Electricity + Control December 2017

TRANSFORMERS + SUBSTATIONS

temperature below 2°C. Although such debate is beyond the scope of this article, analysis backed by science demonstrates that countries (including South Africa) must set more ambitious targets in order to achieve what they signed up for [2]. Nevertheless, South Africa committing to climate action at an international level has an impact on the regulatory environment in which South Afri- can businesses operate. South Africa is a Party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [UNFCCC]. When a Party to this convention signs the Paris Agreement it has the obligation to translate its intended international commitments into national policies to be imple- mented in its own legal systems. Consequently, the National Greenhouse Gas Emission Reporting Regulations and the National Pollution Prevention Plans Regulations together with the Declaration of Greenhouse Gases as Priority Air Pollutants have now entered into force. Legal connection betweenThe Regulations The Regulations are linked to each other through the overarching National Environment Manage- ment Air Quality Act (No 39 of 2004) [NEMAQA]. The Regulations give content to Sections 53, 12 and 29 of NEMAQA. Section 53 stipulates that reg- ulations may be introduced to give effect to South Africa’s international commitments. When South Africa signed and ratified the Paris Agreement, NEMAQA’s Section 53 became applicable and consequently The Regulations were introduced. The National Greenhouse Gas Emission Reporting Regulations [NGERs] and the National Pollution Pre- vention Plans Regulations [NPPRs] give content to Sections 12 and 29 of NEMAQA respectively. The NPPRs are an instrument to address the actual mit- igation of emissions, where the NGERs are regulat- ing the administrative side by imposing legal obliga- tions to monitor and report on emissions. The Technical Guidelines for Monitoring, Reporting and Verification of Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Industry [Technical Guidelines], which were made available by the Department of Environmental Af- fairs [DEA] in April 2017 together with the NGERs, link The Regulations in a practical way. The NGERs contain an ‘Annexure 1’ which lists activities that are sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Com- Practical connection betweenThe Regulations

panies performing one or more of these ‘listed’ ac- tivities ánd with an installed capacity exceeding a defined threshold (e.g. 10 MW(th)) are required to report on their annual greenhouse gas emissions as per the NGERs. The NPPRs contain an ‘Annex- ure A’ which also lists activities that are sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Companies in control of one or more of these activities ánd emitting in excess of 0,1 MtCO 2 e per year must submit Pollu- tion Prevention Plans. This plan must outline what the company is planning on doing to reduce its an- nual greenhouse gas emissions. The NGERs and the NPPRs have got in common that both sets of rules require an annual calculation of greenhouse gases emitted ánd that theTechnical Guidelines are followed in doing so. Annexure 1 of the NGERs and Annexure A of the NPPRs are not identical: Annex- ure A of the NPPRs is much shorter (15 produc- tion processes at the time of writing this article). It is safe to say that activities listed in Annexure A are also on the list of Annexure 1 of the NGERs. However, all activities listed in Annexure 1 are not necessarily also listed in Annexure A. For example, cement production is an activity that is listed in An- nexure A of the NPPRs ánd also in Annexure 1 of the NGERs, hence both regulations are applicable (provided that the company is meeting the capacity threshold and the greenhouse gas emissions ‘min- imum’ of 0,1 MtCO 2 e per year). But for example, a waste management site is required to annually re- port on its greenhouse gas emissions (on condition that it has a capacity of more than 25 000 tonnes) but the NPPRs are not applicable. What do the National Pollution Preven- tion Plans Regulations mean for busi- nesses? The NPPRs were promulgated on 21 July 2017. This means that on 21 December 2017 (five months from the date of promulgation) companies must submit their first Pollution Prevention Plan (PPP). This plan must cover the period between 21 July 2017 and 31 December 2020. Subsequent PPPs must cover a five-year period. Next to the five-yearly submission of a PPP, companies must submit a progress report by 31 March each year, indicating on how they are meeting the targets set out in the PPP. Non-compliance to these Regula- tions may result in a maximum fine of between R5 M and R10 M and/or a maximum of 10 years imprisonment. Activities covered in Annexure A

The Regulations are directly targeting greenhouse gas emissions through legal obligations to monitor and mitigate.

Electricity + Control

DECEMBER 2017

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