National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998)NoticesAdoption and Implementation of the Sandveld Environmental Management Framework Standard, 2025 and the Exclusion of identified activities from the requirement to obtain an Environmental AuthorisationChapter 1: Interpretation, Purpose and Application1. Definitions |
In this Standard a word or expression to which a meaning has been assigned in section 1 of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998), or regulation 1 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2014, bears the same meaning and unless the context indicates otherwise—
means a specialist in the field of agricultural science;
means a specialist in the field of botanical science;
means the provincial public entity contemplated in section 9 of the Western Cape Biodiversity Act, 2021 (Act No. 6 of 2021);
means the organ of state that would have been designated by section 24C of the Act in respect of a listed or specified activity;
means an area that is required to meet biodiversity targets for ecosystems, species, ecosystems or ecological processes and infrastructure and that is identified in a systematic biodiversity plan developed by CapeNature, of which geographical representations can be found on the South African National Biodiversity institute’s BGIS website http://bgis.sanbi.org/ and Cape Farm Mapper: https://gis.elsenburg.com/apps/cfm/;
means land that is prepared and used to grow crops;
means the provincial department responsible for environmental affairs in the Province;
means areas that are not essential for meeting biodiversity targets, but that play an important role in supporting the functioning of protected areas or critical biodiversity areas, are often vital for delivering ecosystem services and which support landscape connectivity, encompass the ecological infrastructure from which ecosystem goods and services flow, and strengthen resilience to climate change, including features such as regional climate adaptation corridors, water source and recharge areas, riparian habitat surrounding rivers or wetlands, and endangered vegetation;
means a suitably qualified and experienced environmental assessment practitioner appointed by the proponent to monitor and audit all activities carried out in undertaking a registered project;
means the map of the relevant farm as included in the Sandveld Environmental Management Framework, before any ground truthing has taken place;
means the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2014, published in terms of section 24(5) of the Act under Government Notice No. R. 982 in Government Gazette No. 38282 of 4 December 2014, as amended from time to time;
means an activity identified in Annexure 1 to the Standard, which activity is excluded from the requirement to obtain an environmental authorisation from the competent authority after following the process prescribed in paragraph 4 of the Standard, subject to compliance with the Standard;
means a farm-level management plan contemplated in paragraph 6;
means a farm management map contemplated in paragraph 6(5);
means one or more cadastral units that are registered separately in a deeds office, which is used as a single unit for growing crops and falls entirely within the Sandveld Environmental Management Framework geographical area contemplated in Annexure 2;
means a farm use map contemplated in paragraph 6(4);
means the Member of the Executive Council responsible for environmental affairs in the Province;
means a specialist in the field of geographical information systems;
means a written description by the proponent in response to the farm-level management plan or a request by an environmental assessment practitioner which sets out the equipment, materials, labour and methods proposed to meet an impact management outcome or action;
means areas that have not been identified as a priority in the current Western Cape Provincial biodiversity spatial plan but retain most of their natural character and perform a range of biodiversity and ecological infrastructure functions and while these have not been prioritised for meeting biodiversity targets, it forms an important part of the natural ecosystem;
means the person that intends to undertake or undertakes an excluded activity and is also responsible for ensuring compliance with the Standard, and includes the "registered entity" once registration has been issued, contemplated in Annexure 3;
means any of the protected areas referred to in section 9 of the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act, 2003 (Act No. 57 of 2003);
means the Province of the Western Cape;
means the process whereby the competent authority records the person and farm unit to which the Standard applies;
means the Sandveld Environmental Management Framework adopted by the MEC in Provincial Gazette 8105 on 7 June 2019, as amended from time to time;
means the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998);
means the National Appeal Regulations, 2025, published under Government Notice No. R. 5985 in Government Gazette No. 52269 dated 13 March 2025;
means the Sandveld Environmental Management Framework Standard, 2025; and
means a right to use water in terms of any provision of the National Water Act, 1998 (Act No. 36 of 1998) or in terms of an instrument issued under that Act.