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INDIAN ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATIONS

P. R. Swarup, Director General, CIDC

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Ministry of Environment & Forests is the nodal agency in the administrative structure of the Central Government, for the planning, promotion and co-ordination of environmental and forestry programmes.

The principal activities undertaken by Ministry of Environment & Forests, consist of conservation & survey of flora, fauna, forests and Wildlife, prevention & control of pollution, a forestation & regeneration of degraded areas and protection of environment, in the frame work of legislations.

The main tools utilized for this include surveys, impact assessment, control of pollution, regeneration programmes, support to organizations, research to solve solutions and training to augment the requisite manpower, collection and dissemination of environmental information and creation of environmental awareness among all sectors of the country's population.

The organizational structure of the Ministry covers various divisions, auxiliary bodies, associated offices and autonomous agencies.

Realizing the need for authoritative statistical data on environment, the work relating to collection, collation and analysis of environmental data and its depiction has been constantly taken-up through various projects. Environment & Forests Informatics Division (EFIDNIC) of National Informatics Centre, New Delhi, is therefore closely associated with the Ministry, in the design & development of its Informatics for the better management of environmental resources.

2.0 International Factors and actions in progress

The Rio Earth Summit of 1992 underlined the imperative of integrating economic growth, social justice, and environmental concerns to satisfy the world without ravaging the earth. The awareness, unfortunately, has not been fully translated into action on the scale required to achieve true sustainability. Global stakeholders must make a concerted endeavor to realize the vision of a safe, just world that fulfils the needs of this and future generations
.

India hopes to revitalize global commitment to sustainable development as a shared future goal, particularly in relation to the decade sense Rio.

More deliberations & stocktaking shall take place in the forthcoming United Nation’s World Summit on Sustainable Development to be held in Johannesburg in September 2002. It is expected to recharge the political momentum and enthusiasm of all involved in the Rio+10 process
.

2.1 Issues under Constant deliberations are

Ensuring sustainable livelihoods
Financing development: focused, transparent and pro-poor systems – Policies and actions for reaching desirable levels of financial flows in the near future, are being evolved
Governance structures and processes for sustainable development
Managing natural resources for society: welfare and health implications
Defining the stakes, engaging the stakeholders
Creating business models for the poor: expanding sustainable development
Food security and basic human needs
Climate change and sustainable energy
Technological leapfrogging: the lure and the limits
Ministers of the environment: challenges at Rio +10
Leadership for sustainable livelihoods

2.2 Environmental Impact Assessment

Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development have been the cornerstones of the policies and procedures governing the industrial and other developmental activities in India. Ministry of Environment & Forests has taken several policy initiatives and enacted environmental and pollution control legislations to prevent indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources and to promote integration of environmental concerns in developmental projects. One such initiative is the Notification on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of developmental projects issued on 27.1.1994 under the provisions of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 making EIA mandatory for 29 categories of developmental projects. One more item was added to the list in January, 2000.

EIA is a planning tool that is now generally accepted as an integral component of sound decision-making. The objective of EIA is to foresee and address potential environmental problems/concerns at an early stage of project planning and design. EIA/EMP should assist planners and government authorities in the decision making process by identifying the key impacts/issues and formulating mitigation measures. Ministry had issued sectional guidelines some time ago. A compendium of the procedures and questionnaires entitled “Application Form and Questionnaire for Environmental Clearance was published in September, 1999 in association with the Confederation of Indian Industry.

As part of the continued efforts to ensure transparency in the procedures of environmental clearance and to assist the project authorities in improving the quality of EIA documents, this Manual is now being brought out by the Ministry. The Manual has been designed to cover the whole gamut of issues like regulatory requirements, the EIA methodology including baseline studies, identification of key issues and consideration of alternatives, impact analysis and remedial measures in a systematic way. It also delineates the process of reviewing the adequacy of EIA and EMP reports and post-project monitoring. To make the Manual comprehensive and self-contained, information pertaining to legislative regime, base line data generation and monitoring, thumb rules for pollution control measures etc. have been annexed to the main text.

