ZAMBIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Harriet Mdala, Natasha Lungu, Samuel Muleya and Chanda Musonda-Chiluba, MAY & Company
2. Impact of Environmental Protection and Community Relations on Mining Projects 2.1 Environmental Protection and Licensing of Mining Projects Legal Framework The primary environmental law in Zambia is the Envi - ronmental Management Act No 12 of 2011 (the “Act”), read together with its amendments, such as the Envi - ronmental Management (Amendment) Act, 2023. The Act provides for integrated environmental manage - ment and the protection and conservation of the envi - ronment and the sustainable management and use of natural resources. The Act further provides for: • the preparation of environmental management strategies and other plans for environmental man - agement and sustainable development; and • the conduct of strategic environmental assess - ments of proposed policies, plans and pro - grammes likely to have an impact on environmental management. It also provides for the prevention and control of pol - lution and environmental degradation, public partici - pation in environmental decision-making and access to environmental information amongst other things. Other environmental laws and regulations in Zambia include the following. • The Forest Act No 4 of 2015, which provides for the establishment and declaration of national for - ests, local, joint forest management areas, botani - cal reserves, private forests and community forests and overall sustainable forest management. • The Environmental Protection and Pollution Control (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations (Statutory Instrument No 28 of 1997) (the “EIA Regulations”) provide for essential procedures and requirements for compulsory project briefs and EIAs. • The Environmental Management (Licensing Regu - lations) Regulations, 2013, which provide for air quality control. It sets procedures for waste man - agement and deals with hazardous waste to the environment as well as other substances harmful to
the environment, such as pesticides, toxic sub - stances and ozone-depleting substances. • The Environmental Management (Strategic Envi - ronmental Assessment) Regulations, Statutory Instrument No 48 of 2021. It provides for the con - ducting of strategic environmental assessments. • The Mines and Minerals (Environmental Protection Fund) Regulations, Statutory Instrument No 102 of 1998. These Regulations establish the Environmen - tal Protection Fund, which ensures that a develop - er will execute an environmental impact statement (EIS). • The Mines and Minerals (Environmental) (Exemp - tion) (Amendment) Order, Statutory Instrument No 19 of 2000, as read together with the Mines and Minerals (Environmental) (Exemption) (Amendment) Order, Statutory Instrument No 19 of 2000. These Orders exempt Konkola Copper Mines Plc, ZCCM (Smelterco) Limited and Mopani Copper Mines Plc from the provisions of Statutory Instrument No 102 of 1998. • The Minerals Act, which provides for environmental protection and pollution control, and the Environ - The main features of the environmental licensing pro - cess for an exploration and mining project in Zambia are as follows. ZEMA issues an approval authorising a person to conduct exploration or mining activities. A decision letter is granted by ZEMA after an EIA is conducted. The EIA evaluates the potential environmental and social impacts of the mining operations and suggests appropriate mitigation measures and the Act prohibits exploration, mining or mineral processing without an EIA. mental Protection Fund. Environmental Licensing The EIA is conducted by the Commission together with ZEMA. The application procedure for ZEMA approval is governed by the EIA Regulations. EIAs in Zambia fall into two classes depending on the nature of the project. The first category is a project brief, while the second is the EIS. Projects likely to have an adverse environmental impact tend to fall under the EIS category.
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