The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has given a 60 days’ 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.

This follows requests the Department received from various stakeholders to extend the comment period to afford 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,” said the Department’s spokesperson Sputnik Ratau.

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

Ratau added that 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 concluded.

Source: Government of South Africa