Gas Act, 2001 (Act No. 48 of 2001)RulesGas Act Rules, 2021Chapter 2 : Applications and Objections to Licence Applications8. Publishing of a notice of an application for a licence and the contents thereof |
| (1) | An applicant for a licence may only publish a notice of its licence application after— |
| (a) | it has received confirmation from the Energy Regulator in terms of Rule 7(3) that the application meets the requirements for adequacy and is accepted by the Energy Regulator; and |
| (b) | it has received confirmation from the Energy Regulator that its request for confidential treatment of information contained in the application has been approved, if any such request was ever made. |
| (2) | If the application was never accompanied by the request for confidential treatment of information, an applicant for a licence may only publish a notice of its licence application after it has received the confirmation contemplated in Rule 8(1)(a) above and the list of information that the Energy Regulator automatically protects from public disclosure. |
| (3) | The notice contemplated in sub-rule (1) above must be published— |
| (a) | in at least two newspapers circulating in the area of the proposed activity; and |
| (b) | in any two official languages commonly spoken in the area of the proposed activity, one of which must be English. |
| (4) | The applicant must, within the first two working days of publication of its notice of an application for a licence, forward the copies of the relevant newspaper clippings to the Energy Regulator on the addresses or numbers specified in Rule 2 of these Rules. |
| (5) | If the Energy Regulator deems it necessary considering the specific characteristics of an application, it may direct an applicant to publish the notice contemplated in this Rule, in more than one issue of a newspaper circulating with the area of the proposed activity but not exceeding three issues or on more than one day but not exceeding three days; in which case the requirements of sub-rule (4) above must be adhered to within the first two workings days of the last issue. |
| (6) | A notice of an application published in terms of this Rule must comply with all requirements listed in section 17(2) of the Act and must— |
| (a) | state that the licence application will be accessible to members of the public – |
| (i) | for the period of 30 days from the date of publication of the notice; |
| (ii) | at the offices of— |
| (aa) | the applicant and must state the address, telephone number and the name of the contact person at the offices of the applicant; |
| (bb) | the Energy Regulator at the address specified in Rule 2(1) of these Rules; |
| (iii) | on the website of the applicant, where available; and |
| (iv) | on the website of the Energy Regulator; |
| (b) | state that although the 30 days’ period specified in sub-rule (6)(a)(i) above includes all Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from the day of publication, public access to the offices specified in sub-rule (6)(a)(ii) will not be available on such days; |
| (c) | state the application reference number issued by the Energy Regulator; |
| (d) | indicate that the Energy Regulator will disregard objections received after the closing date; and |
| (e) | state that— |
| (i) | persons who wish to lodge objections must do so by completing the form specified in Annexure D to these Rules which is available on the website of the Energy Regulator or at the offices of the Energy Regulator at the address specified in Rule 2(1) of these Rules; and |
| (ii) | objections must be delivered by hand or sent by registered post or sent electronically or sent by fax to the addresses or numbers specified in Rule 2 of these Rules. |