NEW ENVIRONMENTAL APPEAL REGULATIONS
NEW NEMA APPEAL REGULATIONS SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY
13 MARCH 2025 -
The Minister for Environmental Affairs has recently signed into effect the NATIONAL APPEAL REGULATIONS, 2025.
Together with the Appeal Regulations, the Minister has signed into effect the following provisions:
section 43(1C) of NEMA: which allows any person to appeal against a decision made by the licensing authority contemplated in section 36(1) or 47A of the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act, 2004 (Act No. 39 of 2004), and in the case of municipalities, to the municipal council.
the provision under the National Environmental Management Laws Amendment Act (NEMLAA) which repeals chapter 9 of the Integrated Coastal Management Act, which deals with appeals.
APPEALS AGAINST DECISIONS
An appeal must be submitted within 20 calendar days from the date the decision is sent by the decision-maker or by the Applicant to registered interested and affected parties.
An appeal against a directive must be submitted within 30 calendar days from the date the directive is received.
The Appeal Authority must decide an appeal and notify the Appellant within 50 calendar days of the filing of the Responding Statement (where applicable).
This timeframe is extended to 70 days where an appeal is complex.
Complex appeals are those appeals which :
require the appointment of an advisory appeal panel or an expert to assist the appeal authority;
require the appeal administrator to undertake a site inspection to advise the appeal authority; or
more than one appeal administrator is required to process the appeal.
The Appeal Administrator must acknowledge an appeal within 5 working days.
ADVISORY APPEAL PANEL
The new regulations lay down specific requirements for a member of an advisory appeal panel:
A member of the advisory appeal panel or an expert must—
be independent; and
have suitable qualifications and experience in relation to the matters that must be considered in the appeal.
A person may not be appointed as a member of an advisory appeal panel
or an expert if that person—
was involved in any way in the making of the decision being appealed;
or any spouse, partner or close family member of that person has a personal or private interest in the outcome of the appeal;
is an unrehabilitated insolvent;
has, as a result of improper conduct, been removed from an office of trust; or
has been declared by a court to be mentally ill or disordered.
The chairperson of the advisory appeal panel must ensure that any dissenting opinion by a member of the panel is recorded in the written report of the panel.
Get in touch with me if you or your organisation requires legal assistance in an appeal matter.
