DUE to emerging global environmental issues, the Protection and Pollution Control Act (EPPCA) became obsolete and it needed to be revised.
The Act was old both in terms of environmental issues covered and enforcement measures provided.
Therefore, there was need to replace the old Act with a relevant legislative framework that would respond or deal with emerging environmental issues such as global warming that has triggered climate change.
Moreover, the advent of technology has seen, for example, the coming of e-waste which is a menace to the environment, if not properly disposed of. The proliferation of industries and the importation of various chemicals that leave hazardous waste needed a legal framework that could address any arising concerns.
By the way, what is a hazardous waste? According to Zambia Environment Management Agency (ZEMA) Principal Information and Communication officer Irene Chipili, it is anything that has been thrown away that can potentially harm its surroundings and people.
It can be anything from chemical waste and materials left over from manufacturing to household garbage such as cleaning solutions, batteries, and non-biodegradable plastics.
Identifying hazardous waste has been simplified by a near-universal standard that categorises waste based on how these materials can damage the environment.
These qualities include how reactive the substance is to other chemicals in such a way that it could explode or turn into poison gas, its flammability, its toxicity, and how prone it is to corroding other materials.
So how has hazardous waste impacted the environment? The footprint hazardous waste has poisoned our water bodies where thousands of fish and other aquatic animals have been affected.
The use of chemicals to catch fish is common in Zambia and has contributed to the depletion of many species.
Frogs and other amphibious and marine creatures are showing more signs of mutation, and this is a heralding sign of the negative impact human waste has on the environment.
For example, what has happened to the frogs that were visible during the rainy season but today you hardly see them and yet they are critical to the eco system.
Land-dwelling wildlife and insect populations have also been greatly affected by the amount of waste generated by human activities.
Everything from plastic six-pack soda packaging to improperly dispose bodily fluids filled with harmful diseases have sickened, altered, and harmed scores of animals every year.
The populations of insects such as bees, which are crucial to preserving the fertility of plant life, are dying off faster than they can repopulate due to human pollution.
So let us get back to the law and look at the revised penalties for environmental offences.
Previously, penalties for the environmental offences were nothing considering the gravity of offences committed vis-a-vis the impact on the environment.
The enacted Environmental Management Act 2011 has come up with stiffer penalties for environmental offences which are expected to help change the status quo.
The Act assented to on April 12, 2011 saw the re-naming of the Environmental Council of Zambia (ECZ) as ZEMA.
Under the new Act the offences of failure to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), contravening environmental standards or guidelines will attract a penalty of K210,000 or five years imprisonment or both respectively.
This is under section 117 of the EMA of 2011.
Failure to keep ZEMA records which is under Section 118 attracts penalty units of 300,000 translating into K90,000 fine or three years imprisonment or both.
One unit is equivalent to K0.30.
Section 122 of EMA on offences related to chemicals attracts 500,000 penalty units, K150,000 fine or five years imprisonment or both.
Offences related to contravening of environmental standards and guidelines under section 119 attracts 700,000 penalty units translating into a fine of K210, 000 or seven years imprisonment or both.
Section 121 deals with offences related to hazardous waste and these attracts 1,000,000 penalty units translating into K300,000 fine or 10 years imprisonment or both.
However, a jail sentence does not apply to summary imposition of penalties but attracts 6, 000 penalty units and a fine of K1, 800.
But offences related to biological biodiversity under section 120 will send you to five years imprisonment or you will be required to pay penalty units of 500,000 that translates into a fine of K15,000.
Section 123 deals with offences related to protected areas like game parks.
This section will send you to prison for three years or a fine of K90,000 that is equivalent to 300,000 penalty units.
Offences related to waste management attracts penalty units of 500,000 and translates into K15, 000 fine or five years imprisonment or both.
Ideally penalties are not made to punish the industries or individual for non compliance to required environmental management standards but
to ensure that they comply with necessary standards.
I am, therefore, optimistic that with the summary changes made to the Act such as creation of a central environmental, information depositary, access to information principles have been are implemented, the status quo would in regards to managing the environment sustainably.
The establishment of an environment fund, creation of enforcement orders, and option of both ZEMA and the public to sue for damages will greatly change the way some people look at the environment.
Appointment of honorary inspectors would be handy especially that ZEMA is only visible along the line of rail.
On the other hand as I conclude, I want to remind some Kabwe residents that I am not an employee of ZEMA or Enviro Processing Limited, the company behind the Kabwe Development Project of Lead and Zinc.
Some people have been phoning to ask me when the mine would become operational, while others have gone to an extent of sending me their CVs using my contacts below seeking employment.
I am a journalist working for this newspaper and I came to Kabwe to cover that public hearing on Environmental Impact Assessment of the
project at Model Lodge.
May I also assure the followers of this column that I would soon publish your feedback and for those with queries, I will forward them to ZEMA.
ENVIRONMENTAL TIP: Did you know that it takes 500 years for disposable diapers to decompose.-ZEMA
Until next have a fruitful week!
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