2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires — “abatement” means the reduction, mitigation or removal of environmental pollution to permitted or prescribed levels; “adverse effect” means any harmful or detrimental effect on the environment, whether actual or potential, that— (a) impairs, or may impair, human health; and (b) results in, or may result in, an impairment of the ability of people and communities to provide for their health, safety, cultural and economic wellbeing; “Agency” means the Zambia Environmental Management Agency provided for under section seven; “appropriate authority” means the Minister for the time being having responsibility for, or such public body having powers under any other law over any natural resource, and includes a public or statutory office, body or institution under the following: (a) the Zambia Wildlife Act, 1998; (b) the Water Supply and Sanitation Act, 1997; (c) the National Heritage Conservation Commission Act; (d) the Lands Act; (e) the Lands and Deeds Registry Act; (f) the Mines and Minerals Development Act, 2008; (g) the Fisheries Act, 2011; (h) the Forests Act; (i) the Water Resources Management Act, 2011; (j) the Biosafety Act, 2007; (k) the Inland Waters Shipping Act; Act No. 12 of 1998 Act No. 28 of 1997 Cap. 173 Cap. 184 Cap. 185 Act No. 7 of 2008 Act No. of 2011 Cap. 199 Act No. 21 of 2011 Act No. 10 of 2007 Cap. 466 Environmental Management [No. 12 of 2011 95 Cap. 283 Cap. 295 Cap. 416 Cap. 281 Act No. 13 of 2010 Act No. 9 of 2006 Act No. 11 of 2006 Act No. 14 of 2009 Act No. 23 of 2007 Cap. 436 (l) the Town and Country Planning Act; (m) the Public Health Act; (n) the Standards Act; (o) the Local Government Act; (p) the Disaster Management Act, 2010; (q) the Citizens Economic empowerment Act, 2006; (r) the Zambia Development Agency Act, 2006; (s) the Public-Private Partnership Act, 2009; (t) the Tourism and Hospitality Act, 2007; (u) the Energy Regulation Act; and (v) any treaty, agreement or convention, to which Zambia is a State Party, relating to environmental protection and the management of natural resources; “aquatic environment” means all surface and ground waters, but does not include water in installations and facilities for industrial effluent, sewage collection and treatment; “biological diversity” means the variability among living organisms from all sources including, terrestrial ecosystems, aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part, and includes diversity within species, among species, and of ecosystems; “biological resources” include genetic resources, organisms or parts thereof, populations or any other bioti component or ecosystems with actual or potential use or value to humanity; “Board” means the Board of the Agency constituted under section eleven; “Chairperson” means the person appointed as Chairperson of the Board under section eleven; “committee” means a committee constituted by the Board under paragraph 2 of the First Schedule; “compliance order” means an order issued under section one hundred and six; “conservation” means the sustainable management and use of nature and natural resources for their inherent value and for the benefit of human beings and other living things; “conservancy authority” means any person or institution who, either voluntarily or under the authority of any law, manages, conserves, preserves, maintains or protects the environment; 96 No. 12 of 2011] Environmental Management “contaminant” means a substance, physical agent, energy or a combination of substances and physical agents, that may contribute to, or create a condition of, pollution; “cost order” means an order issued under section one hundred and seven; “Council” means the Environmental Council established Cap. 204 under the repealed Act; “developer” means a person who proposes to undertake a new project that requires approval under this Act; “Director-General” means the person appointed as such under section thirteen; “Director of Public Prosecutions” means the person appointed Cap. 1 as such under the Constitution; “discharge” means spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying or dumping; “ecosystem” means a living functional system which contains all organisms including human beings, their environment and the relationship that exists between them; “effect”, in relation to the environment, includes any actual, potential, temporary, permanent or cumulative effect on the environment; “element”, in relation to the environment, means any of the principal constituent parts of the environment including water, atmosphere, soil, vegetation, climate, sound, odour, aesthetics, fish and wildlife; “emission” means the discharge into the atmosphere of a pollutant from any source in solid, liquid or gaseous state; “environment” means the natural or man-made surroundings at any place, comprising air, water, land, natural resources, animals, buildings and other constructions; “environmental audit” means the systematic, documented, periodic and objective evaluation of how well conservancy authorities and equipment are performing in conserving or preserving the environment; “environmental impact assessment” means a systematic examination conducted to determine whether or not an activity or a project has or will have any adverse impacts on the environment; “environmental management” means the protection, conservation and sustainable use of the various elements of the environment; Environmental Management [No. 12 of 2011 97 “environmental management strategy” means a broad course of action or initiative designed to make the best use of natural resources and opportunities aimed at promoting, protecting and conserving the environment; “environmental monitoring” means the continuous or periodic determination of actual and potential effects of any activity or phenomenon on the environment; “environmental restoration order” means an order issued under section one hundred and five; “extended producer responsibility” means actions that extend a person’s financial or physical responsibility for a product to the post-consumer stage of the product, and includes— (a) waste minimisation programmes; (b) financial contributions to any fund established to promote the minimisation, recovery, reuse or re- cycling of waste; (c) awareness programmes to inform the public of the impacts of waste emanating from the product on human health and the environment; and (e) any other measures to reduce the potential impacts of the product on human health and the environment; “exsitu conservation” means conservation outside the natural ecosystem and habitat of the biological organism; “Fund” means the Environment Fund established under section ninety- five; “genetic resources” means genetic material of actual or potential value; “honorary inspector” means any person appointed as such under section seventeen; “insitu conservation” means conservation within the natural ecosystem and habitat of the biological organisms; “inspector” means a person appointed as such under section fourteen; “inspectorate” means the inspectorate established under section fourteen; “invasive alien species” means an animal or plant with potential to cause harm to the environment when introduced into an ecosystem where the animal or plant does not normally exist; “noise” means any undesirable sound that is intrinsically objectionable or that may cause adverse effects on human health or the