Cederberg
South Africa
South Africa
Air Quality Management By-law, 2020
- Published in Western Cape Provincial Gazette 8237 on 13 May 2020
- Commenced on 13 May 2020
- [This is the version of this document from 13 May 2020 and includes any amendments published up to 23 June 2023.]
Preamble
The Council of the Cederberg Local Municipality acting in terms of section 156(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. Read with section 13(a) of the Local Government Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act No. 32 of 2000) and section 11(1) of the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act, 2004 (Act No. 39 of 2004) has made the Air Quality By-law hereunder.And Whereas the Cederberg Local Municipality seeks to ensure management of air quality and the control of air pollution within the area of jurisdiction of the Cederberg Local Municipality and to ensure that air pollution is avoided, is minimized and remedied.And now therefore, be it enacted by the Council of Cederberg Local Municipality, as follows:Chapter I
Definitions and fundamental principles
1. Definitions
In this By-law, unless the context indicates otherwise—"adverse effect" means any actual or potential impact on the environment that impairs or would impair the environment or any aspect of it to an extent that is more than trivial or insignificant;"air pollutant" includes dust, smoke, fumes and gas that causes or may cause air pollution;"air pollution" means any change in the environment caused by any substance emitted into the atmosphere from any activity, where that change has an adverse effect on human health or well-being or on the composition, resilience and productivity of natural or managed ecosystems, or on materials useful to people, or will have such an effect in the future;"air pollution control zone" means the geographical area to which Chapter IV of this By-law is declared to apply;"Air Quality Act" means the National Environment Management: Air Quality Act, 2004(Act No. 39 of 2004);"air quality management plan" means the air quality management plan referred to in section 15 of the Air Quality Act;"air quality officer" means an officer appointed in terms of section 14 of the Air Quality Act as an air quality officer;"ambient air" excludes air regulated by the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (Act No. 85 of 1993);"atmosphere" means air that is not enclosed by a building, machine, chimney or other similar structure;"atmospheric emission" or "emission" means any emission or entrainment process emanating from a point, non-point or mobile source that results in air pollution;"authorised person" means any employee of the Municipality delegated by the Director to implement any provision of this By-law;"best practicable environmental option" means the option that provides the most benefit, or causes the least damage to the environment as a whole, at a cost acceptable to society in the long term as well as in the short term;"boiler" means a fuel-burning apparatus or container for heating water; less than 10 megawatt (MW) (small boilers) falls under the mandate of the Local Municipality. More than 10 megawatt (MW); less than 50 megawatt (MW) (controlled emitters) falls under the mandate of the District Municipality. More than 50 megawatt (MW) (Listed activity) falls under the mandate of the District Municipality."chimney" means any structure or opening of any kind from which or through which air pollutants may be emitted;"compression ignition powered vehicle" means a vehicle powered by an internal combustion, compression ignition, diesel or similar fuel engine;"Constitution of South Africa" means the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa No. 108 of 1996."Council" means the Council of the Cederberg Local Municipality or any of the other political structures, political office bearers, councillors or staff members, of the Cederberg Local Municipality duly authorised by delegation;"controlled emitter" means any appliance or activity declared as a controlled emitter in terms of section 23 of the National Environmental: Air Quality Act, 2004 (Act No. 39 of 2004);"dark smoke" means(a)in respect of Chapter V and Chapter VI of this By-law, smoke which when measured using a light absorption meter, obscuration measuring equipment or other similar equipment, has an obscuration of 20% or greater;(b)in respect of Chapter VIII of this By-law — smoke emitted from the exhaust outlets of naturally aspirated compression ignition engines which has a density of 50 Hartridge smoke units or more or a light absorption co-efficient of more than 1.6m-1; smoke emitted from the exhaust outlets of turbo charged compression ignition engines which has a density of 56 Hartridge smoke units or more or a light absorption co-efficient of more than 1.10m1;"dust" means any solid matter in a fine or disintegrated form which is capable of being dispersed or suspended in the atmosphere;"dwelling" means any habitable building or structure, or part of a habitable building or structure, where people live;"environment" means the surroundings within which humans exist and that are made up of— the land, water and atmosphere of the earth; micro-organisms, plant and animal life; any part or combination of (a) and (b) and the interrelationships among and between them; and the physical, chemical, aesthetic and cultural properties and conditions of the foregoing that influence human health and well-being;"environmental management inspector" means environmental enforcement officials from various national, provincial and municipal