Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa has published the draft coastal waters discharge permit regulations for public comment.

The draft regulations provide the much-needed guidance sought by operators around discharge into coastal waters. The new regulations stipulate time-frames, renewal application process, applicable fees and the required information, and processes that allow the delegated authority to make an informed decision on coastal waters discharge permit applications.

These draft regulations are part of the suite of tools that will be used to assist in the protection and governance of ocean resources.

“The ocean is a shared space and all beneficial users must have access to good water quality for their benefit. A better environmental protection will result in better goods and services from our coastal environment, which is the desired outcome of the draft regulations,” the Department of Environmental Affairs said in a statement.

The new draft regulations seek to provide an administrative framework to implement Section 69 of the National Environmental Management: Integrated Coastal Management Act (ICMA) 2008 relating to coastal effluent discharges from land-based sources.

The ICMA empowers the department to manage the discharge of effluent into coastal waters in a manner that ensures that beneficial users of coastal water are not adversely affected upon and that the environmental integrity of the coast is not compromised.

Submit your comments

Any person is invited to submit written comments on the draft regulations within 30 days of the publication of the notice in the Government Gazette to the following addresses:

By post to:
The Deputy Director-General: Department of Environmental Affairs
Branch: Oceans and Coasts
P.O Box 52126
V&A Waterfront,
Cape Town
8002

By hand at:
Department of Environmental Affairs
Branch: Oceans and Coasts
East Pier Building 2
East Pier Road
V&A Waterfront
Cape Town