A person can make a complaint or take legal action under NEMA if:

• Someone, including the government, has broken an environmental law, including nema
• The government has not complied with a principle of nema
• The government has given permission for an activity or development that affects the environment, without properly checking how it could affect the environment and people
• Someone, including the government, has caused serious pollution or damage to the environment
• A person has been punished for refusing to do work that might harm the environment, or for reporting someone who is harming the environment
• A major accident (emergency incident) that threatens the public or the environment has taken place and there has not been a proper report about it nor has there been a clean-up operation
• The state has not prosecuted a person for breaking an environmental law and you believe that he/she might be guilty.

Example:

An explosion releases a cloud of poisonous gas. Residents are warned on the radio to go indoors and shut their windows, and asthmatics are told to seek urgent medical treatment. People are told what kind of gas it is. The health department and municipal emergency services are told how to treat people who get sick from the gas.

NEMA requires the company that caused this incident to:

• Minimise (reduce) the risk and to clean up the mess
• Find out how the incident has affected public health
• Send a report to government within 14 days of the accident which deals with:
  • the nature and causes of the incident
  • substances released and how they could affect human health and the environment
  • what was done to prevent this from happening again

If the company does not take these steps, action can be taken to protect the environment and public health.