government departments created by National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) of 2008."fuel-burning equipment" means any furnace, boiler, incinerator, or other equipment, including a chimney — designed to burn or capable of burning liquid, gas or solid fuel; used to dispose of any material or waste by burning; or used to subject liquid, gas or solid fuel to any process involving the application of heat;"listed activity" means a list of activities contemplated in Section 21 of the Air Quality Act;"light absorption meter" means a measuring device that uses a light sensitive cell or detector to determine the amount of light absorbed by an air pollutant;"living organism" means any biological entity capable of transferring or replicating genetic material, including sterile organisms and viruses;"MEC" means the member of the Executive Council of a province who is responsible for air quality management in the province;"municipality" means Cederberg Local Municipality established by Provincial Notice No. 479 of 2000 in terms of 12 of the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, 1998 (Act No. 177 of 1998) and include staff members of the Cederberg Local Municipality duly authorised by delegation;"nuisance" means an unreasonable interference or likely interference caused by air pollution with — the health or well-being of any person or living organism; or the use and enjoyment by an owner or occupier of his or her property or environment;"obscuration" means the ratio of visible light attenuated by air pollutants suspended in the effluent streams to incident visible light, expressed as a percentage;"offensive odour" means any smell which is considered to be malodorous or a nuisance to a reasonable person;"open burning" means the combustion of material by burning without a chimney to vent the emitted products of combustion to the atmosphere, and "burning in the open" has a corresponding meaning;"operator" means a person who owns or manages an undertaking, or who controls an operation or process, which emits air pollutants;"proclaimed township" means any land unit zoned and utilized for residential purposes;"person" means a natural person or a juristic person;"premises" includes— any building or other structure; any adjoining land occupied or used in connection with any activities carried on in that building or structure; any vacant land; any locomotive, ship, boat or other vessel which operates in the precincts of any harbour, within the area of the jurisdiction of the Municipality;"Province" means the Province of the Western Cape;"public road" means a road which the public has the right to use;"smoke" means the gases, particulate matter and products of combustion emitted into the atmosphere when material is burned or subjected to heat and includes the soot, grit an gritty particles emitted in smoke;"specialist study" means any scientifically based study relating to air quality conducted by an expert or recognized specialist of appropriate qualifications and competency in the discipline of air quality management;"spray area" means an area or enclosure and must be used for spray painting, and "spray booth" has a corresponding meaning;"Structures Act" means the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, 1998 (Act No. 117 of 1998);"Systems Act" means the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, 2000 (Act No. 32 of 2000);"the NEMA" means the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998); and"vehicle" means any motor car, motor carriage, motor cycle, bus, motor lorry or other conveyance propelled wholly or partly by any volatile spirit, steam, gas or oil, or by any means other than human or animal power.2. Application of this By-law
This By-law applies to all properties or premises within the area of jurisdiction of the Cederberg Municipality and where listed activities and controlled emitters can be identified in terms Section 21 and 23 of the National Environmental Management Air Quality Act 39 of 2004 within the area of jurisdiction. The provision of this By-law does not remove the need for any other permit, consent or authorisation required under any other statutory acts, By-law and regulatory documents.3. Objectives
4. Administration and enforcement
5. Municipality's right of access to premises
6. Levying of tariffs
7. Conflict with other By-laws
Chapter II
Duty of care
8. Reasonable measures to prevent air pollution
Chapter III
Designation of the air quality officer and environmental management inspector
9. Designation or appointment of the air quality officer and the environmental management inspector
10. Duties and functions of the air quality officer and the environmental management inspector
Chapter IV
Local emissions standards, norms and standards and smoke control zones
Part 1 – Local emission standards
11. Legal mandate
Part 2 – Norms and standards
12. Substances identification process
13. Publication of local emission standards
For the purposes of publication of the local emission standards, the Cederberg Municipality must follow a consultative process in terms of Chapter 4 of the Municipal Systems Act.14. Declaration of air pollution control zone
The whole area within the area of jurisdiction of the Municipality is hereby declared an air pollution control zone. The Municipality may in writing exempt certain premises, classes of premises or premises used for specified purposes from this section.Chapter V
Smoke emissions from premises other than dwellings
15. Application
For the purposes of this Chapter "premises" does not include dwellings.16. Prohibition of dark smoke from premises
