National Environment Management: Integrated Coastal Management Act, 2008 (Act No. 24 of 2008)Chapter 1 : Interpretation, Objects and Application of Act1. Definitions |
| (1) | In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise— |
means a fee that is charged to allow a person to enter coastal public property and includes launching from and entering a vessel launch site with a boat:
[Definition inserted by section 1(a) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
means any strip of land adjoining the inland side of the high-water mark which, when this Act took effect, was state land reserved or designated on an official plan, deed of grant, title deed or other document evidencing title or land-use rights as "admiralty reserve", "government reserve", "beach reserve", "coastal forest reserve" or other similar reserve;
means any actual, potential or cumulative impact on the environment that impairs, or may impair, the environment or any aspect of it to an extent that is more than trivial or insignificant;
[Definition substituted by section 1(b) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
means an aircraft as defined in terms of section 1 of the National Environmental Management Act;
[Definition deleted by section 1(c) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
"Biodiversity Act"
means the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act No. 10 of 2004);
"biodiversity" or "biological diversity"
has the same meaning ascribed to it in the Biodiversity Act;
"coastal access land"
means land designated as coastal access land in terms of section 18(1), read with section 26;
"coastal activities"
means activities listed or specified in terms of Chapter 5 of the National Environmental Management Act which take place—
| (a) | in the coastal zone; or |
| (b) | outside the coastal zone but have or are likely to have a direct impact on the coastal zone; |
[Definition substituted by section 1(d) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
means an authorisation under this Act, and includes the authorisation to reclaim land in terms of sections 7B and 7C, a coastal waters discharge permit in terms of section 69, a general discharge authorisation in terms of section 69, a dumping permit in terms of section 71, a coastal use permit in terms of section 65 and any other authorisation under this Act, but excludes an environmental authorisation;
[Definition inserted by section 1(e) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
"coastal concession"
[Definition deleted by section 1(f) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
"coastal environment"
means the environment within the coastal zone;
"coastal lease"
[Definition deleted by section 1(g) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
"coastal management"
includes—
| (a) | the regulation, management, protection, conservation and rehabilitation of the coastal environment; |
| (b) | the regulation and management of the use and development of the coastal zone and coastal resources; |
| (c) | monitoring and enforcing compliance with laws and policies that regulate human activities within the coastal zone; and |
| (d) | planning in connection with the activities referred to in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c); |
means a line determined by an MEC in accordance with section 25 in order to demarcate an area within which development will be prohibited or controlled in order to achieve the objects of this Act or coastal management objectives:
[Definition inserted by section 1(h) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
"coastal management objective"
means a clearly defined objective established by a coastal management programme for a specific area within the coastal zone which coastal management must be directed at achieving;
"coastal management programme"
means the national or a provincial or municipal coastal management programme established in terms of Chapter 6;
"coastal planning scheme"
means a scheme that—
| (a) | reserves defined areas within the coastal zone to be used exclusively or mainly for a specified purpose; and |
| (b) | prohibits or restricts any use of these areas in conflict with the terms of the scheme; |
[Definition substituted by section 1(i) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
"coastal protected area"
means a protected area that is situated wholly or partially within the coastal zone and that is managed by, or on behalf of, an organ of state, but excludes any part of such a protected area that has been excised from the coastal zone in terms of section 22;
means the coastal protection zone contemplated in section 16;
[Definition substituted by section 1(j) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
"coastal public property"
means coastal public property referred to in section 7;
"coastal resources"
means any part of—
| (a) | the cultural heritage of the Republic within the coastal zone, including shell middens and traditional fish traps; or |
| (b) | the coastal environment that is of actual or potential benefit to humans; |
[Definition deleted by section 1(k) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
"coastal waters"
means—
| (a) | the internal waters, territorial waters, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of the Republic referred to in sections 3, 4 , 7 and 8 of the Maritime Zones Act,1994 (Act No. 15 of 1994), respectively; and |
| (b) | an estuary; |
[Definition substituted by section 1(l) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
"coastal wetland"
means—
| (a) | any wetland in the coastal zone; and |
| (b) | includes— |
| (i) | land adjacent to coastal waters that is regularly or periodically inundated by water, salt marshes, mangrove areas, inter-tidal sand and mud flats, marshes, and minor coastal streams regardless of whether they are of a saline, freshwater or brackish nature; and |
| (ii) | the water, the subsoil and substrata beneath, and bed and banks of, any such wetland; |
"coastal zone"
means the area comprising coastal public property, the coastal protection zone, coastal access land, coastal protected areas, the seashore and coastal waters, and includes any aspect of the environment on, in, under and above such area;
