ZAMBIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Harriet Mdala, Natasha Lungu, Samuel Muleya and Chanda Musonda-Chiluba, MAY and Company
Protection of the Right to Property The security of tenure of mining rights is also guaranteed under the Constitution. Mining rights being property are protected under Article 16 of the Constitution. This provision protects a holder from being deprived of property without com - pensation.
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 forests, local, joint forest manage - ment areas, botanical reserves, private forests and community forests and overall sustain - able forest management. • The Environmental Protection and Pollution Control (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations (Statutory Instrument No 28 of 1997) (the “EIA Regulations”) which provide for essential procedures and requirements for compulsory project briefs and EIAs. • The Environmental Management (Licensing Regulations) Regulations, 2013 which provide for air quality control. It sets procedures for waste management and deals with hazardous waste to the environment and other sub- stances harmful to the environment such as pesticides and toxic substances and ozone- depleting substances. • The Environmental Management (Strategic Environmental Assessment) Regulations, Statutory Instrument No 48 of 2021. It pro - vides for the conducting of strategic environ - mental assessments. • The Mines and Minerals (Environmental Pro - tection Fund) Regulations, Statutory Instru - ment No 102 of 1998. These Regulations provide for the Environmental Protection Fund which provides assurance that a developer will execute an environmental impact state - ment (EIS). • The Mines and Minerals (Environmental) (Exemption) (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
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 Environmental Management Act No 12 of 2011 (the “Act”) read together with its amend - ments such as the Environmental Management (Amendment) Act, 2023. The Act provides for integrated environmental management and the protection and conservation of the environment and the sustainable management and use of natural resources. The Act further provides for: • the preparation of environmental manage - ment strategies and other plans for environ - mental management and sustainable devel - opment; and • the conduct of strategic environmental assessments of proposed policies, plans and programmes likely to have an impact on envi - ronmental management. It also provides for the prevention and control of pollution and environmental degradation, public participation in environmental decision- making and access to environmental information amongst other things.
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