S.O.195(E), [19/01/2009] - Environmental Impact Assessement Notification-2009

MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS

Central government publishes Draft Notification Under Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986,

The following draft notification which the Central Government proposes to issue in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) and clause (v) of sub-section (2) of section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986), for making certain amendments in the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006, issued vide number. S.O.1533(E), dated the l4th September, 2006, is hereby published as required under sub-rule (3) of rule 5 of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 for the information of the public likely to be affected thereby and notice is hereby given that the said notification will be taken into consideration by the Central Government on or after the expiry of sixty days from the date of publication of the said notification in the Official Gazette;

Any person interested in making any objection or suggestion on the proposals contained in the draft notification may do so in writing within the period so specified through post to the Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Paryavaran Bhawan, CGO Complex, Lodi Road, New Delhi-110 003 or electronically at email address: secy-moef@nic.in.

Draft Notification

Whereas by notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Environment and Forests vide number S.O.1533(E), dated the 14th September, 2006 issued under sub-section (1) and clause (v) of sub-section (2) of section (3) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 read with clause (d) of sub-rule (3) of rule 5 of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986, the Central Government directed that on and from the date of its publication, the required construction of new projects or activities or the expansion or modernization of existing projects or activities listed in the Schedule to the said notification entailing the capacity addition with change in process or technology and or product mix shall be undertaken in any part of India only after prior environmental clearance from the Central Government or as the case may be, by the State level Environment Impact Assessment Authority, duly constituted by the Central Government under sub-section (3) of section 3 of the said Act, in accordance with the procedure specified therein;

And whereas, the implementation of the provisions of the said notification has been reviewed by the Ministry of Environment and Forests;

And whereas, as a result of the delay in submission of the proposals by the States for notification of the State level Environment Impact Assessment Authority, A number of projects in Category 'B' of the Schedule continue to be appraised at the Central level;

And whereas, a number of projects are pending for award of Terms of Reference;

And whereas, the need for further streamlining of the procedure for consideration of proposals for Terms of Reference and environmental clearance has been felt on the basis of experience gained during the past two years on the implementation of provisions of the notification;

And whereas, clause (a) of sub-rule (3) of rule 5 of the said Environment (Protection) Rules provides that, whenever the Central Government considers that prohibition or restrictions of any industry or carrying on any processes or operation in any area should be imposed, it shall give notice of its intention to do so.

Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) and clause (v) of sub-section (2) of section 3 of the said Environment (Protection) Act, (29 of 1986) read with clause (d) of sub-rule (3) of rule 5 of the said Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 the Central Government hereby publishes this draft notification as required under sub-rule 3 of rule 5 of the said Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986, which shall on and from the date of its final publication make the following amendments in the said notification, namely:—

In the said notification,—

(I). in para 2, after sub-para (iii), the following shall be inserted; namely:—

"However, modernization or expansion proposals without any increase in pollution load and, or without any additional water and or land requirement are exempted from the provisions of this notification:

Provided that, a self certification, stating that the proposal shall not involve any additional pollution load, waste generation or water requirement, be submitted to the regulatory authority by the project proponent."

(II) in para 3, for sub-para (7), the following shall be substituted, namely :—

"(7) All decisions of the SEIAA shall be taken in a meeting by majority/';

(III) in para 4, in sub-para (iii), for the words and letters . “In the absence of a duly constituted SEIAA or SEAC, a Category ‘B' project shall be treated as a Category A project", the words and letters "In the absence of a duly constituted SEIAA or SEAC, a Category "B" project shall be considered at the Central Level. However, Category 'B’ projects are exempt from scoping for three years from the date of issue of this notification" shall be substituted;

(IV) in para 7(i), in sub-para III Relating to Stage (3)- Public Consultation, in clause (i),—

(i) after item (c), the following item shall be inserted, namely:—

"(cc) dredging provided the dredged material shall be disposed or dumped within port limits."