It has been the experience that EIA documents are often voluminous but much of the base-line information included in these is not fully utilized in the impact analysis and prediction. Some of the impacts of the proposed development are of little significance to the decision making process. Hence a brief reference has been made to “Scoping”. A section on Risk Assessment and Hazard analysis also has been included.

Every anthropogenic activity has some impact on the environment. More often it is harmful to the environment than benign. However, mankind as it is developed today cannot live without taking up these activities for his food, security and other needs. Consequently, there is a need to harmonize developmental activities with the environmental concerns. Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is one of the tools available with the planners to achieve the above-mentioned goal.

It is desirable to ensure that the development options under consideration are sustainable. In doing so, environmental consequences must be characterized early in the project cycle and accounted for in the project design.

The objective of EIA is to foresee the potential environmental problems that would arise out of a proposed development and address them in the project's planning and design stage. The EIA process should then allow for the communication of this information to:

the project proponent;
the regulatory agencies; and,
all stakeholders and interest groups.

EIA integrates the environmental concerns in the developmental activities right at the time of initiating for preparing the feasibility report. In doing so it can enable the integration of environmental concerns and mitigation measures in project development. EIA can often prevent future liabilities or expensive alterations in project design.

2.3 Indian Policies Requiring EIA

The environmental impact assessment in India was started in 1976-77 when the Planning Commission asked the then Department of Science and Technology to examine the river-valley projects from environmental angle. This was subsequently extended to cover those projects, which required approval of the Public Investment Board. These were administrative decisions, and lacked the legislative support. The Government of India enacted the Environment (Protection) Act on 23rd May 1986. To achieve the objectives of the Act, one of the decisions that were taken is to make environmental impact assessment statutory. After following the legal procedure, a notification was issued on 27th January 1994 and subsequently amended on 4th May 1994, 10th April 1997 and 27th January 2000 making environmental impact assessment statutory for 30 activities. This is the principal piece of legislation governing environmental impact assessment.

Besides this the Government of India under Environment (Protection) Act 1986 issued a number of other notifications, which are related to environmental impact assessment. These are limited to specific geographical areas. These are listed below:

2.3.1 NOTIFICATIONS

Prohibiting location of industries except those related to Tourism in a belt of 1 km from high tide mark from the Revdanda Creek up to Devgarh Point (near Shrivardhan) as well as in 1 km belt along the banks of Rajpuri Creek in Murud Janjira area in the Raigarh district of Maharashtra (6th January 1989)
Restricting location of industries, mining operations and regulating other activities in Doon Valley (1st February 1989)
Regulating activities in the coastal stretches of the country by classifying them as coastal regulation zone and prohibiting certain activities (19th February 1991)
Restricting location of industries and regulating other activities in Dahanu Taluka in Maharashtra (6th June 91)
Restricting certain activities in specified areas of Aravalli Range in the Gurgaon district of Haryana and Alwar district of Rajasthan (7th May 1992)
Regulating industrial and other activities, which could lead to pollution and congestion in an area north west of Numaligarh in Assam (5th July 1996)

2.3.2 The EIA Cycle and Procedures

The EIA process in India is made up of the following phases:

Screening
Scoping and consideration of alternatives
Baseline data collection
Impact prediction
Assessment of alternatives, delineation of mitigation measures and environmental impact statement
Public hearing
Environment Management Plan
Decision making
Monitoring the clearance conditions

2.3.3 Screening

Screening is done to see whether a project requires environmental clearance as per the statutory notifications. Screening Criteria are based upon:

Scales of investment;
Type of development; and,
Location of development.

A Project requires statutory environmental clearance only if the provisions of EIA notification and/or one or more statutory notification.