Dark smoke must not be emitted from any premises for an aggregate period exceeding three minutes during any continuous period of thirty minutes. This section does not apply to dark smoke which is emitted from fuel-burning equipment which occurs while the equipment is being started or while the equipment is being overhauled or repaired, or awaiting overhaul or repair, unless such emission could have been prevented using the best practical environmental option.17. Installation of boilers and fuel-burning equipment
18. Operation of boilers and fuel-burning equipment
19. Presumption
Dark smoke shall be presumed to have been emitted from premises if it is shown that any fuel or material was burned on the premises and the circumstances were such that the burning was reasonably likely to give rise to the emission of dark smoke, unless the owner, occupier or operator, as the case may be, shows that no dark smoke was emitted.20. Installation and operation of obscuration measuring equipment
21. Monitoring and sampling
An occupier or owner of premises, and the operator of any fuel-burning equipment, who is required to install obscuration measuring equipment in terms of section 16(1) must —22. Temporary exemption
Chapter VI
Smoke emissions from dwellings
23. Prohibition of emission of dark smoke from dwellings
Chapter VII
Emissions caused by dust emissions, open burning and burning of material
24. Authorisation of open burning and burning of material
25. Emissions caused by tyre burning and burning of rubber and other material for the recovery of metal
26. Dust emissions
Any person who —Chapter VIII
Emissions from compression ignition powered vehicles and power generators
27. Prohibition of dark smoke from compression ignition powered vehicles
28. Stopping of vehicles for inspection and testing
29. Testing procedure
30. Repair notice
Chapter IX
Emissions that cause a nuisance
31. Prohibition of emissions that cause nuisance
32. Abatement notice
33. Steps to abate nuisance
At any time, the Municipality may at its own cost take whatever steps it considers necessary in order to remedy the harm caused by the nuisance and prevent a recurrence of it, and may recover the reasonable costs incurred from the person responsible for causing the nuisance.Chapter X
Pesticide and crop spraying
34. Spraying of a pesticide, herbicide or other related material
Chapter XI
Licensing of listed activities
35. Establishment of atmospheric emission licensing system
West Coast District Municipality established an Atmospheric Emission Licensing System as contemplated in Chapter 5 of the Air Quality Act. West Coast District Municipality is authorised to issue licences for listed activities.36. Purpose of the atmospheric emission licensing system
The purpose of the Atmospheric Emission Licensing System is to —37. Application for atmospheric emission licence
38. Factors to be taken into account
The air quality officer must, in addition to the factors set out in section 39 of the Air Quality Act, consider each application having regard to the following factors: compliance with the Air Quality Act and this By-law; and the environmental, health and safety record of the applicant.39. Decisions on applications for atmospheric emission licence by West Coast District Municipality
40. Terms and conditions of the atmospheric emission licence issued by West Coast District Municipality
41. Variation of atmospheric emission licences
No building, plant or works used by a holder of a licence referred to in section 33 shall be — materially extended; and altered or added to, and no changes in process, procedures or significant production increases may be undertaken without the prior approval of the air quality officer.42. Cessation of atmospheric emission licence
The holder of a licence referred to in section 33 must on cessation of operations to which the licence relates notify the air quality officer of such cessation.Chapter XII
Controlled emitters
43. Installation of controlled emitters (West Coast District Municipal function)
44. Operation of controlled emitters (West Coast District Municipal function)
45. Monitoring and sampling (West Coast District Municipal function)
46. Dust emissions from listed activities, controlled emitters and non-listed activities
Chapter XIII
Emissions that cause offensive odour
48. Prohibition of emissions that cause offensive odours
49. Abatement notice
Chapter XIV
Offences and penalties
50. Offences and penalties
Chapter XV
General matters
51. Compliance monitoring
52. Enforcement
53. Recognition programmes
An air quality officer may establish a programme for the public recognition of significant achievements in the area of pollution prevention.54. Appeals
Any person may appeal against a decision taken by an authorised person under this By-law by giving a written notice of the appeal in accordance with the provisions of section 62 of the Systems Act.55. Exemptions
56. Indemnity
The Municipality shall not be liable for any damage caused to any property or premises by any action or omission of the employees or officials of the Municipality when exercising any function or performing any duty in terms of this By-law, provided that such employees or officials must, when exercising such function or performing such duty, take reasonable steps to prevent any damage to such property or premises.57. Short title
This By-law is called the Cederberg Municipality Air Quality Management By-law, 2020.History of this document
13 May 2020 this version
Published in
Western Cape Provincial Gazette number 8237
Commences.