"activity"

means an activity identified in any notice published by the Minister or MEC in terms of section 24D(1)(a) of the Act as a listed activity or specified activity;

"agreement"

means the Agreement as contemplated in section 50A(2) of the Act;

[Definition substituted by Notice No. R. 326 of 2017

"alternatives"

in relation to a proposed activity, means different means of meeting the general purpose and requirements of the activity, which may include alternatives to the—

and includes the option of not implementing the activity;

"application"

means an application for an—

[Definition substituted by Notice No. 326 of 2017]

"basic assessment report"

means a report contemplated in regulation 19;

"closure plan"

means a plan contemplated in regulation 19 and regulation 23;

[Definition substituted by section 3 of Notice No. 517, GG44701, dated 11 June 2021]

"cumulative impact"

in relation to an activity, means the past, current and reasonably foreseeable future impact of an activity, considered together with the impact of activities associated with that activity, that in itself may not be significant, but may become significant when added to the existing and reasonably foreseeable impacts eventuating from similar or diverse activities;

"EAP"

means an environmental assessment practitioner as defined in section 1 of the Act;

"EMPr"

means an environmental management programme contemplated in regulations 19 and 23;

"environmental audit report"

means a report contemplated in regulation 34;

"environmental impact assessment"

means a systematic process of identifying, assessing and reporting environmental impacts associated with an activity and includes basic assessment and S&EIR;

"environmental impact assessment report"

means a report contemplated in regulation 23;

"Financial Provisioning Regulations"

means the Financial Provisioning Regulations published in terms of section 44(1)(aE), (aF), (aG), (aH), read with sections 24(5)(b)(ix), 24(5)(d), 24N, 24P and 24R of the Act;

[Definition inserted by section 3 of Notice No. 517, GG44701, dated 11 June 2021]

"independent"

in relation to an EAP, a specialist or the person responsible for the preparation of an environmental audit report, means—

excluding—

"linear activity"

means an activity that is arranged in or extending along one or more properties and which affects the environment or any aspect of the environment along the course of the activity, and includes railways, roads, canals, channels, funiculars, pipelines, conveyor belts, cableways, power lines, fences, runways, aircraft landing strips, firebreaks and telecommunication lines;

[Definition substituted by Notice No. 326 of 2017]

"mineral"

has the meaning assigned to it in terms of section 1 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (Act No. 28 of 2002);

[Definition inserted by section 3 of Notice No. 517, GG44701, dated 11 June 2021]

"mining application"

means an application for an environmental authorisation for a permission, right, permit or consent required in terms of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (Act No. 28 of 2002) and includes hydraulic fracturing and reclamation;

[Definition inserted by section 3 of Notice No. 517, GG44701, dated 11 June 2021]

"minimum information requirements"

[Definition deleted by Notice No. 326 of 2017];

"mitigation"

means to anticipate and prevent negative impacts and risks, then to minimise them, rehabilitate or repair impacts to the extent feasible;

"National Appeal Regulations"

means the national appeal regulations published in terms of section 43(4) and 44 of the Act;

"petroleum"

has the meaning assigned to it in terms of section 1 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (Act No. 28 of 2002)

[Definition inserted by section 3 of Notice No. 517, GG44701, dated 11 June 2021]

"ocean-based activity"

[Definition deleted by Notice No. 326 of 2017];

"plan of study for environmental impact assessment"

means a study contemplated in regulation 22 which forms part of a scoping report and sets out how an environmental impact assessment will be conducted;

"proponent"

means a person intending to submit an application for environmental authorisation and is referred to as an applicant once such application for environmental authorisation has been submitted;

"receipt"

means receipt on the date indicated—

"registered environmental assessment practitioner or registered EAP"

means an environmental assessment practitioner registered with an appointed registration authority contemplated in section 24H of the Act;

"registered interested and affected party"

in relation to an application, means an interested and affected party whose name is recorded in the register opened for that application in terms of regulation 42;

"scoping report"

means a report contemplated in regulation 21;

"S&EIR"

means the scoping and environmental impact reporting process contemplated in regulation 21 to regulation 24;

"significant impact"

means an impact that may have a notable effect on one or more aspects of the environment or may result in non-compliance with accepted environmental quality standards, thresholds or targets and is determined through rating the positive and negative effects of an impact on the environment based on criteria such as duration, magnitude, intensity and probability of occurrence;

"specialist"

means a person that is generally recognised within the scientific community as having the capability of undertaking, in conformance with generally recognised scientific principles, specialist studies or preparing specialist reports, including due diligence studies and socio-economic studies;

"State department"

means any department or administration in the national or provincial sphere of government exercising functions that involve the management of the environment; and

"the Act"

means the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998).

[Regulation 1(2) substituted by Notice No. 326 of 2017]