2.3.4 Scoping

Scoping is a process of detailing the terms of reference of EIA. It has to be done by the consultant in consultation with the project proponent and guidance, if need be, from Impact Assessment Agency.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests has published guidelines for different sectors, which outline the significant issues to be addressed in the EIA studies. Quantifiable impacts are to be assessed on the basis of magnitude, prevalence, frequency and duration and non-quantifiable impacts (such as aesthetic or recreational value), significance is commonly determined through the socioeconomic criteria. After the areas, where the project could have significant impact, are identified, the baseline status of these should be monitored and then the likely changes in these on account of the construction and operation of the proposed project should be predicted.

2.3.5 Baseline Data

Baseline data describes the existing environmental status of the identified study area. The site-specific primary data should be monitored for the identified parameters and supplemented by secondary data if available.

2.3.6 Impact Prediction

Impact prediction is a way of ‘mapping’ the environmental consequences of the significant aspects of the project and its alternatives. Environmental impact can never be predicted with absolute certainty and this is all the more reason to consider all possible factors and take all possible precautions for reducing the degree of uncertainty.

The following impacts of the project should be assessed:

Air
- changes in ambient levels and ground level concentrations due to total emissions from point, line and area sources
- effects on soils, materials, vegetation, and human health
Noise
- changes in ambient levels due to noise generated from equipment and movement of vehicles
- effect on fauna and human health
Water
- availability to competing users
- changes in quality
- sediment transport
- ingress of saline water
Land
- changes in land use and drainage pattern
- changes in land quality including effects of waste disposal
- changes in shoreline/riverbank and their stability
Biological
- deforestation/tree-cutting and shrinkage of animal habitat
- impact on fauna and flora (including aquatic species if any) due to contaminants/pollutants
- impact on rare and endangered species, endemic species, and migratory path/route of animals
- Impact on breeding and nesting group
Socio-Economic
- impact on the local community including demographic changes
- impact on economic status
- impact on human health
- impact of increased traffic

2.3.7 Assessment of Alternatives, Delineation of Mitigation Measures and Environmental Impact Assessment Report

For every project, possible alternatives should be identified and environmental attributes compared. Alternatives should cover both project location and process technologies. Alternatives should consider ‘no project’ option also. Alternatives should then be ranked for selection of the best environmental option for optimum economic benefits to the community at large.

Once alternatives have been reviewed, a mitigation plan should be drawn up for the selected option and is supplemented with an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) to guide the proponent towards environmental improvements. The EMP is a crucial input to monitoring the clearance conditions and therefore details of monitoring should be included in the EMP.

2.3.8 Public Hearing

Law requires that the public must be informed and consulted on a proposed development after the completion of EIA report.

Any one likely to be affected by the proposed project is entitled to have access to the Executive Summary of the EIA. The affected persons may include:

bonafide local residents;
local associations;
environmental groups: active in the area
any other person located at the project site / sites of displacement

They are to be given an opportunity to make oral/written suggestions to the State Pollution Control Board.

2.3.9 Decision Making

Decision making process involve consultation between the project proponent (assisted by a consultant) and the impact assessment authority (assisted by an expert group if necessary)

The decision on environmental clearance is arrived at through a number of steps including evaluation of EIA and EMP.

2.3.10 Monitoring the Clearance Conditions

Monitoring should be done during both construction and operation phases of a project. This is not only to ensure that the commitments made are complied with but also to observe whether the predictions made in the EIA reports were correct or not. Where the impacts exceed the predicted levels, corrective action should be taken. Monitoring will enable the regulatory agency to review the validity of predictions and the conditions of implementation of the Environmental Management Plan (EMP)

2.3.11 Components of EIA

The difference between Comprehensive EIA and Rapid EIA is in the time-scale of the data supplied. Rapid EIA is for speedier appraisal process. While both types of EIA require inclusion/ coverage of all significant environmental impacts and their mitigation, Rapid EIA achieves this through the collection of ‘one season’ (other than monsoon) data only to reduce the time required. This is acceptable if it does not compromise on the quality of decision-making. The review of Rapid EIA submissions will show whether a comprehensive EIA is warranted or not.

