Environmental Authorisation & EIA.
Listed activity screening, basic assessments, scoping and full environmental impact reporting under NEMA, atmospheric emission licences under the Air Quality Act, amendments and section 43 appeals. One fixed all-in fee agreed in writing, with departmental fees and the specialist studies included.
Environmental authorisation is the approval required under section 24 of the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 before you may start any activity listed in Listing Notices 1, 2 or 3 of the EIA Regulations, 2014, as amended. The process is either a Basic Assessment, decided within 107 days, or a Scoping and Environmental Impact Report, decided within 300 days.
Governing legislation: Sections 24 and 24O of the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998, read with the 2014 EIA Regulations and their listing notices.
Last reviewed: 2026-09-17
This is the first step of your environmental authorisation application. No payment is needed to begin, and the eligibility check is step one inside the application.
Construction deadline, funder condition or a compliance notice? Call or WhatsApp us — these files are triaged the same day.
The whole authorisation, not just the report.
Most environmental applications are lost on process, not science: a comment period run a day short, a specialist report that does not address a listed impact, an incomplete I&AP register. We run the statutory process properly so the decision holds up on appeal.
Listed activity screening
We confirm exactly which listing notices your project triggers, and which competent authority decides it.
Basic assessment
Listing Notice 1 activities: the report, the EMPr and the public process, lodged and run to decision.
Scoping & full EIA
Listing Notice 2 activities: scoping report, plan of study, environmental impact report and specialist programme.
Public participation
Site notices, advertising, I&AP registers, comment periods and the comments-and-responses report, run to the regulations.
Air quality & emission licences
Atmospheric emission licences, variations, renewals, emission inventories and annual NAEIS reporting.
Amendments & appeals
Part 1 and Part 2 amendments, section 43 internal appeals, compliance notices and directives.
Free assessment
Six questions. We confirm the listing notice, the authority and the route your project falls into.
Fixed quote
One written all-in fee before any work starts, with departmental fees and specialist studies included.
We prepare & lodge
Reports drafted, specialists managed, public participation run and the application lodged.
Through to decision
We answer every departmental query and negotiate the conditions until authorisation is issued.
Fixed fees for every authorisation route.
From a written screening opinion to a full scoping and EIA programme. Every mandate is quoted upfront in writing, all-in — departmental fees and the specialist studies included.
A written opinion on whether your development triggers a listed activity, and which authorisation route applies, before you commit capital.
- Listed activity screening against the EIA Listing Notices
- Confirms basic assessment vs scoping and full EIA
- Water use, waste, heritage and air quality triggers flagged in the same opinion
- Competent authority identified (national, provincial or metro)
- Filing plan, realistic timeline and total cost in writing
- All departmental enquiry fees included
A full basic assessment application prepared, lodged and run to decision for a Listing Notice 1 activity.
- Basic assessment report and environmental management programme drafted
- Specialist studies commissioned and managed on your behalf
- Public participation, site notices, advertising and comment periods run properly
- Interested and affected party register and comments-and-responses report
- Every departmental query answered through to decision
- All departmental application fees and specialist study costs included
Scoping and environmental impact reporting for a Listing Notice 2 activity, run as one workstream to decision.
- Scoping report, plan of study and environmental impact report
- Specialist studies commissioned, briefed and quality-controlled
- Two rounds of public participation run to the regulations
- Water use, waste and heritage authorisations aligned in the same programme
- Authority meetings, queries and conditions negotiated
- All departmental fees and specialist study costs included
Atmospheric emission licence applications, variations and renewals for listed activities under the Air Quality Act.
- Provisional and full atmospheric emission licence applications
- Variations, transfers and renewals of an existing licence
- Emission inventory, dispersion modelling and specialist air quality studies managed
- Licence conditions, monitoring and reporting negotiated to something operable
- Annual emission reporting and NAEIS submissions brought up to date
- All licensing authority fees and specialist study costs included
Changing an existing authorisation, appealing a decision under section 43, or answering a compliance notice.
