| (a) | grant an application; or |
| (b) | refuse an application. |
| (2) | Any decision by a licensing authority to grant an application must be consistent with— |
| (a) | this Act and any other applicable national or provincial legislation; |
| (b) | any applicable national or provincial environmental management policies; |
| (c) | section 24 of the National Environmental Management Act and any applicable environmental impact assessment done, the decision taken on the application for the environmental authorisation, and any applicable notice issued or regulation made pursuant to that section; |
[Subsection (2)(c) substituted by section 8(a) of Act No. 20 of 2014]
| (d) | the national environmental management principles set out in section 2 of the National Environmental Management Act; |
| (e) | any transitional and other special arrangements contemplated in section 21(3)(b); |
| (f) | any minimum standards for atmospheric emissions of identified substances or mixtures of substances as contemplated in section 21(3); |
| (i) | any ambient air quality or emission standards that have been determined in terms of this Act. |
| (3) | If the decision on the relevant application for an environmental authorisation has been made in terms of section 24 of the National Environmental Management Act, the licensing authority must decide the application within 60 days of the date on which the decision on the application for the environmental authorisation has been made. |
[Subsection (3) substituted by section 8(b) of Act No. 20 of 2014]
| (3A) | Where the listed activity relates to a prospecting, mining, exploration or production activity contemplated in the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (Act No. 28 of 2002), in the area for which the right has been applied for, and the Minister responsible for mineral resources has been identified as the competent authority in terms of section 24C of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998, the Minister, after consultation with the licensing authority contemplated in section 36(1) and (2) of this Act, must decide the application within the timeframes set out in the National Environmental Management Act, 1998. |
[Subsection (3A) inserted by section 8(c) of Act No. 20 of 2014]
| (4) | After a licensing authority has reached a decision in respect of a licence application, it must within 30 days— |
| (a) | notify the applicant of the decision, and give written reasons if the application was unsuccessful; |
| (b) | in a manner determined by the licensing authority, notify any persons who have objected to the application; and |
| (c) | at the request of any person contemplated in paragraph (b), give written reasons for its decision or make public its reasons. |
