Environment Management Act (No. 23 of 1996).

This Act is divided into 13 Parts, covering main areas of environmental concern as follows: Preliminary (I); General principles (II); Administration (III); Environmental planning (IV); Environmental impact assessments (EIA), audits and monitoring (V); Environmental quality standards (VI); Environmental management (VII); Pollution control (VIII); Inspection, analysis and records (IX); Environmental fund (X); Offences (XI); Legal proceedings (XII); Miscellaneous provisions (XIII).
Article 5 confers the right of every person to a clean environment and to its judicial enforcement. Duties of the Minister include the preparation of plans and strategies for the protection of the environment and the sustainable utilization of natural resources. A Director of Environmental Affairs, a National Council for the Environment, with advisory and recommendation powers, as well as a Technical Committee on the Environment shall be appointed. Environmental planning shall be approached at the national and district levels with relative plans. The Minister, on recommendation of the Council, shall by notice publish types of projects requiring EIA and the Director shall carry out periodic audits of new projects. The Minister is given the power to prescribe environmental quality standards for air, water, soil, noise, vibrations, radiation, effluent and solid waste. Part VII includes measures regarding environmental (fiscal and other) incentives; protection orders; conservation of biodiversity; access to genetic resources; pesticides and hazardous substances' classification. Subject to a basic prohibition to pollute the environment, the discharge or emission of pollutants may only be done under licence. A special fund is established to support the objectives of this Act as well as an Environmental Appeals Tribunal.