- Part 1 and Part 2 amendments to an existing environmental authorisation
- Internal appeals under section 43 of NEMA, for or against a decision
- Responses to compliance notices, directives and pre-directives
- Licence-condition audits and annual compliance reporting
- Environmental management programme updates
- All departmental fees included
All-in fixed fees, with no hidden fees. Our professional work, the drafted reports and applications, all departmental application fees, advertising and public participation costs, the specialist studies included in the package, and all dealings with the authority until a decision are covered. Construction, equipment and rehabilitation implementation costs fall outside the fee.
How long it actually takes.
We separate our preparation time, which we control, from the authority's decision time, which we do not. Ranges are based on comparable files.
Screening & trigger opinion
Basic assessment
Scoping & full EIA
Atmospheric emission licence
Amendment or section 43 appeal
We cannot guarantee a government decision date. What we do guarantee is a complete file, lodged on time, with every query answered until a decision is issued.
Environmental regulatory team
Led by a named advisor on every project file
Dynamic Legal Services (Pty) Ltd
Offices in Pretoria (Faerie Glen) and Sandton (Sandown) — serving all nine provinces
087 153 6207 · support@dlegal.co.za
Why clients hand us the file.
- Applications are lost on process far more often than on science — we run the statutory public process to the letter.
- We brief and quality-control the specialists, so the reports actually address the listed impacts the authority will test.
- Water use, waste, heritage and air quality triggers are dealt with in the same programme instead of surfacing late.
- We act for industrial operators, developers, property owners and mining and energy projects across all provinces.
- Where an authorisation is refused or conditioned unreasonably, we prepare the section 43 appeal.
Your application starts here.
One application. Answer a few questions, see exactly which route applies to you and what it costs, then send it through. Documents can follow later, and nothing is payable to open the file.
Start your environmental authorisation application.
Six quick questions. We tell you whether you trigger a listed activity, whether it is a basic assessment or a full EIA, and which authority decides it. Nothing to pay to start.
Step 1 of your application
What do you need?
Guides
Understand the process before you commit.
The EIA process, explained
Which listed activities you trigger, basic assessment vs scoping and EIR, statutory timeframes, costs and where projects lose months.
Read the guideStarted without authorisation?
Section 24G rectification: your exposure, how the administrative fine is calculated, and the route back to a lawful operation.
Read the guideWaste management licences
Whether your activity needs a Category A or B waste licence, or only registration under a norm and standard.
Read the guideQuestions
Straight answers before you apply.
Do I need an environmental authorisation?
You need environmental authorisation if your development appears on one of the EIA Listing Notices under NEMA — typical triggers are clearing vegetation above the threshold, infrastructure in or near a watercourse, fuel or chemical storage above the listed volume, generation facilities and certain industrial expansions. Our free assessment confirms which listing notice you fall under, and therefore which route applies, before you spend anything.
What does an environmental authorisation cost?
Our all-in fixed fee runs from R35,000 for a written screening and trigger opinion, R95,000 for a basic assessment and R145,000 for scoping and a full EIA. The number is fixed in writing after the free assessment and includes the departmental application fees and the specialist studies the package covers.
Can I start construction while the application is pending?
No. Commencing a listed activity before authorisation is issued is an offence and forces you into a section 24G rectification application with an administrative fine. If work has already started, tell us immediately — early lodgement materially affects the fine.
Where do you work?
From our offices in Pretoria (Faerie Glen) and Sandton (Sandown) we act on environmental authorisation and air quality filings for projects in all nine provinces.
Need an environmental authorisation decision this year?
Book a confidential consultation. We respond within one business day.
Last reviewed: 2026-09-17
Written and reviewed by Dynamic Legal Services (Pty) Ltd, registration 2016/074955/07. Registered with the Department of Water and Sanitation, EAPASA applicant. Offices in Faerie Glen, Pretoria and Sandown, Sandton. Telephone 087 153 6207, support@dlegal.co.za. General information on South African regulatory practice, not advice on a specific matter — the first consultation is free.