The proposed new statute follows proclamations gazetted during June 2008, which initially announced the commencement of the 2008 Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Act (MPRDAA) and its provisions for a single environmental management system for the mining industry, but subsequently withdrawing this announcement. It also follows the introduction in Parliament, in June 2013, of the long-awaited Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill, 2013. Among its provisions is one proposing that the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs should be the appeal authority for decisions taken by the Minister of Mineral Resources on environmental authorisation applications or environmental management programmes relating to areas in which prospecting, exploration, mining or production takes place. The Bill allows for transitional arrangements in respect of such appeals lodged prior to its commencement.