POLIC Y ENVIRONMENT C ONTINUED S tr a t egic Goal 2 the ar eas of human r esour c es and skills de v elopment During 20 19 the Miner als C ouncil w as in v olv ed in the engagements r ela ting t o the Na tional Skills De v elopment Plan NSDP T he NSDP w as e xt ensiv ely deliber a t ed during 20 18 and w as pr omulga t ed in Mar ch 20 19 T he NSDP in its fnal it er a tion does not pose signifcant challenges t o busines s and is a fr ame w ork tha t is amenable t o all social partners En vir onmental sus tainability T he Miner als C ouncil s En vir onment discipline has alw a y s sought t o be a thought leader on the en vir onmental sus tainability of the mining indus try Miner als C ouncil r epr esenta tiv es engage on se v er al pla tf orms and ar e in v olv ed in the de v elopment of position papers f or polic y f ormula tion and implementa tion in the feld of mining gener al en vir onmental management w a t er r esour c e management r ela t ed is sues w as t e management air quality biodiv ersity and sus tainable de v elopment T he En vir onment discipline c ontinued t o seek t o be the c entr e of e x c ellenc e f or advisory servic es r e vie w s of polic y and legisla tiv e fr ame w orks guidanc e and s tr a t egic leadership pertinent t o en vir onmental is sues such as mine r ehabilita tion and closur es en vir onmental management polic y is sues and sus tainable de v elopment T his has been suc c es sfully implement ed thr ough activ ely engaging in v arious s tak eholder dialogues including the de v elopment of position papers t o infuenc e polic y f ormula tion and implementa tion The f ollo wing ar e k e y achie v ements in the period under r e vie w 1 Carbon mark et ins truments T he Carbon T ax A ct b y the Na tional T r easury has tak en a number of y ears t o de v elop T he Miner als C ouncil r epr esent ed the int er es ts of the mining indus try particularly r ela ting t o the implica tions of the pr oposed tax on the indus try a t v arious k e y s tak eholder engagements T he la tt er engagements included or al pr esenta tions and writt en submis sions at int er alia P arliament and bila t er al meetings with the department T he mining indus try s is sues of c onc ern r egar ding mitiga ting GHG emis sions as a subject of the tax ar e tha t Mining has v ery limit ed options a v ailable t o ef ect emis sion r eductions T he mining indus try is oper a ting in an ec onomically c ons tr ained en vir onment and henc e the intr oduction of the tax will incr ease the c os t of doing busines s T he pot ential intr oduction of bor der tax es on ener gy int ensiv e ma t erial b y South A frica s tr ading partners w ould further jeopar dise the surviv al of mar ginal mines in South A frica T he Miner als C ouncil also adv oca t ed f or a s tr eamlined single carbon management polic y fr ame w ork and mos t importantly the alignment betw een carbon budget polic y and carbon tax and c ertainty on an o v er all mitiga tion s tr a t egy W ith this the Miner als C ouncil t ogether with other k e y indus try s tak eholders pla y ed an important r ole in ensuring tha t go v ernment intr oduc es mechanisms in the f orm of allo w anc es within the Carbon T ax A ct tha t will as sis t in alle via ting the impacts of the tax Amongs t a suit e of mechanisms t o r elie v e the mining indus try the Miner als C ouncil de v eloped the PGM and gold sect or perf ormanc e benchmarks tha t will enable disc ounts on the tax and these ha v e been ac c ept ed in the published Carbon T ax r egula tions T his will as sis t those sect ors t o beneft 10 allo w anc e fr om their tax bill 2 P olic y c ertainty on managing mine r esidue deposit and s t ockpile T he Miner als C ouncil has f or se v er al y ears engaged with the Department of En vir onmental A f airs DEA r egar ding the polic y shift b y the department which led t o the clas sifca tion of Mine R esidue Deposit and S t ockpile MRD S initially as hazar dous w as t e and la t er as w as t e under the Na tional En vir onmental Management NEM W as t e A ct MRD S is a r esour c e and henc e defning it as w as t e thr ea t ens ec onomic de v elopment and w ould cause job los ses T hese engagements t ook plac e thr ough indus try f orum meetings bila t er al meetings with the DEA and a t na tional c onf er enc es T hr oughout these engagements the Miner als C ouncil pr esent ed a c onsis t ent mes sage and as a r esult in 20 18 the DEA agr eed t o and ac c ept ed tha t the defnition of MRD S as w as t e w as err oneous and put f orw ar d a legisla tiv e amendment thr ough T he Na tional En vir onmental Management La w s Amendment NEMLA IV Bill t o r emo v e MRD S under the defnition of w as t e in the NEM W as t e A ct Unf ortuna t ely b y the close of P arliament a t the end of 20 19 the Bill had not been appr o v ed as an A ct of P arliament T o tha t end thr ough c onc ert ed engagements with the Department of En vir onment F or es try and Fisheries the Miner als C ouncil r aised the need P age 68