[Definition substituted by section 1(m) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
"competent authority"
means a competent authority identified in terms of section 24C of the National Environmental Management Act;
"cultural heritage"
means any place or object of aesthetic, architectural, historical, scientific, social or spiritual value or significance;
"Department"
means the national department responsible for environmental affairs;
"development"
in relation to a place, means any process initiated by a person to change the use, physical nature or appearance of that place, and includes—
| (a) | the construction, erection, alteration, demolition or removal of a structure or building; |
| (b) | a process to rezone, subdivide or consolidate land; |
| (c) | changes to the existing or natural topography of the coastal zone; and |
| (d) | the destruction or removal of indigenous or protected vegetation; |
"Director-General"
means the Director-General of the Department;
"dumping at sea"
means—
| (a) | any deliberate disposal into the sea of any waste or material other than operational waste from a vessel, aircraft, platform or other man-made structure at sea; |
| (b) | any deliberate disposal into the sea of a vessel, aircraft, platform or other man-made structure at sea; |
| (c) | any storage of any waste or other material on or in the seabed, its subsoil or substrata: or |
| (d) | any abandonment or toppling at site of a platform or other structure at sea, for the sole purpose of deliberate disposal, but "dumping at sea" does not include— |
| (i) | the lawful disposal at sea through sea out-fall pipelines of any waste or other material generated on land; |
| (ii) | the lawful depositing of any substance or placing or abandoning of anything in the sea for a purpose other than mere disposal of it; or |
| (iii) | disposing of or storing in the sea any tailings or other material from the bed or subsoil of coastal waters generated by the lawful exploration, exploitation and associated off-shore processing of mineral resources from the bed, subsoil or substrata of the sea; |
"dumping permit"
means a permit granted under section 71;
means all natural processes continually reshaping the shoreline and near shore seabed and includes—
| (a) | wind action; |
| (b) | wave action; |
| (c) | currents; |
| (d) | tidal action; and |
| (e) | river flows; |
"effluent"
means—
| (a) | any liquid discharged into the coastal environment as waste, and includes any substance dissolved or suspended in the liquid; or |
| (b) | liquid which is a different temperature from the body of water into which it is being discharged; |
means "environment" as defined in the National Environmental Management Act;
means an authorisation granted in respect of coastal activities by a competent authority in terms of Chapter 5 of the National Environmental Management Act;
"estuary"
means a body of surface water—
| (a) | that is permanently or periodically open to the sea; |
| (b) | in which a rise and fall of the water level as a result of the tides is measurable at spring tides when the body of surface water is open to the sea; or |
| (c) | in respect of which the salinity is higher than fresh water as a result of the influence of the sea, and where there is a salinity gradient between the tidal reach and the mouth of the body of surface water; |
[Definition substituted by section 1(n) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
"exclusive economic zone"
means the exclusive economic zone of the Republic referred to in section 7 of the Maritime Zones Act, 1994 (Act No. 15 of 1994);
when used in relation to—
| (a) | the Minister, means the Government Gazette; |
| (b) | the MEC, means the Provincial Gazette; and |
| (c) | a municipality, means the Provincial Gazette of the province in which the municipality is situated; |
"general discharge authorisation"
means an authorisation under section 69(2);
[Definition substituted by section 1(o) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
means a harbour proclaimed in terms of any law and managed by an organ of state;
[Definition inserted by section 1(p) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
means the highest line reached by coastal waters, but excluding any line reached as a result of—
| (a) | exceptional or abnormal weather or sea conditions; or |
| (b) | an estuary being closed to the sea; |
[Definition substituted by section 1 (q) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
"incinerate at sea"
means the deliberate combustion of any material on board a vessel, platform or other man-made structure at sea for the purpose of disposing of it by thermal destruction, but does not include the combustion of operational waste from a vessel, aircraft, platform or other man-made structure at sea;
"interests of the whole community"
means the collective interests of the community determined by—
| (a) | prioritising the collective interests in coastal public property of all persons living in the Republic over the interests of a particular group or sector of society; |
| (b) | adopting a long-term perspective that takes into account the interests of future generations in inheriting coastal public property and a coastal environment characterised by healthy and productive ecosystems and economic activities that are ecologically and socially sustainable; and |
| (c) | taking into account the interests of other living organisms that are dependent on the coastal environment; |
means the authority designated in terms of this Act to issue authorisations;
means any plan that is approved in terms of legislation regulating land development and that indicates the desirable uses for areas of land but does not create legal rights to use land;
[Definition substituted by section 1(r) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
"Land Survey Act"
means the Land Survey Act, 1997 (Act No. 8 of 1997);
means a cadastral entity which is capable of registration in the deeds registry in terms of the Deeds Registries Act, 1937 (Act No. 47 of 1937);
