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regime specific to waste management activities that replaces the current system of permits issued in terms of the now repealed ECA and the environmental authorisation promulgated under the EIA regulations.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