Centre for Environmental Rights – Advancing Environmental Rights in South Africa

On 27 August 2021, the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment published her intention to repeal the 2015 Financial Provisioning Regulations and to make new Regulations for Financial Provisioning for the Mitigation and Rehabilitation of Environmental Damage Caused by Reconnaissance, Prospecting, Exploration, Mining or Production Operations.

The Notice containing the new Draft Financial Provisioning Regulations is available here.

According to the proposed Regulations, their purpose is to:

• establish the obligation of an applicant and holder to plan, implement and manage activities and procedures to mitigate and rehabilitate environmental damage caused by reconnaissance, exploration, prospecting, mining and production operations;
• regulate the manner in which an applicant or holder must determine, provide, set aside, maintain and manage financial security for undertaking progressive rehabilitation, decommissioning, closure and post-closure activities associated with reconnaissance, exploration, prospecting, mining and production operations;
• identify the circumstances under which the Minister and the Minister responsible for water affairs may use the financial provision set aside to effect the obligation of the holder;
• ensure that the State does not become liable for the costs of mitigation, rehabilitation and management of negative environmental impacts and environmental damage which should be covered by a holder; and
• facilitate environmentally sustainable mining.

The Minister has called for comments on the Draft Financial Provisioning Regulations within 40 days (i.e by 6 October 2021).

You can find previous comments made by the Centre for Environmental Rights on Financial Provisioning at https://cer.org.za/programmes/mining/submissions.