[Definition inserted by section 1(s) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
"land use scheme"
in relation to an area, means a scheme established by or under legislation and that creates or regulates the use of land in that area, and includes a land use scheme, a town planning scheme, a zoning scheme and any other similar instrument that identifies or regulates rights to use land;
"littoral active zone"
means any land forming part of, or adjacent to, the seashore that is—
| (a) | unstable and dynamic as a result of natural processes; and |
| (b) | characterised by dunes, beaches, sand bars and other landforms composed of unconsolidated sand, pebbles or other such material which is either unvegetated or only partially vegetated; |
means any community of people living, or having rights or interests, in a distinct geographical area within the coastal zone;
"low-water mark"
means the lowest line lo which coastal waters recede during spring tides;
"Marine Living Resources Act"
means the Marine Living Resources Act, 1998 (Act No. 18 of 1998);
"MEC"
means the member of the Executive Council of a coastal province who is responsible for the designated provincial lead agency in terms of this Act;
"Minister"
means the Minister responsible for environmental affairs;
[Definition substituted by section 1(t) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
| (a) | means a metropolitan, district or local municipality established in terms of the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, 1998 (Act No. 117 of 1998); or |
| (b) | in relation to the implementation of a provision of this Act in an area which falls within both a local municipality and a district municipality, means— |
| (i) | the district municipality: or |
| (ii) | the local municipality, if the district municipality, by agreement with the local municipality, has assigned the implementation of that provision in that area lo the local municipality; |
"Municipal Systems Act"
means the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act No. 32 of 2000);
"National Environmental Management Act"
means the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998);
"national estuarine management protocol"
means the national protocol concerning the management of estuaries contemplated in section 33;
"National Water Act"
means the National Water Act, 1998 (Act No. 36 of 1998);
| (a) | means any waste or other material that is incidental to, or derived from, the normal operation of a vessel, aircraft, platform or other man-made structure and its equipment; and |
| (b) | excludes any waste or other material that is transported by or to a vessel, aircraft, platform or other man-made structure which is operated for the purpose of disposing of that waste or other material, including any substances derived from treating it on board, at sea; |
has the meaning assigned to it in section 239 of the Constitution;
has the meaning assigned to it in section 1 of the National Environmental Management Act;
means a port as defined in the National Ports Act, 2005 (Act No. 12 of 2005);
[Definition inserted by section 1(u) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
means prescribe by regulation;
means a protected area referred to in section 9 of the Protected Areas Act;
the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, 2003 (Act No. 57 of 2003);
"provincial lead agency"
means a provincial organ of state designated by the Premier of the province in terms of section 38 as the lead agency for coastal management in the province;
means the process of artificially creating new land within coastal waters, and includes the creation of an island or peninsula, but excludes beach replenishment by sand pumping for maintenance purpose;
[Definition inserted by section 1(v) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
"sea"
means—
| (a) | the high seas; |
| (b) | all coastal waters; and |
| (c) | land regularly or permanently submerged by sea water, including— |
| (i) | the bed, subsoil and substrata beneath those waters; and |
| (ii) | land flooded by sea water which subsequently becomes part of the bed of coastal waters, including the substrata beneath such land; |
[Definition substituted by section 1(w) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
"seashore"
subject to section 26, means the area between the low-water mark and the high-water mark:
means any aircraft registered in the Republic in terms of applicable legislation;
"South African vessel"
means any vessel registered or deemed to be registered in the Republic in terms of applicable legislation;
"special management area"
means an area declared as such in terms of section 23;
"this Act"
includes any regulation made in terms of this Act;
means a traditional council established and recognised in terms of section 3 of the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act, 2003 (Act No. 41 of 2003);
means a waterborne craft of any kind, whether self-propelled or not, but does not include any moored floating structure that is not used as a means of transport by water;
"waste"
means any substance, whether or not that substance can be re-used, recycled or recovered—
| (i) | that is surplus, unwanted, rejected, discarded, abandoned or disposed of; |
| (ii) | that the generator has no further use of, for the purposes of production, reprocessing or consumption; and |
| (iii) | that is discharged or deposited in a manner that may detrimentally impact on the environment; |
"Waste Assessment Guidelines"
means the guidelines set out in Schedule 2;
[Definition amended by section 1(x) of Act No. 36 of 2014]
means land which is transitional between terrestrial and aquatic systems where the water table is usually at or near the surface, or the land is periodically covered with shallow water, and which land in normal circumstances supports or would support vegetation typically adapted to life in saturated soil.
| (2) | In this Act, a word or expression derived from a word or expression defined in subsection (1) has a corresponding meaning unless the context indicates otherwise. |