It is, therefore, clear that the submission of a professionally prepared Comprehensive EIA in the first instance would generally be the more efficient approach. Depending on nature, location and scale of the project EIA report should contain all or some of the following components.

Air Environment
- Determination of impact zone (through a screening model) and developing a monitoring network
- Monitoring the existing status of ambient air quality within the impacted region (7-10 km from the periphery) of the proposed project site
- Monitoring the site-specific meteorological data, viz. wind speed and direction, humidity, ambient temperature and environmental lapse rate
- Estimation of quantities of air emissions including fugitive emissions from the proposed project
- Identification, quantification and evaluation of other potential emissions (including those of vehicular traffic) within the impact zone and estimation of cumulative of all the emissions/impacts
- Prediction of changes in the ambient air quality due to point, line and areas source emissions through appropriate air quality models
- Evaluation of the adequacy of the proposed pollution control devices to meet gaseous emission and ambient air quality standards
- Delineation of mitigation measures at source, path ways and receptor
Noise Environment
- Monitoring the present status of noise levels within the impact zone, and prediction of future noise levels resulting from the proposed project and related activities including increase in vehicular movement
- Identification of impacts due to any anticipated rise in noise levels on the surrounding environment
- Recommendations on mitigation measures for noise pollution
Water Environment
- Study of existing ground and surface water resources with respect to quantity and quality within the impact zone of the proposed project activities including increase in vehicular movement
- Prediction of impacts on water resources due to the proposed water use/pumping on account of the project
- Quantification and characterisation of waste water including toxic organic, from the proposed activity
- Evaluation of the proposed pollution prevention and wastewater treatment system and suggestions on modification, if required
- Prediction of impacts of effluent discharge on the quality of the receiving water body using appropriate mathematical/simulation models
- Assessment of the feasibility of water recycling and reuse and delineation of detailed plan in this regard
Biological Environment
- Survey of flora and fauna clearly delineating season and duration activities including increase in vehicular movement
- Assessment of flora and fauna present within the impact zone of the project
- Assessment of potential damage to terrestrial and aquatic flora and fauna due to discharge of effluents and gaseous emissions from the project
- Assessment of damage to terrestrial flora and fauna due to air pollution, and land use and landscape changes
- Assessment of damage to aquatic and marine flora and fauna (including commercial fishing) due to physical disturbances and alterations
- Prediction of biological stresses within the impact zone of the proposed project
- Delineation of mitigation measures to prevent and / or reduce the damage.
Land Environment
- Studies on soil characteristics, existing land use and topography, landscape and drainage patterns within the impact zone
- Estimation of impacts of project on land use, landscape, topography, drainage and hydrology
- Identification of potential utility of treated effluent in land application and subsequent impacts
- Estimation and Characterization of solid wastes and delineation of management options for minimization of waste and environmentally compatible disposal
Socio-economic and Health Environment
- Collection of demographic and related socio-economic data
- Collection of epidemiological data, including studies on prominent endemic diseases (e.g. fluorosis, malaria, fileria, malnutrition) and morbidity rates among the population within the impact zone
- Projection of anticipated changes in the socio-economic and health due to the project and related activities including traffic congestion and delineation of measures to minimize adverse impacts
- Assessment of impact on significant historical, cultural and archaeological sites/places in the area
- Assessment of economic benefits arising out of the project
- Assessment of rehabilitation requirements with special emphasis on scheduled areas, if any.
Risk Assessment
- Hazard identification taking recourse to hazard indices, inventory analysis, dam break probability, Natural Hazard Probability etc.
- Maximum Credible Accident (MCA) analysis to identify potential hazardous scenarios
- Consequence analysis of failures and accidents resulting in fire, explosion, hazardous releases and dam breaks etc.
- Hazard & Operability (HAZOP) studies
- Assessment of risk on the basis of the above evaluations
- Preparation of an onsite and off site (project affected area) Disaster Management Plan
Environment Management Plan
- Delineation of mitigation measures including prevention and control for each environmental component and rehabilitation and resettlement plan.
- Delineation of monitoring scheme for compliance of conditions
- Delineation of implementation plan including scheduling and resource allocation

2.3.12 Roles in the EIA Process

EIA involves many parties, grouped by their role definition within the process. The following section outlines the basic responsibilities of various bodies:

The Project Proponent
- The Role of the Project Proponent
  - The project proponent during the project planning stage decides the type of projects i.e. new establishment, expansion or modernization. Later the project proponent needs to prepare the Detailed Project Report/Feasibility Report and submits the Executive Summary, which shall incorporate the project details, and findings of EIA study, which is to be made available to concerned public.
  - The proponent has to approach the concerned SPCB for NOC and holding the public hearing. After the public hearing the proponent submits application to IAA for environmental clearance.
The Environmental Consultants
- Role of Environment Consultant
  - Environmental consultant should be conversant with the existing legal and procedural requirements of obtaining environmental clearance for proposed project. The consultant should guide the proponent through initial screening of the project and establish whether EIA studies are required to be conducted and if so finalize the scope of such study. The consultant should also be fully equipped with required instruments and infrastructure for conducting EIA studies. The environmental consultant is responsible for supplying all the environment-related information required by the SPCB and IAA through the proponent. The consultant is also required to justify the findings in the EIA and EMP during the meeting with the expert groups at IAA.
The State Pollution Control Board / Pollution Control Committees (PCCs)
- The Role of the State Pollution Control Board (PCB) /Pollution Control Committee (PCC)
  - The State PCBs/PCCs are responsible for assessing the compatibility of a proposed development with current operational and prescribed standards. If the development is in compliance, the PCB will then issue its NOC. They shall also hold the public hearing as per the provisions of EIA notification. The details of public hearing shall be forwarded to IAA.
The Public
- The Role of the Public
  - The public also has an important role to play in EIA. The concerned persons will be invited through press advertisement to review information and provide their views on the proposed development requiring environmental clearance.
The Impact Assessment Agency
- The Role of the Impact Assessment Agency (IAA)
  - Where a proponent is required to obtain environmental clearance, the IAA will evaluate and assess the EIA report. In this process the project proponent will be given a chance to present his proposal. If a project is accepted the IAA will also prepare a set of recommendations and conditions for its implementation based on this assessment. Environmental clearance conditions and recommendations of IAA are made available to the public on request through SPCB and through web site at http://envfor.nic.in. During the implementation and operation of the project, the IAA will also be responsible for the environmental monitoring process.

2.4 FOREST CLEARANCES

To seek clearances following needs to be furnished:

Map of the forest area required showing boundary of the adjoining forests, etc., is to be furnished along with the prescribed form. This should normally be on 1:50,000 scale. However, if maps on 1: 50,000 scale not available, map on 1" = 4 miles or any other suitable scale would be acceptable. If the area is very small, an index map may be submitted showing forest boundaries and a location map on a larger scale with a land use of the area required.
Species-wise and diameter class-wise abstract of trees to be felled should be furnished in the prescribed form. Total enumeration is necessary only up to 10 hectares. For larger areas, species-wise and diameter class-wise abstract of trees may be computed either from the working plans or by standard sampling methods.
The projects for roads and railway line construction will be processed in their entirety. Therefore, proposals in piecemeal should not be submitted. A note on the present and future requirement of forest land is required to be submitted along with the proposal.
The State Government should send the proposal for renewal of mining leases at least six months prior to the date of expiry of the existing lease.
Cost Benefit Analysis in case of proposals involving forest land more than 20 hectares in plains and more than 5 ha. in hills including roads, transmission lines, minor, medium and major irrigation projects, hydral projects mining activity, railway lines, location specific installations like micro-wave stations, auto repeater centres, T.V. towers etc.