(ii) for item (d), the following item shall be substituted, namely:—

“(d) Ail Building or Construction projects or Area Development projects (which do not contain any category 'A' projects and activities) and Townships (item 8).";

(V) in para 7(ii) relating to prior environmental clearance (EC) process for expansion or modernization or change of product mix in existing projects, the following shall be inserted at the end, namely:—

"However, in case of expansion projects involving enhancement of production by more than 50%, holding of public consultation shall be essential and no exemption in this regard shall be provided.";

(VI) In para 10 relating to Post Environmental Clearance Monitoring,-

(a) The existing sub-para (i) shall be renumbered as sub-para (ii) and before sub-para (ii) as so re-numbered, the following sub-para shall be inserted namely;

"(i) It shall be mandatory for the project proponent to make public the environmental clearance granted for their project along with the environmental conditions and safeguards at their cost by advertising it at least in two local newspapers of the district or State where the project is located. The Ministry of Environment and Forests and the State or UT Environmental Impact Assessment Authorities (SEIAAs), as the case may be, shall also place the environmental clearance in the public domain on Government portal. Further, copies of the environmental clearance shall be endorsed to the Heads of local bodies, Panchayats and Municipal Bodies in addition to the relevant offices of the Government";

(b) existing sub-para (ii) shall be renumbered as sub-para (iii).

(VII) in the Schedule,—

(i) for item l(a) and the entries relating thereto, the following item and entries. shall be substituted, namely:—

(ii) against item l(c), for the entries in column (5), the following entries shall be substituted, namely:—

"General Condition shall apply.

"Note: Irrigation projects not involving submergence or inter-state domain shall be appraised by the SEIAA as Category 'B' Projects.";

(iii) against item l(d),—

(a) in column (3), for the entries, the following entries shall be substituted, namely—

"All projects except Single Super Phosphate,";

(b) in column (4), for the entry, the following entry shall be substituted, namely:—

"Single Super Phosphate';

(ix) against item 5(e), in column (5), for the existing entry, the following entry shall be substituted, namely:—

"General as well as specific conditions shall apply."

(x) against item 5(f), in column (5), for the existing entry, the following entry shall be substituted, namely:—

"General and specific conditions shall apply. " ;

(xi) item 5(k) and the entries relating thereto shall be omitted;.

(xii) against item 7(a),—

(a) in column (3), for the entry, the following entry shall be substituted, namely:—

"All projects including airstrips, which are for commercial use.";

(b) in column (5), for the entry, the following entry shall be substituted, namely:—

"Note:

1, Air strips, which do not involve bunkering/ refueling facility and or Air Traffic Control, are exempted.

2. Modernization of airport is exempted provided there is no increase in pollution load." ;

(xiii) against item 7(c), in column (5), for the entry, the following entry shall be substituted, namely:—

"General as well as specific conditions shall apply.

Note:

1.Industrial Estate of area below 500 ha. and not housing any industry of category A or B does not require clearance.

2.If the area is less than 500 ha. but contains building and construction projects > .50,000 Sq. mtr. and or development area more than 100 ha it will be treated as activity 8(a) or 8(b) as the case may be.

(xiv) against item 7(e),—

(a) in column (2), for the entry, the following entry shall be substituted, namely:—

"Ports, harbors, breakwaters, dredging.";

(b) in column (5), for the entry, the following entry shall be substituted, namely:—

" General Condition shall apply.

Note:

Dredging inside and outside the ports or harbors and channels are included.";

(xv) against item 7(f), in column (4), for the entry, the following entry shall be substituted, namely:—

"All State Highway projects and State Highway expansion projects in hilly terrain or in ecologically sensitive areas.";

(xvi) against item 7(g),—

(a) in column (3), for the entry, the following entry shall be substituted, namely:—

"(i) All projects located at altitude of 1,000 mtr. and above,

(ii) All projects located in notified ecologically sensitive areas.”

(b) in column (4), for the entry, the following entry shall be substituted, namely:—

"All projects except those covered in column (3).";

(xvii) against item 8(a), in column (4), for the entry, the following entry shall be substituted, namely:—

> 50000 sq. mtrs and

< 1,50,000 sq. mtrs. of built up area";

(xviii) against item 8(b), in column (4), for the entry ">50 ha", substitute the entry ">100ha.";

(xix) after the Schedule, in the 'Note', for sub-heading relating to 'General Condition (GC) , the following shall be substituted, namely:—

"Any project or activity specified in Category ‘B' will be treated as Category 'A', if located in whole or in part within 10 km from the boundary of:

(i) Protected areas notified under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972;

(ii) Critically polluted areas as notified by the Central Pollution Control Board from time to time;

(iii) Eco-sensitive areas as notified under section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, such as, Mahabaleshwar Panchgani, Matheran, Pachmarhi, Dahanu, Doon Valley, etc., and

(iv) inter-State boundaries and international boundaries:

Provided that the requirement regarding distance of 10 km of the inter-State boundaries can be reduced or completely done away with by an agreement between the respective States or U.Ts sharing the common boundary.

