Environment Conservation Act, 1989 (Act No. 73 of 1989)RegulationsActivities Identified under Section 213. Responsibilities in terms of regulations |
| 1) | An applicant- |
| a) | must appoint an independent consultant who must on behalf of the applicant comply with these regulations; |
| b) | is solely responsible for all costs incurred in connection with the employment of the consultant or any other person acting on the applicant's behalf to comply with these regulations; |
| c) | must ensure that the consultant has no financial or other interest in the undertaking of the proposed activity, except with regard to the compliance with these regulations; |
| d) | must ensure that the consultant, while complying with these regulations, has- |
| i) | expertise in the area of environmental concern being dealt with in the specific application; |
| ii) | the ability to perform all the relevant tasks contemplated in these regulations; |
| iii) | the ability to manage the public participation process contemplated in paragraph (f); |
| iv) | the ability to timeously produce thorough, readable and informative documents; |
| v) | adequate recording and reporting systems to ensure the preservation of all data gathered; and |
| vi) | a good working knowledge of all relevant policies, legislation, guidelines, norms and standards; |
| e) | must ensure that the consultant provides to the relevant authority access to, and opportunity for review of, all procedures, underlying data, reports and interviews with interested parties, whether or not such information may be reflected in a report required in terms of these regulations; |
| f) | is responsible for the public participation process to ensure that all interested parties, including government departments that may have jurisdiction over any aspect of the activity, are given the opportunity to participate in all the relevant procedures contemplated in these regulations; and |
| g) | must indemnify the government of the Republic, the relevant authority and all its officers, agents and employees, from any liability arising out of the content of any report, any procedure or any action for which the applicant or consultant is responsible in terms of these regulations. |
| 2) | If any provision of subregulation (1) is not complied with by the applicant and not immediately attended to, after having been made aware of it by the relevant authority, the application is regarded to have been withdrawn. |
| 3) | The relevant authority must- |
| a) | ensure that officers, agents or consultants employed by the relevant authority to evaluate any reports submitted in terms of these regulations have- |
| i) | expertise in the area of environmental concern being dealt with in the specific application; |
| ii) | the ability to perform the evaluation tasks contemplated in these regulations efficiently; |
| iii) | the ability to timeously produce thorough, readable, and informative documents; and |
| iv) | a good working knowledge of all relevant policies, legislation, guidelines, norms and standards; |
| b) | ensure that the evaluation and decisions required in terms of these regulations are done or reached efficiently and within a reasonable time, and that the applicant is informed immediately of any delay and is provided with a written explanation for any delay that may occur; |
| c) | provide the applicant with any guidelines, as well as access to any other information in the possession of the relevant authority, that may assist the applicant in fulfilling its obligations in terms of these regulations; and |
| d) | try to keep the inputs required from the applicant to the minimum that are necessary to make an informed decision on the application, without putting any limitation on the rights that interested parties may have in terms of these regulations. |
| 4) | While working for any applicant in terms of these regulations, a consultant may not work for any relevant authority in terms of these regulations in respect of the same application. |
| 5) | Any interested party who wishes to participate in the public participation process contemplated in subregulation (1)(f) must respond within the time agreed to between the relevant authority and the applicant. |