The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has granted a 60-day extension for the public and sector key stakeholders to comment on the unconventional gas regulations, as published in government notice 406 in Government Gazette 44545 in May 2021.

Various stakeholders have requested the extension for the public comment period to afford them adequate time to make meaningful input into the regulations, with reasons that 30 days will not be sufficient to consult with several specialists within their organisations.

“We had published the regulations for public comment on 07 May 2021 and had initially provided a period of 30 days for the public to make written inputs on the regulations,” the department’s spokesperson, Sputnik Ratau, said on Monday.

Due to the valid requests received from the various stakeholders, the department has approved the extension of the comment period by an additional 60 days from the date of the publication of the revised gazette.

Ratau said the department would engage directly with stakeholders on the published regulations.

“The dates and times for the planned stakeholder engagements will also be communicated in due course,” he said.

Source: South African Government News Agency