(VIII) in the Appendix I, in Form I,—

(a) for item (I) relating to the Basic Information, the following shall be substituted, namely:—

"(I) Basic Information

 (b) the following shall be inserted at the end, namely:—

"I hereby given undertaking that the data and information given in the application and enclosures are true to the best of my knowledge and belief and I am aware that if any part of the data and information submitted is found to be false or misleading at any stage, the project will be rejected and clearance give, if any to the project will be revoked at our risk and cost.

Date:

Place:

Signature of the applicant

With Name and Full Address

(Project Proponent / Authorised Signatory)

NOTE:.

1. The projects involving clearance under Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 1991 shall submit with the application a C.R.Z map duly demarcated by one of the authorized, agencies, showing the project activities, w.r.t. C.R.Z and the recommendations of the State Coastal Zone Management Authority. Simultaneous action shall also be taken to obtain the requisite clearance under the provisions of the C.R.Z Notification, 1991 for the activities to be located in the CRZ.

2. The projects to be located within 10 km of the National Parks, Sanctuaries, Biosphere Reserves, Migratory Corridors of Wild Animals, the project proponent shall submit the map duly authenticated by Chief Wildlife Warden-showing these features vis-a-vis the project location and the recommendations or comments of the Chief Wildlife Warden thereon

(IX) for Appendix IV, the following shall be substituted, namely:—

APPENDIX IV (See paragraph 7)

PROCEDURE FOR CONDUCT OF PUBLIC HEARING

1.0 The Public Hearing shall be arranged in a systematic, time bound and transparent manner ensuring widest possible public participation at the project site(s) or in its close proximity District-wise, by the concerned State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) or the Union Territory Pollution Control Committee (UTPCC).

2. 0 The Process:

2.1. The applicant shall make a request through a simple letter to the Member Secretary of the SPCB or Union Territory Pollution Control Committee, in whose jurisdiction the project is located, to arrange the public hearing within the prescribed statutory period. In case the project site is covering more than one District or State or Union Territory, the public hearing is mandated in each District, State or Union Territory in which the project is located and the applicant shall make separate requests to each concerned SPCB or UTPCC for holding the public hearing as per this procedure.

2.2 The applicant shall enclose with the letter of request, at least 10 hard copies and an equivalent number of soft (electronic) copies of the draft EIA Report with the generic structure given in Appendix III including the Summary Environment Impact Assessment report in English and in the local language, prepared strictly in accordance with the Terms of Reference communicated after Scoping (Stage-2).
Simultaneously the applicant shall arrange to forward copies, one hard and one soft, of the above draft EIA Report along with the Summary EIA report to the following authorities or offices, within whose jurisdiction the project will be located:

(a) District Magistrate/s

(b) Zila Parishad or Municipal Corporation

(c) District Industries Office

(d) Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) / PRIs Concerned

(e) Concerned Regional Office of the Ministry of Environment and Forests

2.3 On receiving the draft Environmental Impact Assessment report, the above-mentioned authorities except the Regional Office of MoEF, shall arrange to widely publicize it within their respective jurisdictions requesting the interested persons to send their comments to the concerned regulatory authorities. They shall also make available the draft EIA Report for inspection electronically or otherwise to the public during normal office hours till the Public Hearing is over.

2.4 The SPCB or UTPCC concerned shall also make similar arrangements for giving publicity about the project within the State/Union Territory and make available the Summary of the draft Environmental Impact Assessment report (Appendix III A) for inspection in select offices or public libraries or any other suitable location etc. They shall also additionally make available a copy of the draft Environmental Impact Assessment report to the above five authorities/offices as given in para 2.2.

3.0 Notice of Public Hearing:

3.1 The Member-Secretary of the concerned SPCB or UTPCC shall finalize the date, time and exact venue for the conduct of public hearing within 7 (seven) days of the date of receipt of the draft Environmental Impact Assessment report from the project proponent, and advertise the same in one major National Daily and one Regional vernacular Daily / Official State Language. A minimum notice period of 30 (thirty) days shall be provided to the public for furnishing their responses;

3.2 The advertisement shall also inform the public about the places or offices where the public could access the draft Environmental Impact Assessment report and the Summary Environmental Impact Assessment report before the public hearing. In places where the newspapers do not reach, the Competent Authority should arrange to inform the local public about the public hearing by other means such as by way of beating of drums as well as advertisement / announcement on radio / television.

