NEMA Listed Activities — Does Your Project Need an EIA?

One of the most common questions SSK Consulting receives from developers, farmers, engineers and business owners is straightforward: does my project need an EIA? The answer depends entirely on whether your proposed activities appear in a specific set of government regulations known as the NEMA Listing Notices.

Getting this determination wrong has serious consequences. Commencing a listed activity without the required environmental authorisation is a criminal offence under Section 24F of the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 (NEMA), punishable by a fine or imprisonment. Equally, spending months preparing for an EIA process that isn’t actually required wastes time and money.

What Are NEMA Listed Activities?

Listed activities are specific types of development, construction or land use changes that South African law has identified as having potential environmental impacts significant enough to require regulatory oversight. They are divided across three separate Listing Notices:

If your activity appears in Listing Notice 1 or 3, you need a Basic Assessment (BA) process. If it appears in Listing Notice 2, you need the more comprehensive Scoping and Environmental Impact Report (S&EIR) process. If your activity appears in both LN1 and LN2, the LN2 process applies.

How to Check if Your Project Is Listed

The most reliable way is to read the actual government notices — they are available free on the DFFE website. However, the language is technical and the activity descriptions have specific thresholds (size, capacity, location) that determine whether your project falls within scope.

Common triggers developers miss:

Residential development — LN1 Activity 8 applies to development for residential, mixed, retail, commercial, industrial or institutional purposes where the total footprint exceeds 9,000 m² or where more than 30 residential units are proposed outside an urban area or within certain sensitive environments.

Roads and access — LN1 Activity 9 captures construction of a road wider than 4 metres and longer than 1 km outside of urban areas. Many farm access roads and private roads trigger this activity without owners realising it.

Solar energy — LN1 Activity 4 covers solar facilities between 1 MW and 20 MW. LN2 Activity 1 covers facilities above 20 MW. Small embedded generation under 1 MW is generally exempt — but only outside sensitive areas.

Watercourse proximity — LN3 applies to many activities that would otherwise not trigger LN1 when they occur within 32 metres of a watercourse, wetland or 500-year floodline. This catches a significant number of projects that owners assumed were exempt.

What Happens After You Identify a Listed Activity?

Once you have confirmed that your project triggers a listed activity, you must appoint a registered Environmental Assessment Practitioner (EAP) before submitting your application. EAPs are registered with the Environmental Assessment Practitioners Association of South Africa (EAPASA) and are legally required to manage the process on your behalf.

The EAP will confirm which specific activities are triggered, identify which competent authority will process your application (either the provincial environmental department or DFFE for LN2 activities), and manage the entire process from application through to Environmental Authorisation.

Key steps after identification:

1. Appoint a registered EAP — EAPASA maintains a public register of practitioners.

2. Pre-application consultation — Many competent authorities encourage a pre-application meeting to clarify scope and requirements before the formal application is submitted.

3. Compile the application — Depending on whether a BA or S&EIR is required, the EAP will prepare the necessary documentation, conduct public participation and commission specialist studies.

4. Submit and await authorisation — The competent authority has a statutory period to consider and decide on the application.

What If You Are Unsure?

When in doubt, the safe approach is to request a formal screening opinion from the competent authority before commencing any work. Section 43 of the NEMA EIA Regulations provides for a formal determination process where the authority will confirm in writing whether your activity requires authorisation.

Alternatively, SSK Consulting offers pre-application screening consultations where our registered EAPs will review your project plans against all applicable listing notices and provide a written opinion on your authorisation obligations. This is typically completed within 5 to 7 working days and provides the legal certainty you need before proceeding.