Draft NEMA Administrative Penalties Bill and Wild Marine Fisheries Policy Published for Comment

Brought to you by SA Legal Academy: In terms of the National Environmental Management Act, No. 107 of 1998 (NEMA) and related sectoral statutes, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries & the Environment has published the draft National Environmental Management Laws (Administrative Penalties) Amendment Bill and a draft policy on wild marine fisheries for public comment.

The draft National Environmental Management Laws (Administrative Penalties) Amendment Bill introduces an administrative enforcement mechanism to supplement existing statutory criminal sanctions across the environmental legislative suite. The proposed regime establishes a statutory framework for fixed and variable administrative penalties administered by designated authorities.

According to the memorandum on the objects of the draft Bill, the framework distinguishes general environmental non-compliance from violations specific to the mineral and petroleum resources sectors, establishing distinct penalty determination mechanisms and procedural avenues for administrative representations.

Draft Wild Marine Fisheries Policy

Published concurrently under the Marine Living Resources Act, No. 18 of 1998, the draft policy for the development of new wild marine fisheries and the expansion of existing regulated fisheries sets out the statutory criteria for commercial, exploratory, and experimental exploitation of marine resources.

The proposed policy establishes guidelines to regulate:

• The scientific evaluation and risk profiles of newly targeted wild marine stock;
• The transition of exploratory fishing operations into fully commercialised, regulated fishery sectors; and
• Compliance frameworks governing statutory resource allocation and ecological sustainability thresholds.

What this means for you, your business, or your clients

• For yourself: Legal practitioners and environmental auditors must familiarise themselves with the proposed administrative penalty matrices, evidentiary thresholds, and statutory appeal procedures to properly advise clients facing enforcement notices.
• For your business: Firms operating under environmental authorisations face rapid civil pecuniary liability without the delays inherent in criminal prosecution, requiring heightened internal monitoring of environmental management programmes.
• For your clients: Commercial operators in mining, manufacturing, and commercial fisheries must audit their current compliance status against permit conditions and statutory thresholds to mitigate exposure to fixed and variable administrative penalties once enacted.

Originally published at https://legalacademy.co.za/news/read/environmental-management-administrative-penalties-bill-wild-marine-fisheries-policy-out-for-comment