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4912 [Tuesday, 29 October 201349 Amendment of section 101: Short title and commencementThere is no legal or practical impediment to allowing all of theproposed amendments to come into effect six months afterpublication of the assented Amendment Bill. Therefore, theAmendment Bill will come into operation six months afterbeing published by the President in the Gazette in terms ofsection 81 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africaof 1996 or an earlier date if proclaimed by the President.B. Resolution dealing with outstanding mattersDuring the processing of the Amendment Bill three major issuesrelevant to the implementation and subject matter of the AmendmentBill became apparent, which aspects are hereby recorded for futureaction by the Department:(a) Sea mining: It is noted by the Portfolio Committee that thisAmendment Bill does not deal with the important issue of seaand seabed mineral and resource exploration and exploitation.There is currently a gap in the environmental legislativeframework as regards specific legislation relating to seabedexploration and exploitation. The National EnvironmentalManagement Act, No. 107 of 1998 (NEMA), does containprovisions which will cover certain aspects of sea mining,including the environmental impact assessment regulationsand general duty of care, which can be applied to sea mining.There is, however, no specific provisions in the AmendmentBill or other specific environmental management acts whichdirectly relate to sea mining. It is noted that the Department isin the process of developing an Oceans Policy, which doesdiscuss the impacts and need for monitoring of mining in thesea, but there is no legislation which adequately regulates thisaspect and it is therefore essential that once this policyprocess is concluded, appropriate legislation is introduced toANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS NO 147─2013