THURSDAY, 9 FEBRUARY 2006:
With the promulgation of the National Environmental
Management: Air Quality Act (Act No. 39
of 2004) (“the AQA”) in 2005, air quality
governance is now carried out by the national,
provincial and local spheres of government.
In order to efficiently and effectively
implement the AQA, the national Department
of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, provincial
environmental departments and municipalities
will be gearing themselves for this task.
In this regard, although the national department
has already provided initial air quality
management training in all provinces, much
work is still required to ensure that all
spheres of government are able to protect
and defend the right of all to air that
is not harmful to health and well-being.
To this end and as part of the required
capacity building initiatives, officials
from the United States’ Environmental Protection
Agency (USEPA) are currently in South Africa
conducting a number of training courses
in the area of air quality management. This
is part of a long-term engagement between
the department and the USEPA that allows
South Africans to draw on the experience
and expertise of their US counterparts.
According to Peter Lukey, the department’s
Chief Director for Air Quality Management
and Climate Change – “as with the excellent
collaboration that we have with the USEPA
in the area of environmental enforcement,
USEPA support in respect of the, previously
neglected, area of air quality management
is invaluable as it ensures that South Africans
can fast-track capacity development without
having to reinvent the wheel.”
Over the next two months, the USEPA will
be presenting courses on air quality management
and atmospheric emission registers to air
quality managers around the country.
