REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA COMBINED SECOND PERIODIC REPORT UNDER THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLE`S RIGHTS and INITIAL REPORT UNDER THE PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA Article 24: The right to a satisfactory environment Legislative and policy measures to protect the environment: 506. The preservation and conservation of the environment has remained high in the agenda of the South African government. In this regard, since the submission of the First Periodic report progress has been made in this field especially in relation to the development of norms, standards and institutional mechanisms for the protection of the environment. Three important statutes have been enacted during this period: National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act 2004,266 the National Environment Management: Integrated Coastal Management Act, 2008267 and the National Environment Management: Waste Act, 2008.268 507. The National Environmental Management Act, 1998269 (“NEMA”) governs integrated environmental management. Environmental impact assessments (EIAs) are the main regulatory tool under this Act, which aims to ensure sustainable development and the prevention of adverse impacts on poor communities and on the environment. The provisions of NEMA governing EIAs are therefore vital to the protection of scarce water resources from mining activities, as well as from a plethora of other industrial activities which impact directly on the health of rural and urban communities. 508. With a coastline that stretches for over 2500km, the Integrated Coastal Management Act, 2008270 which entered into force on 9 February 2009, provides a normative framework for the conservation and preservation of this coastline. The Act establishes a system of integrated coastal and estuarine policies, in order to promote the conservation of the attributes of coastal landscapes and seascapes, and to ensure that development and the use of natural resources within the coastal zone is socially and economically justifiable and ecologically sustainable. 509. On its part, the Waste Act, 2008271 seeks to reform the law regulating waste management in order to protect health and the environment by providing reasonable measures for the prevention of pollution and ecological degradation and for securing ecologically sustainable development. In essence, the Waste Act has had the effect of filling the legislative gaps that existed at the time of the submission of the First Periodic Report. In addition, the Act has clarified and allocated responsibilities within Government for pollution and waste management. 266 Act No. 39 of 2004 Act No. 24 of 2008 268 Act No. 58 of 2008 269 Act No. 107 of 1998 270 Act No. 24 of 2008 271 Act No. 58 of 2008 267 138