3.3 No postponement of the date, time, venue of the public hearing shall be undertaken, unless some untoward emergency situation occurs and then only on the recommendation of the concerned District Magistrate, the postponement shall be notified to the public through the same National and Regional vernacular dailies and also prominently displayed at all the identified offices by the concerned SPCB or Union Territory Pollution Control Committee;

3.4 In the above exceptional circumstances, fresh date, time and venue for the public consultation shall be decided by the Member - Secretary of the concerned SPCB or UTPCC only in consultation with the District Magistrate and notified afresh as per procedure under 3.1 above.

4.0 The Panel

4.1 The District Magistrate / District Collector / Deputy Commissioner or his or her representative not below the rank of an Additional District Magistrate assisted by a representative of SPCB or UTPCC, shall supervise and preside over the entire public hearing process.

5.0 Videography

5.1 The SPCB or UTPCC shall arrange to video film the entire proceedings. A copy of the videotape or a CD shall be enclosed with the public hearing proceedings while forwarding it to the Regulatory Authority concerned.

6.0 Proceedings

6.1 The attendance of all those who are present at the venue shall be noted and annexed with the final proceedings.

6.2 There shall be no quorum required for attendance for starting the proceedings.

6.3 A representative of the applicant shall initiate the proceedings with a presentation on the project and the Summary EIA report.

6. 4 Persons present at the venue shall be granted the opportunity to seek information or clarifications on the project from the applicant. The summary of the public hearing proceedings accurately reflecting all the views and concerns expressed shall be recorded by the representative of the SPCB or UTPCC and read over to the audience at the end of the proceedings explaining the contents in the vernacular language and the agreed minutes shall be signed by the District Magistrate or his or her representative on the same day and forwarded to the SPCB/UTPCC concerned.

6. 5 A Statement of the issues raised by the public and the comments of the applicant shall also be prepared in the local language or the Official State language, as the case may be, and in English and annexed to the proceedings-

6.6 The proceedings of the public hearing shall be conspicuously displayed at the office of the Panchyats within whose jurisdiction the project is located, office of the concerned Zila Parishad, District Magistrate, and the SPCB or UTPCC. The SPCB or UTPCC shall also display the proceedings on its website for general information. Comments, if any, on the proceedings, may be sent directly to the concerned regulatory authorities and the applicant concerned.

7.0 Time period for completion of public hearing

7.1 The public hearing shall be completed within a period of forty five days from date of receipt of the request letter from the applicant. Thereafter the SPCB or UTPCC concerned shall sent the public hearing proceedings to the concerned regulatory authority within eight days of the completion of the public hearing. The applicant may also directly forward a copy of the approved public hearing proceedings to the regulatory authority concerned along with the final Environmental Impact Assessment report or supplementary report to the draft EIA report prepared after the public hearing and public consultations incorporating the concerns expressed in the public hearing along with action plan and financial allocation, item- wise, to address those concerns.

7.2 If the SPCB or UTPCC fails to hold the public hearing within the stipulated 45 (forty five) days, the Central Government in Ministry of Environment and Forests for Category 'A' project or activity and the State Government or Union Territory Administration for Category ‘B' project or activity at the request of the SEIAA or project proponent, shall engage any other agency or authority to complete the process, as per procedure laid down in this Notification.";

(X) in Appendix V, for para 3, the following para shall be substituted, namely:—

"3. Where a public consultation is not mandatory, the appraisal shall be made on the basis of the prescribed application Form 1 and EIA report, in the case of all projects and activities other than Item 8 of the Schedule. In the case of Item 8 of the Schedule, considering its unique project cycle, the EAC or SEAC concerned shall appraise all Category B projects or activities on the basis of Form 1, Form 1A and the conceptual plan and make recommendations on the project regarding grant of environmental clearance or otherwise and also stipulate the conditions for environmental clearance.".

[No. J-11013/56/2004-1 A. II(I)]

Sd/-

(J M Mauskar )

Additional Secretary