3.5 Listing and Licensing of waste management activities
3.5(1)
In addition to standards which may be set for waste management activities, the process of listing and licensing of waste management activities is the primary means by which these activities are regulated. Listing of waste management activities, which is the first step in the process, establishes either a particular licensing regime for that activity, or a set of standards that need to be adhered to when engaging in the activity in the event that the activity is regarded as an acceptable use.
3.5.1 Listing of waste management activities
3.5.1(1)
The Waste Act includes a detailed list of waste management activities in Schedule 1 of the Act. As provided by section 19 of the Act, this list has been subsequently updated. The list of waste activities which was gazetted on 3 July 2009 differs from the existing descriptions in the Act in that it specifies activities involving quantities and types of waste with respect to which licensing measures apply. This list will continue to be updated as the waste classification system is put into effect (refer to Section 3.1 on the categorisation and classification of waste types and activities).
3.5.1(2)
Schedule 1 of the Waste Act and the notice on 3 July 2009 established two categories of waste management activities, both of which require licensing:
3.5.1(3)
Category A: These activities require a basic assessment process as defined in environmental impact assessment (EIA) regulations provided in NEMA to be completed in order to obtain a license for the activity. A basic assessment process is appropriate where the environmental impact of a particular activity is well understood and limited in scope.
3.5.1(4)
Category B: As a licensing requirement, these activities require a full assessment report in terms of the EIA regulations. A full assessment process is appropriate where the potential scope and extent of environmental impacts is not well understood, or is likely to be significant.
3.5.1(5)
In terms of the notice, category A activities fall below set thresholds for health and environmental safety, and include:
- Storage of general waste and tyres, and temporary storage of hazardous waste.
- Reuse, recovery and recycling of general waste.
- Treatment of general waste and certain minimum and maximum quantities of effluent, flaring or burning of biogas and natural gas.
- Disposal of non-hazardous waste.
- Storage and treatment of animal waste.
- Construction or decommissioning of facilities and infrastructure for Category A waste management activities.
3.5.1(6)Category B activities, while covering the same types of activities, include hazardous waste, and exceed thresholds or quantities of waste set for Category A requirements. All incineration of waste falls under this category.
3.5.1(7)
The Waste Act requires that the notice listing the waste management activities must indicate whether a waste management licence is required for that activity, or the standards that must be adhered to when conducting the activity. The latter provision provides for a third category of waste management activity, which does not require a license but which must conform to particular standards. The determination of those activities will be guided by the application of the following criteria, which will be refined through the finalisation of Waste Classification Management System, shown in Table 9.
| Criteria for listed activities which do not require license | Criteria for listed activities which do require a license |
|---|---|
| Environmental risk easily assessed and is insignificant, trivial or low | Medium, high risk |
| Risk easily mitigated by simple general rules and does not require an EIA | Risk mitigated by complex rules/conditions |
| Either can be carried out anywhere or restrictions on locations can be easily defined | Have site specific considerations that require assessment |
| Regulator does not need to carry out risk assessment/screening required | Regulator needs to carry out risk assessment/screening |
| Waste types well characterised and consistent | Waste types not well characterised and/or inconsistent |
| In the public interest to take a low regulatory approach | In the public interest to regulate via a permit |
| Certainty of outcome | Risk of abuse |
| Operator competence either not needed or easily accredited | Operator competence needed |
| Unlikely to need regular inspection/other compliance assessment | Needs regular inspection/other compliance assessment |
| Recordkeeping unlikely to be needed | Recordkeeping needed for regulatory and other waste management purposes |
| Cessation of operations unlikely to need assessment | Cessation of operations likely to need assessment |
3.5.1(8)
In general, listed activities which do not require a license are likely to apply to situations in which the types of wastes involved are low-risk activities that are consistent and well-understood, and it is in the public interest to avoid the administrative burden of licensing. However, persons undertaking such activities should adhere to particular standards and will be required to register on the Waste Information System (WIS).
3.5.1(9)
The mechanism for setting standards for those activities that do not require licensing is described in Section 3.2.
3.5.2 Licensing of activities
3.5.2(1)
The Waste Act provides a licensing regime specific to waste management activities that replaces the current system of permits issued in terms of the now repealed ECA and the environmental authorisation promulgated under the EIA regulations. Nevertheless, the requirements for basic and full environmental impact assessments in terms of licensing applications are equivalent to the EIA regulations’ requirements, and will be captured in the National Environmental Authorisation System (NEAS), which is used for EIAs.
3.5.2(2)
A graphical overview of the process by which a decision is made to authorise or deny a license application or an application for exemption from a license is described in the diagram below.
Figure 8: Licensing Process
3.5.2(3)
The first step in the licensing procedure is to determine whether the activity in question requires a licence as it may be classified as an acceptable use subject to the outcome of an assessment, which is a simplified EIA. If it is not classified as an acceptable use, category A listed activities require a Basic Assessment procedure, while category B activities require a full EIA.
3.5.2(4)
The Waste Act provides for the Minister to optionally require a license application to be managed by “an independent and suitably qualified person”. As a minimum requirement, all license applications requiring a full assessment procedure, namely Category B activities, should be managed by an independent, certified Environmental Assessment Practitioner – with the independence of the practitioner established through a formal disclosure of interests by that person (this is already a procedural requirement). Furthermore, a risk analysis will be performed by the department on all listed activities falling under Category A to determine the circumstances under which licensing applications should be managed by a certified Environmental Assessment Practitioner (EAP).
3.5.2(5)
Wherever necessary, an application must be forwarded to DWA for concurrent processing in order to obtain a water use license. This will be issued as part of an integrated license providing the required environmental authorisation.
3.5.2(6)
The processes in relation to a basic assessment procedure and a full assessment procedure are graphically summarised in the diagrams below.
3.5.2(7)
While transitional arrangements allow existing permits granted in terms of ECA to be treated as licenses in terms of the Waste Act, a significant number of new licenses will be required to address the current listing in terms of Section 19 of the Waste Act. Delays in licensing can have negative effects on waste management capacity and serve as a brake on economic activity. DEA is introducing a new technology framework for information systems that will improve the efficiency of the licensing process by the application of a workflow engine that will automatically route licensing applications and the relevant documentation along the chain of approvals and authorisations. Furthermore, the licensee will be able to track their application online, and reporting tools will assist DEA in identifying and resolving bottlenecks in the system.
Figure 9: Basic Assessment Procedure
Figure 10: Full Assessment Procedure
3.5.3 Integrated and multiple licensing
3.5.3(1)
DEA’s goal is to provide integrated licensing systems for activities requiring environmental authorisation in terms of NEMA and other sectoral statutes. To this end, section 44 of the Waste Act, “Co-operative governance in waste management license applications”, explicitly provides for integrated licenses. The intention is to streamline licensing for activities that may require licensing in terms of multiple statutes, and for which different government departments may be the licensing authority.
3.5.3(2)
An integrated license must stipulate the statutory provisions in terms of which it has been issued, the authorities that have issued it and to whom applications for amendments or cancellations should be addressed, and the appeal procedure that should be followed.
3.5.3(3)
In practical terms, since the value of an integrated license rests in large part on an integrated license application procedure, the implication is that the NEAS system needs to be sufficiently flexible to accommodate not only licensing requirements for basic and full assessment processes in terms of NEMA, but also licensing requirements in respect to activities that may require authorisation by multiple organs of state in terms of different statutes in order to commence.
3.5.3(4)There are instances in which multiple authorisations are required from the environmental authorities located in different spheres of government. In these instances the sphere responsible for the dominant activity will take responsibility for the required authorisations.