| (1) | On receipt of a site assessment report and a remediation plan, if applicable, contemplated in section 37, the Minister or MEC, as the case may be, may, after consultation with the Minister reponsible for water affairs and any other organ of state concerned, decide that— |
[Words preceding section 37(1)(a) substituted by section 69 of the National Environmental Management Laws Amendment Act 2022, GG46602, dated 24 June 2022: Commencement by Proclamation 125, GG48869, dated 30 June 2023]
| (b) | the investigation area is contaminated, presents a risk to health or the environment, and must be remediated within a specified period; |
| (c) | the investigation area is contaminated and does not present an immediate risk, but that measures are required to address the monitoring and management of that risk; or |
| (d) | the investigation area is not contaminated. |
| (2) | If the Minister or MEC, as the case may be, decides that an investigation area is contaminated and requires remediation, the Minister or MEC must declare the land to be a remediation site and make such remediation order as is necessary to neutralise that risk. |
| (3) | If the Minister or MEC, as the case may be, decides that the investigation area does not present an immediate risk, but that measures are required to address the monitoring and management of that risk, the Minister or MEC may make an order specifying the measures that must be taken. |
| (4) | Unless otherwise directed, a remediation order under subsection (2), an order under subsection (3) or a directive under section 37(1) must be complied with at the cost of the person against whom the order or directive is issued. |
| (5) | The Minister or MEC, as the ease may be, may amend a remediation order if– |
| (a) | ownership of the land is transferred and the new owner in writing assumes responsibility for the remediation; or |
| (b) | new information or evidence warrants an amending the order. |
