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Chamber of Mines Presentation on Air Quality Act - Emission Standards under Section 21

An overview of the South African Chamber of Mines' stance on the NEM AQA Act, highlighting key elements, sector impacts, and concerns regarding newly amended Section 21. Recommendations are provided to address potential ambiguities and implications for industry competitiveness.

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Chamber of Mines Presentation on Air Quality Act - Emission Standards under Section 21

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  1. Chamber of Mines Presentation on Air Quality Act - Emission Standards under Section 21 16 April 2013

  2. Introduction • Voluntary private sector organization • Represents: • 25% of mines in RSA • 85% of employment • 90% of production • Leadership & Governance • Office bearers • Council and Principal Committees • Member of the ICMM i.e. Facilitates & encourages the adoption of international best practice measures • Technical Expertise - Policy Committees and Management

  3. Background • The NEM AQA Act has brought about a new paradigm shift in terms of air quality management, including moving away from source-based air pollution control to a receiving environment approach. • The Chamber and its members embraces the following key elements of NEM :AQA – Establishment of air quality standards (Section 21 of the AQA provides a list of activities, which uncontrolled could negatively impact the environment and ambient -S63) – Air quality management and reporting by government; – Access to information (SAAQIS) and public consultation – Regulation by the local authority. • The chamber acknowledges and support the good intentions of the sec 21 listing amendments, however would also like to mention some unintended consequences e.g. quite a few parallel amendments to the Act itself, the detail of this will be presented by member mining companies in the forthcoming presentations.

  4. PGM Sector – most impacted sector • . • South Africa is the major pgm producer. • Platinum demand and prices has remained stagnant. • Escalating input costs, i.e electricity prices to the mining sector has risen from 18c/kWh in 2007 to 61c/kWh in 2012 • Illegal strike action and falling productivity • Sustainability of the sector at risk

  5. Core Principles of COM comments • Potential Ambiguity/Unintended Consequences of Newly Amended Section 21 Sub-categories • Risk of “Technology Forcing” • BPEO (Best Practicable Environmental Option) • Industry Competitiveness – Fair Application • Sustainable Cost Effective Solutions • “Hazardous and General Waste” Definition - Overly Broad

  6. Potential Ambiguity & Unintended Consequences • Key Issue: • Ambiguous categories - potential for contradictory compliance requirements • E.g., Deletion of the word “Primary” in “Sub-category 7.2 Primary Production of acids” • Implications: • Potential contradiction to existing Sub-categories 4.16 & 4.17? • Potentially place “Metallurgical Industry” in other new categories; e.g., Sub-category 5.2? • Potential ambiguities on continuous & periodic monitoring & sampling frequencies? • Recommendations: • Confirm Metallurgical operations remain Category 4, Metallurgical Industries • Confirm “annual” as the sampling requirement, especially for complying operators – 1 extra sample = 2x compliance cost

  7. “Technology Forcing” • Key Issues: • Unintended “re-categorisation” could force unscrupulous selection of “inferior” environmental solutions by some, to avoid more stringent environmental limits • Implications: • Potential avoidance of “useful” sulfuric acid product generation, with instead increased solid waste & CO2-e generation • Significant process development work since April 2010 (e.g., costing > R60 million) may now prove totally inadequate? • Significantly greater cost (SO2 abatement solution up to R1 billion per smelter)? • Recommendations: • Confirm original April 2010 emission limits ; do not now “shift goal posts”

  8. Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO) • Key Issues: • BPEO abatement technologies - limited “reputable” vendors, so requires costly & lengthy “own” development • BPEO sampling/monitoring technologies/accredited vendors – currently inadequate, or many unreliable • Implications: • E.g., no single “best”, “demonstrated” or “available” technology to meet smelter 2020 SO2abatement limits? • Recommendations: • Confirmation of original requirements based on BPEOs that informed them • Confirmation of consistent BPEO adoption by accredited vendors for sampling & monitoring • Make allowance for realistic time-frames to: develop, approve & implement novel cost-effective solutions

  9. Industry Competitiveness –Consistent & Fair Application • Key issue: • Potential for variable & unfair conditions imposed on individual operations: • More stringent limits (e.g., >30x more stringent than national/international standards?) • More onerous compliance monitoring • Implications: • Potential to impose a specific limit, that is more onerous & effectively anti-competitive relative to local & international peers? • “Single” coherent solutions may prove impossible (given a BPEO does not even exist) – so lengthy development of multiple, novel & costly solutions? • Increased cost of compliance - viability of operations even become questionable? • Recommendations: • Single, non-contradictory National limits – keep “playing field level” • Single, non-contradictory National compliance monitoring requirements

  10. Sustainable, Cost-Effective Solutions • Key issue: • Costly “quick fixes” - solutions may not be sustainable? • International experience of similar legislation for SO2 abatement - directly led to public announcement of enforced closure of plant & equipment elsewhere • International regulation permits relaxation of specific point source emission requirements, provided ambient air conditions continue to meet requirements • Implications: • Techno-economic review - attainment of some limits may not prove feasible: • By a 2020 timing? • In some specific instances, purely for reasons of unrealistic/unsustainable cost? • Recommendations: • Compliance timeframes for 2015 be relaxed (where necessary); focus on 2020 compliance • Clarify conditions precisely – so operational sustainability can indeed be verified for each individual site

  11. Hazardous & General Waste – Case for “Specific Value Residue”? • Key issue: • Classification of a specific highly controlled internal “specific value residue”, currently listed under 8.1 Thermal Treatment of Hazardous & General Waste, which includes medical waste incineration • Implications – refinery “incinerator” example: • Existing Subcategory 4.13 Lead Smelting has standard of 2mg/Nm3Pb • Local refinery has equivalent arithmetic mean 0.06mg/Nm3Pb limit • Refinery has potentially 33x times more stringent emission limit • Estimated” refinery lead emission annual ambient air impact 750 000x lower • Recommendations: • Consider a “Specific Value Residue” alternative to maximiselocal beneficiation (avoid unnecessary tolling overseas) of any contained values derived from well-controlled internal refinery sources • Potential to regulate refinery “consistently” to the same limit as international & other Metallurgical Industry?

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