The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has called on businesses to comply with air emissions regulations by licensing their standby power generators or face possible fines.
According to the Environmental Management Act (Chapter 20:27), any standby generator with a capacity of 5KVA or more must be licensed.
In a statement, EMA Harare manager Leon Mutungamiri said that generators emitting pollutants must be licensed to meet air quality standards under the Act. Mutungamiri said:
Standby power generators are one of the various trade facilities that release air pollutants, through exhausts, from the combustion of fossil fuels in internal engines.
As such, like all other air-emitting appliances, standby generators should comply with air emissions licensing provisions sited in the Environmental Management Act Cap 20:27 as read with Statutory Instrument 72 of 2009, “Atmospheric Pollution Control.”
He said compliance monitoring is being conducted extensively across the Harare Metropolitan Province, with non-compliance tickets issued to operators of unlicensed generators. Added Mutungamiri:
A standby power generator with a power rating that is more than five Kilovolts-Amperes (5KVA) shall emit the exhaust emissions under a license by the Environmental Management Agency, excluding households.
All premises with emitting generators which are more than 5KVA, excluding households, are supposed to visit the Environmental Management Agency offices and acquire a licence.
Operators of unlicensed generators will be issued non-compliance tickets, and all businesses in the Harare Metropolitan Province are urged to obtain licences to avoid fines.
More: The Herald
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