National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998)Regulations in Terms of Chapter 5 of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998Chapter 5 : Exemptions from Provisions of these Regulations53. Consideration of applications |
| 1) | On receipt of an application in terms of regulation 51, the competent authority— |
| a) | must consider whether the granting or refusal of the application is likely to adversely affect the rights or interests of other parties; and |
| b) | may for that purpose request the applicant to furnish additional information. |
| 2) | In addition to complying with subregulation (1), the competent authority may advise the applicant of any matter that may prejudice the success of the application. |
| 3) | The competent authority must promptly decide the application if the rights or interests of other parties are not likely to be adversely affected by the proposed exemption. |
| 4) | If the rights or interests of other parties are likely to be adversely affected by the proposed exemption, the competent authority must, before deciding the application, request the applicant— |
| a) | to conduct at least a public participation process as set out in regulation 56, or any aspect of such process; |
| b) | to open and maintain a register of all interested and affected parties in respect of the application in accordance with regulation 57; and |
| c) | to submit any comments received from interested and affected parties following such public participation process, to the competent authority. |