Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa has published the National Dust Control Regula- tions in terms of the National Environmental Management Air Quality Act, which prescribes general measures for the control of dust.

According to the regulations, any person conducting any activity in such a way as to give rise to dust in quantities and concentrations that exceed the dustfall standard set out in the regulation is impelled to, on receipt of a notice from an air quality officer, implement a dustfall monitoring programme.

The method to be used for measuring the dustfall rate and the guideline for locating sampling points will be the American Standards for Testing and Materials method, or an equivalent method approved by any internally recognised body.

The regulation further states that an air quality officer can require any person, through a written notice, to undertake a dustfall monitoring programme if the officer reasonably suspects that the person is contravening the regulations or that the activity being conducted requires a fugitive dust emission management plan.

A person required to implement the programme must then, within a specified period, submit a dustfall monitoring report to the air quality officer.

“A dustfall monitoring report must provide information on the location of sampling sites, classification of the area where samples were located, as well as reference to the standard methods used for site selection, sampling and analysis,” the Department of Environmental Affairs says in a statement.

The report will also be required to provide meteorological data for the sampling area and the dustfall monitoring results, including a comparison of current year and historical results for each site, as well as a tabular summary of compliance with the dustfall standard.

Any person that has exceeded the dustfall standard must, within three months after submission of the dustfall monitoring report, develop and submit a dustfall management plan to the air quality officer for approval.

“This management plan must identify all possible sources of dust within the affected site, detail the best practicable measures to be undertaken to mitigate dust emissions, identify the line management responsible for implementation and incorporate the dust fallout monitoring plan,” the department noted.

Such a plan would need to be implemented within a month of the date of approval and an implementation progress report must be submitted to the air quality officer at agreed time intervals.

Any person convicted of an offence in terms of the regulation is liable, in the case of a first conviction, to a fine not exceeding R5-million or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years.