The main purpose of the National Environmental Management Laws Second Amendment Bill is to amend certain provisions of the National Environmental Management Act of 1998, to close regulatory gaps and to further enhance the environmental management systems.
The Bill will enhance service delivery as it provides for environmental management programmes and plans to be prepared and to be reviewed by the relevant national department and provincial departments, at least every five years, in accordance with government priorities.
The Bill further facilitates the integration of environmental planning processes within the three spheres of government. The Bill formalises an environmental outlook report to track the state of the environment and the effectiveness of the environmental management system in achieving the desired level of sustainability.
The Bill also promotes the mainstreaming of the integrated environmentally sustainable and sound management considerations into everyday business processes, practices, technology and decision-making across the economy.
The Minister will be able to endorse green labelling under certain circumstances.
The Bill enables the use of spatial tools, norms and standards and environmental management instruments in decision-making as an alternative to environmental authorisation procedures. The aim is to ensure that there is a reduction in terms of the administrative and financial aspects It will also enhance development and increase regulatory certainty.
The Bill will assist in creating an enabling environment that will contribute to ensuring that government priorities are met, for example, by facilitating the environmental assessment of strategic infrastructure projects and other developments in terms of the National Development Plan. It also provides legal clarity in circumstances under which the Minister will be the competent authority for the issuing of the environmental authorisation. The Bill will further ensure that all decisions on environmental authorisation are taken timeously. Although the Bill still provides for the rectification of the commencement of illegal activities, it goes a long way in closing the regulatory gaps that were open for abuse and also provides legal clarity that contraveners of the law can still be prosecuted, despite making use of rectification processes.
The Minister is also provided with the power to issue directives to address a variety of situations and the administrative fine has been substantially increased. The Bill strengthens the enforcement provisions in the Act. Environmental inspectors will be able to, without a warrant, seize vehicles of any kind where they are used in the commission of an offence or where they may afford evidence of the commission of the offence. The Bill makes it easier to issue section 28 directives to cap pollution.
The Bill also makes provision for the government to respond quickly in emergency situations but it also simultaneously closes loopholes and tightens gaps to avoid the abuse of these provisions.
The Bill provides the Minister with a legal mandate to develop regulations to deal with certain products that may cause substantial harm to the environment. However, the Bill requires consultation with all relevant Cabinet Ministers before publication of any regulations on this matter. All offences that were previously scattered across the Act have now been collated in one section in the Act, which will make it easier to read the Act.
In conclusion, the National Environmental Management Laws Second Amendment Bill is intended to strengthen the environmental management system and, at the same time, provide the state with more muscle in terms of the enforcement. Thank you.