environment; “occupier”, in relation to any land or premise, means the person 98 No. 12 of 2011] Environmental Management in actual occupation of, or in charge of, or responsible for, managing the land or premise; “operator”, in relation to works, industry, undertaking or business, means the person having the control of the works, industry, undertaking or business; “ozone layer” means the layer of the atmospheric zone above the planetary boundary layer; “pesticide” means any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying or controlling any pest, including vectors of human or animal disease or unwanted species of plants or animals causing harm or otherwise interfering with the production, processing, storage, transport or marketing of food, agricultural commodities, wood, wood products or animal feed, or which may be administered to animals for the control of insects, mites, spider mites or other pests in or on their bodies, and includes substances intended for use as a plant growth regulator, defoliant, desiccant, or agent for thinning fruit or preventing the premature fall of fruit, and substances applied to crops either before or after harvest to protect the commodity from deterioration during storage or transport; “policy, plan or programme” means a policy, plan or programme which relates to the whole country, and which is formulated by, or will be implemented by, an organ of Government or a public body, and includes policies, plans and programmes relating to national development of urban and rural areas, land use, livestock, transport, the exploitation of minerals, industrial development, water utilisation, agriculture and any other sector; “pollutant” includes any substance whether liquid, solid or gaseous which— (a) may, directly or indirectly, alter the quality of any element of the receiving environment; or (b) is hazardous or potentially hazardous to human health or the environment; and includes objectionable odours, radio-activity, noise, temperature change or physical, chemical or biological change to any segment or element of the environment; “polluter” means a person who contributes to, or creates a condition of, pollution; “polluter pays principle” means the principle that the person or institution responsible for pollution or any other damage to the environment shall bear the cost of restoration and Environmental Management [No. 12of 2011 99 cleanup of the affected area to its natural or acceptable state; “pollution” means the presence in the environment of one or more contaminants or pollutants in such quantities and under such conditions as may cause discomfort to, or endanger, the health, safety and welfare of human beings, or which may cause injury or damage to plant or animal life or property, or which may interfere unreasonably with the normal enjoyment of life, the use of property or conduct of business; “precautionary principle” means the principle that, lack of scientific certainty should not be used as a reason to postpone measures to prevent environmental degradation, or possible environmental degradation, where there is a threat of serious or irreversible environmental damage, because of the threat; “prevention order” means an order issued under section one hundred and three; “private body” means any person or organisation which is not a public body, and includes a voluntary organisation, non- governmental organisation, charitable institution, company, partnership or a club; “proponent” means the Government, public body or a corporate body proposing or recommending measures for a policy, programme or plan; “proprietary information” means information relating to any manufacturing process, trade secret, trademark, copyright, patent, formula or other intellectual property protected by law or international treaty to which Zambia is a party; “protection order” means an order issued under section one hundred and four; “public body” means the Government, any Ministry or department of the Government, the National Assembly, a local authority, parastatal, board, council, authority, commission or other body appointed by the Government, or established by, or under, any written law; “repealed Act” means the Environmental Protection and Cap. 204 Pollution Control Act; “Secretary” means the person appointed as such under section thirteen; “segment”, in relation to the environment, means any portion or portions of the environment expressed in terms of volume, space, area, quantity, quality or time or any combination thereof; 100 No. 12 of 2011] Environmental Management “sewage” means waste water generated by residential, industrial and commercial establishments; “sewerage” includes sewage treatment plants; “site restoration order” means an order issued under section sixty; “standards” means the limits of pollution prescribed under this Act; “strategic environmental assessment” means an assessment of the positive and adverse effects or impact that the implementation of a policy, programme or plan has or is likely to have on the protection and conservation of the environment or on the sustainable management of the environment; “sustainable development” means development that meets the needs and aspirations of the present generation without causing deterioration or compromising the ability to meet the needs of future generations; “sustainable use” means the use of the environment which does not compromise the ability to use the environment by future generations or degrade the capacity of the supporting ecosystems; “sustainable management” means protecting and managing the use of the environment, in a manner that, while enabling human beings to provide for their health, safety, social, cultural and economic well being— (a) safeguards the life-supporting capacity of air, water, soil and ecosystems; (b) maintains the life-supporting capacity and quality of air, water, soil and ecosystems, including living organisms, to enable future generations to meet their reasonably foreseeable needs; and (c) avoids the creation of adverse effects, wherever practicable, and where adverse effects cannot be avoided, mitigates and remedies the adverse effects as far as is practicable; “toxic substance” means chemical material, including an object or article, which is poisonous, corrosive, irritant, explosive, inflammable or harmful to human beings, animals, plants or the environment; “Vice-Chairperson” means the person appointed as Vice- Chairperson of the Board under section eleven; Environmental Management [No. 12 of 2011 101 “waste” means any matter whether liquid, solid, gaseous or radio-active, which is discharged, emitted or deposited in the environment in such volume, composition or manner as to cause an adverse effect to the environment, and includes such waste as may be prescribed under this Act; “waste water” means water which has been used for domestic, commercial, agricultural, trading or industrial purposes and as a result of such use may cause pollution of the aquatic environment when discharged into the aquatic environment; “water” means water in its natural state, including— (a) surface water; (b) water which rises naturally on any land or drains or falls naturally on to any land, even if it does not visibly join any watercourse; or (c) ground water; and “wetland” means a transitional area of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salty, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres.