Environmental Legislation in India

Introduction

• Scientific and technological advancement improves human comfort and living standards
• This advancement leads to increased industrialization
• Science and technology improve life through better food production, communication, transportation, safe water, and a healthy environment
• Growing needs lead to side effects like pollution, deforestation, urbanization, and loss of arable land
• Protecting Earth from these effects is a responsibility of individuals, the State, and State organs, including courts
• Environmental protection laws help protect the right to life and personal freedom
• The judiciary shows concern for both environmental protection and ecological conservation

Environmental Legislation in India

• India addresses pollution control and environmental protection through legislation and statutory bodies
• Important environmental protection acts include:
  • Air Act
  • Water Act
  • Forest Conservation Act
  • Wildlife Protection Act
• Humans interact with the environment through water, air, and land

United Nations Conference

• The "United Nations Conference on the Human Environment" in Stockholm on June 5, 1972, addressed environmental pollution
• Participating countries discussed environmental pollution
• India raised concerns regarding environmental protection at the conference
• The conference led to guidelines for individuals and governments to protect natural resources
• June 5th is observed as "World Environment Day" to emphasize environmental protection

The Environment (Protection) Act

• “The Environment (Protection) Act” was created in 1986 as an important outcome of this event
• The Act was passed under Article 253 of the Constitution
• It came into force November 19, 1986, on Indira Gandhi's birthday
• It offers complete protection and preservation for the ecosystem
• This act was enacted after the Bhopal gas tragedy
• It contains 26 sections in four chapters, relating to preliminary aspects
• Addresses the general powers of the central government.
• Includes prevention, control, and reduction of environmental pollution to prevent contamination

EPA Chapters

• Chapter I contains preliminary information and definitions for environment, environmental pollutant, environmental pollution, and hazardous substances
• Chapter II explains central government powers regarding environmental protection and quality improvement
• Chapter III focuses on prevention, control, and reduction of environmental pollution
• Chapter IV covers miscellaneous actions taken in good faith

Objectives of EPA

• Provides protection and improvement
• Prevents environmental pollution
• Tackles specific environmental problems in different regions
• Coordinates regulatory agencies
• Appoints environmental officers for pollution monitoring
• Improves quality of life through environmental protection
• Establishes environmental labs for pollution level monitoring
• Protects forests and wildlife

Need for Environmental Protection Acts

• There's a decline in environmental quality evidenced by increased pollution
• This is caused by population growth, vegetation loss, biodiversity reduction, and excessive chemical concentration
• Growing risk of environmental accidents

Bhopal Gas Tragedy

• The Bhopal tragedy took place December 3-4, 1984, was one of the worsts industrial disasters in history
• MIC (methylisocyanate) was released from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal
• The gas leak caused various environmental issues
• The Environmental Protection Act passed after witnessing impacts of the accident
• This act was passed under article 253 of the Constitution and came into force on November 19th, 1986
• The Act acts as umbrella legislation, and provides a framework for central government and central and state authority coordination

Provisions of the Environmental Protection Act

• The Act sets standards for air, water, and soil quality which include pollutant limits
• Procedures were composed to handle and safeguard hazardous substances, initiating the identification of restricting areas
• Disposal and treatment of hazardous materials include throwing waste into restricted areas
• Pollution control boards (State and central) are involved in monitoring pollution levels

Role of Pollution Control Boards

• Advise industries on effluent treatment using advanced technologies
• Stress the importance of recycling and reusing to reduce waste
• Encourage biogas recovery to promote energy importance and material reusability
• Promote the implementation of cleaner technologies in industries

Critical Definitions

Environment:

• Includes major components like water, air, land and the interrelationships among them

Environmental Pollutant:

• Any substance (gas, liquid, or solid) or chemical compound present beyond permissible limits

Environmental Pollution:

• The process in which pollution is happening

• Rules relating to managing hazardous chemicals, wastes, and microorganisms have been notified under this act

Important Features of the Act

• The Central Government can restrict industries, operations, or processes in certain areas
• These activities may be permitted with safeguards
• Emission and effluent standards have been notified for 61 industry categories
• Pollutant standards must be achieved within one year of notification, particularly by highly polluting industries
• A specific SPCB can reduce the time limit and specify stricter standards for industries in their jurisdiction
• The SPCB cannot relax the time limit or standards
• Industries requiring consent under the Water Act and Air Act, or authorization under the Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989, must submit an environmental audit report to the SPCB/PCC by September 30th each year

The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974

• Water pollution brought as a major problem worldwide
• The Water Act was enacted by Parliament in 1974 to address water pollution caused by growing industries
• The Act focuses on preventing and controlling water pollution and maintaining/restoring water quality
• The act applies to all Indian states

Salient Features of the Water Act

• No person can knowingly cause or permit polluting matter to enter any stream, well, or sewer
• No person should allow any matter which can aggravate pollution to enter any stream
• No person can establish an industry or disposal system which can discharge sewage into water bodies without prior consent from the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB)
• Bringing new outlets or new discharges of sewage also requires consent

SPCB Advice for Business Owners

• The investor intending to set up an industry must apply to the SPCB for consent
• The SPCB stipulates specific conditions on temperature, discharge volume, and effluent composition and review conditions periodically
• The SPCB can conduct random industry checks and issues notices if the standards are not being met
• A defaulting industry might be required to construct a treatment system
• The SPCB may disconnect electricity, water, or other services for non-compliance or close down the unit in extreme cases
• Penalties are prescribed for industries operating without consent or violating consent conditions
• Aggrieved persons can appeal to the Appellate Authority constituted by the State Government
• State governments are required to constitute Appellate Authorities

Important Features of the Water Act

• Prevention, control, and abandonment of water pollution
• Maintenance/restoration of water quality
• Designed to assess and punish polluters
• Central and State Boards monitor water pollution and provide guidelines

Roles of Central Pollution Control Boards

• Advise the central government on corrective measures
• Coordinate with state governments to provide technical guidance
• Organize training programs to clarify the functions of authorities
• Raise awareness through media and technical data collection
• Develop manuals for sewage and industrial effluent treatment
• Establish water quality standards
• Develop and recognize labs for analysis

Roles of State Pollution-Controlled Boards

• Advise the state government on corrective measures for severely polluted water bodies
• Take samples from water bodies to monitor contamination levels
• Close industries crossing permissible pollution limits
• Ensure new industries obtain consent from the state pollution control board.

Standard Effluent Treatment Plant

• An example is the standard effluent treatment plant (ETP)
• Installed near Ranipet in Vellore to address effluent issues from tanneries industries

The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981

• The Act resulted from an International Conference on environmental protection
• It addresses air pollution from solid, liquid, and gaseous substances
• Consists of 50 sections
• Amended in 1987 to include noise pollution

Objectives of the Air Act

• Prevent, control, and reduce air pollution, including noise pollution
• Establish Boards at the State/UTs level
• Establishing or operating industrial plants without SPCB/PCC consent is prohibited
• Industries, vehicles, and power plants cannot release particulate matter
• Particular matter includes lead, carbon, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, or other toxic substances beyond prescribed levels

Provisions in the Air Act

• Provides for prevention, control, and reduction of air pollution
• Establishes boards to carryout pollution control
• An investor must apply to the SPCB/PCC and the Board must grant consent within 4 months with regards to pollution control equipment
• Provisions are similar to the Water Act

The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980

• Forests are abundant natural resource
• Referred to as the "green blanket" of the world
• Classified into ecological significance, commercial, environmental, and societal applications
• Has medicinal importance components
• Provides home and habitat for wildlife with around seven million species depending on forests
• Regulates the hydrological cycle by transforming 50% to 80% of air moisture through transpiration
• Reduce global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide
• Contributing to soil conservation
• Protection is an important requirement

Objectives of the Forest (Conservation) Act

• To protect and conserve forests
• To ensure judicious use of forest products

Salient Features of the Forest (Conservation) Act

• Protect forests from illegal cutting, encroachments, fire, grazing, and shift agriculture
• Prevent deforestation
• Reserve forests can't be de-reserved without Central Government permission.

The Wildlife Protection Act, 1971 (Amended)

• Enacted to protect wild animals and birds
• Provides for establishment of sanctuaries and national parks
• Has provisions for dealing with zoos, trade in wild animals, and protecting specific species
• Provides for a Wild Life Advisory Board and appointment of Chief Wild Life Warden
• The Act led to establishment of:
  • 104 National Parks
  • 551 Sanctuaries
  • 86 conservation reserves
  • 11 biosphere reserves in India
• An endangered Wildlife list is created and updated annually

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)

• Two distinct stages:
  • Preliminary Assessment: early stage of planning
  • Detailed Assessment: during project planning, reported as Environmental Impact Statement

Key Elements of an EIA:

• Screening
• Scoping
• Impact ID and prediction
• Impact assessment and mitigation
• EIA report
• Decision making
• Monitoring and evaluation
• EIA must be followed when a project or a policy is proposed

Scoping of an EIA

• Used to identify key issues of concerns early on
• Should involve interested parties: the proponent, planning or environmental agencies, and the public
• Determines the scope, depth, and terms

Major Objectives of Scoping:

• Identify key issues and concerns of interested parties
• Identify who is concerned
• Identify what their concerns are
• Identify why they have those concerns
• Identify the threshold of concern where change becomes unacceptable

Screening of an EIA

• Screening is used to decide whether an Environmental Assessment is required
• There are two schedules/lists:
  • Schedule 1: Environmental Assessment is always required
  • Schedule 2: Environmental Assessment is required if its significant by its nature, size, and location
• Screening is comprehensive and quick
• The other process like impact ID, prediction, impact assessment, and mitigation include the steps involved in implementation

Next Steps of the EIA

• Reduce emissions to permissible limits
• Development plan is rejected if the uncertainties are too great
• Applications deferred if there is uncertainties that might be reduced by further studies

Environmental Statements/Reports in the EIA

• The EIA produces the Environmental Statement
• The environmental impact statement reports the findings of the EIA
• The process is required by law before any new project can proceed

The Decision-Making Process

• Decision-making is done by officials from the State and Central Board requirements are met
• Continuous monitoring is emphasized to address environmental protection act requirements after approval

Methodologies for EIA

• Methodologies or tools assess the impact of an activity

• Methodologies include:

  • Ad hoc method
  • Checklist methods
  • Matrix method
  • Network methods
  • Overlay methods

The Best Method Should:

• Organize large, heterogeneous data
• Allow data summarization
• Aggregate data into smaller sets with minimal information loss
• Consider the target audience

The Ad-hoc Approach

• A straightforward method all people understand
• Includes wildlife, species, vegetation, and groundwater quality
• Takes into account noise pollution, air quality, and grazing
• It could be done by opinion poll method, expert opinion method, and Delphi method

Disadvantages of the Ad-hoc Method:

• Requires expertise
• Not applicable to large data
• On a guest basis
• Provides minimal guidance
• Won't allow the address for the actual impacts on specific parameters affected

The Checklist Method

• Lists environmental factors in a structured format
• Can be classified into four types:
  • Simple: lists environmental factors without guidance
  • Descriptive: includes guidelines and identifies parameters
  • Scaling: similar to checklist but adds info on parameters
  • Weighing: similar to scaling but adds info for evaluating parameters

The Matrix Method

• A two-dimensional checklist
• One axis represents project activities, the other represents environmental characteristics
• It can evaluate the degree of impact on the environment It can evaluate the cumulative and indirect impacts and interaction with natural resources
• Example: Leopold Matrix Method

The Network Method

• Identifies the pathway through a series of networks
• Integrated assessment integrates all aspects
• Extends to include both the primary and secondary impacts
• Is shown in reference or sequence diagram
• Identification of direct, indirect impacts with short & long term impact is crucial to make an appropriate "impact tree"

The Overlay Method

• Involves a set of transparent maps
• Displays the spatial distribution of environmental characteristics, displaying physical and social aspects
• Impacts of the project are predicted before and after implementation
• Involves advanced techniques (e.g., GIS) to predict and study the project area assess accurately