National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998)RegulationsFinancial Provisioning Regulations, 2015Chapter 2 : Financial Provision11. Review, assessment and adjustment of financial provision by the holder of a right or permit |
| (1) | The holder of a right or permit must ensure that a review is undertaken of the requirements for— |
| (a) | annual rehabilitation, as reflected in an annual rehabilitation plan; |
| (b) | final rehabilitation, decommissioning and closure of the prospecting, exploration, mining or production operations at the end of the life of operations as reflected in a final rehabilitation, decommissioning and mine closure plan; and |
| (c) | remediation of latent or residual environmental impacts which may become known in the future, including the pumping and treatment of polluted or extraneous water, as reflected in an environmental risk assessment report. |
| (2) | The holder of a right or permit must, on completion of the actions contemplated in subregulation (1), ensure that the adequacy of the financial provision is assessed and any adjustments that need to be made to the financial provision are identified— |
| (a) | within one year of the commencement of the operations authorised in the right or permit issued in terms of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002; or |
| (b) | where the operations authorised in the right or permit issued in terms of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 has commenced and where the holder of the right or permit is a person with a financial year, immediately after its financial year end that follows such commencement; |
and annually thereafter.
| (3) | The results of the assessment of the adequacy of the financial provision contemplated in subregulation (2), including proof of payment or arrangements to provide for any adjustments to the financial provision, must be— |
| (a) | audited by an independent auditor; |
| (b) | included in any environmental audit report required in terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2014; and |
| (c) | submitted by the holder of a right or permit for approval to the Minister responsible for mineral resources, in the form of an auditor’s report, together with the plans and report contemplated in subregulation 11, within— |
| (i) | where subregulation (2)(a) applies, three months of the date contemplated in that subregulation; or |
| (ii) | where subregulation (2)(b) applies, three months of its financial year end; |
and annually thereafter.
| (4) | Should the action contemplated in subregulation (2) or regulation 14(2) indicate— |
| (a) | a shortfall in the financial provision, the holder of a right or permit must increase the financial provision to meet the reviewed, assessed and audited financial provision within 90 days from the date of signature on the auditor’s report and must provide proof of increasing the financial provision to the Minister responsible for mineral resources; |
| (b) | an excess, the amount in excess must be deferred against subsequent assessments. |