 February 2016)
• Department of Environmental Affairs (20 May 2016)
• Limpopo Provincial Government (10 June 2016)
• Gauteng Provincial Government (14 September 2016)
• Department of Tourism (20 April 2018)
• Department of Transport (23 November 2018); see also the correction notice published on 1 February 2019

• Environmental authorisation applications related to shale gas (Interim) (3 June 2016)

2014 EIA Regulations before amendment on 7 April 2017

• Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations (4 December 2014)
• Listing Notice 1 (4 December 2014)
• Listing Notice 2 (4 December 2014)
• Listing Notice 3 (4 December 2014)

2010 EIA Regulations

(Note: these Regulations were repealed by the 2014 Regulations on 4 December 2014)

• Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations (GN R.543 in GG33306 of 18 June 2010)
• Listing Notice 1 (GN R.544 in GG33306 of 18 June 2010)
• Listing Notice 2 (GN R.545 in GG33306 of 18 June 2010)
• Listing Notice 3 (GN R.546 in GG33306 of 18 June 2010)

2006 Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations

 (Note: These regulations were replaced by the 2010 regulations on 2 August 2010)

• Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations (GN R385 in GG 28753 of 21 April 2006)
• List of Activities and Competent Authorities (GN R386 in GG 28753 of 21 April 2006)
• List of Activities and Competent Authorities (GN R387 in GG 28753 of 21 April 2006)

• Draft national guideline on minimum information standards for the preparation of environmental impact assessments for mining activities that require environmental authorisation (9 February 2018)
• Notice of intention to publish and gazette the Eastern Cape Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan (3 September 2018)
• Draft minimum standards for the consideration of environmental aspects in the preparation and review of spatial development frameworks (10 May 2019)
• Draft procedures to be followed for the assessment and minimum criteria for reporting of identified environmental themes in terms of section 24(5)(a) and (h) when applying for environmental authorisation (10 May 2019)
• Proposed amendment to the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations (22 November 2019)

Procedures to be followed

• Identification of Geographical Areas important for the development of Strategic Gas Transmission Pipeline Infrastructure (26 February 2021)
• Identification of Geographical Areas of strategic importance for the development of large scale wind and solar photovoltaic energy facilities (26 February 2021)
• Identification of Expanded Geographical Areas of Strategic Importance for the Development of Electricity Transmission and Distribution Infrastructure and of Procedures to be followed when applying for or deciding on environmental authorisation for large scale electricity transmission or distribution development activities when occurring in geographical areas of strategic importance (24 December 2021) – note this replaces the previous version published without a map on 29 April 2021
• Adoption of the standard for the development and expansion of power lines and substations within identified geographical areas and the exclusion of this infrastructure from the requirement to obtain an environmental authorisation and Appendix 1 – the Standard (27 July 2022)

• Identification of a Generic Environmental Management Programme relevant to an application for environmental authorization for the development or expansion of gas transmission pipeline infrastructure (23 April 2021)

• GNR 439 of 31 March 2020: Directions issued by the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment in terms of regulation 10 (8) of the Regulations issued in terms of section 27 (2) of the Act: Measures to address, prevent and combat the spread of COVID-19.
• GN 650 of 5 June 2020: Directions regarding Measures to Address, Prevent and Combat the Spread of COVID-19 relating to National Environmental Management Permits and Licences;
• GN 970 of 9 September 2020: Directions regarding Measures to Address, Prevent and Combat the Spread of COVID-19 relating to National Environmental Management Permits and Licences.

• Listing Notice 1 (as amended)
• Listing Notice 2 (as amended)
• Listing Notice 3 (as amended)