IMPACT ASSESSMENT DIVISION

PRESENTATION

BEFORE HON’BLE MINISTER

Ministry of Environment, Forest

and Climate Change

11.07.2016

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INTRODUCTION

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•Impact Assessment Division is entrusted with the work relating to environmental clearance to project(s). • Policies formulation related to environmental clearances. •Regulations for protection and improvement of environment and safeguarding the natural resources in sustainable manner.

BACKGROUND

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• Stockholm Conference of 1972 – proclaimed protection and improvement of the human environment as a major issue.

• Urged the nation states to preserve the natural resources of the earth including air, water, land, flora and fauna for the benefit of all the people and for their posterity.

• Earth Summit, 1992 was another landmark towards the protection and conservation of environment, where two important principles namely, (i) the concept of sustainable development and (ii) the inter generational equity were declared.

BACKGROUND

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• The term “environment” was introduced in the Constitution of India for the first time by the 42nd Amendment in 1976.

• Article 48A of the Constitution under Part-IV dealing with Directive Principles of State Policy states as under:

"48A. Protection and improvement of environment and safeguarding of forests and wild life -The State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wild life of the country.“

• Article 51A was introduced as a separate part known as “Fundamental Duties”. Clause(g) of this article states as follows:

“(g) to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures”

BACKGROUND

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• Article 246 divides the subject for legislation in Union, State and Concurrent List.

• Article 248(1) exclusively empowers Parliament to make any law with respect to any

matter not enumerated in the Concurrent List or State List – Residuary Powers • Environment is not included in any of the list (List I, II or III) in distribution of legislative power, any matter not included in the list shall be subject matter of Central government.

• Article 253 empowers Parliament to legislate for giving effect to any international treaty, agreement or convention.

• Entry 14 of Union List which is relevant to this Article provides for “entering to treaties and agreements with foreign countries and implementing of treaties, agreements and conventions with foreign countries”.

• By virtue of these provisions, the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 enacted.

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In EIA, the term

“impacts” is used

instead of “effects

of activities.”

What is an

impact?

Definition of EIA

Environmental Impact Assessment is A formal process for identifying:

• likely effects of activities or

projects on the

ENVIRONMENT, and on

human health and welfare.

•means and measures to

mitigate & monitor these

impacts

Environment is

broadly interpreted:

physical, biological,

and social.

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What is an impact?

The impact of an activity is a deviation (a change)

from the baseline situation that is caused by the activity.

To measure an impact, we must know what the baseline situation is.

The baseline situation

is the existing environmental situation or condition in the absence of the activity.

The baseline situation is a key concept in EIA. More…

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The baseline situation

In characterizing the

baseline situation,

many environmental

components MAY be

of interest

Water Quantity, quality, reliability, accessibility

Soils Erosion, crop productivity,

fallow periods, salinity,

nutrient concentrations

Flora Composition and density of

natural vegetation, productivity, key species

Fauna Populations, habitat

Special Key species

ecosystems

Env Health Disease vectors,

pathogens

The components of interest are those that are likely to be affected by activity—or upon which activity depends for its success

STATUTORY PROVISIONS

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• EIA in India started as early as 1978 with river valley projects.

• Subsequently EIA extended to large public sector projects requiring PIB clearance. First EIA Notification was issued on 27th January, 1994

• Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 2006 was issued vide S.O.No.1533(E) dated 14th September, 2006 under Section 3, sub-section(2), clause (v) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 read with clause (d) of sub-rule(3) of rule 5 of Environment(protection) Rule, 1986.

• Twenty eight Amendments have been made so far.

DIFFERENCE FROM 1994 NOTIFICATION

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Transparent, decentralized and efficient

regulatory mechanism to:

Incorporate necessary environmental safeguards at

planning stage

Involve stakeholders in the public consultation

process

Identify developmental projects based on impact

potential instead of the investment criteria

DEVELOPMENTAL ACTIVITIES REQUIRING PRIOR

ENVIRONMENTAL CLEARANCE(EC)

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• All new projects/activities listed in the Schedule;

• Expansion and modernization of existing projects or

activities listed in the Schedule with addition of

capacity beyond the limits specified.

• Any change in product - mix in an existing

manufacturing unit included in Schedule beyond the

specified range.

CATEGORIZATION OF PROJECTS

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Developmental activity

Category A

If GC

applicable

Category B

EC by MoEFCC EC by SEIAA

Apply in Form-I for

screening

Stages in Prior Environmental Clearance Process

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Stage I: Screening

Stage II: Scoping

Stage III: Public Consultation

Stage IV: Appraisal

Screening, Scoping and Appraisal Committees

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• MoEFCC has constituted EAC at Central level for Scoping and

Appraisal of projects.

• There are 8 EACs for seven sectors.

• MoEFCC has notified SEAC at state level based on proposals

received from State Government.

Contd.

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• EAC/SEAC may inspect sites (during screening, scoping and

appraisal)

• EAC/SEAC shall not have more than 15 regular members.

• Chairperson may co-opt an expert as a member.

• Time period for Committees -3 years.

• All members will be part-time and expenditure to be borne

by MoEFCC for EACs and by State Government(s) for SEACs.

Expert Appraisal Committees

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S.No. EAC Chairman Date of constitution

1. Industry-I Dr. Chhavi Nath Pandey, IFS

(Retd.)

2nd November, 2015

2. Industry-II Dr. J.P. Gupta 28th November, 2015

3. Mining (Non-coal) Dr. Ajay Kumar 3rd December, 2015

4. Coal and Thermal Shri Anil Kumar

Former Secretary, GOI

2nd September, 2013

5. River Valley and Hydro Power Shri Alok Perti,

Former Secretary, M/o Coal

5th September, 2013

6. Infrastructure,-I Shri Anil Rajdan, IAS (Retd.) 12th September, 2013

7. Infrastructure-II

Prof. T. Haque 3rd December, 2015

8. Nuclear, Defence and related

proposals

Shri Pradeep Kumar,

Former Chief Vigilance

Commissioner

27th August, 2015

Regional Offices and their jurisdiction

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S. No. Head Quarter

of Regional

Office

Jurisdiction

1 Bangalore Karnataka, Kerala, Goa and

Lakshadweep

2 Bhopal Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu,

Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh

3 Bhubaneswar Orissa and West Bengal

4 Chennai Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,

Puducherry and Andaman & Nicobar

Islands

5 Chandigarh Chandigarh, Haryana, Jammu &

Kashmir and Punjab

Regional Offices and their jurisdiction

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S. No. Head Quarter of

Regional Office

Jurisdiction

6 Dehradun Himachal Pradesh and

Uttarakhand

7 Lucknow Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar

Pradesh

8 Nagpur Chhattisgarh and

Maharashtra

9 Ranchi Bihar and Jharkhand

10 Shillong Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,

Manipur, Meghalaya,

Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim

and Tripura

Post Clearance Monitoring

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• Six monthly compliance of EC to be filed by

Project proponent with Regional Office.

• SPCB & CPCB monitor the emission & effluent.

• Oversight of Public, NGT and Hon’ble Courts.

EC and TORs Granted During the Last Three Years

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Year Number of Environmental

Clearance granted

Number of TOR

granted

2013-14 305 623

2014-15

442 638

2015-16 643 669

Total 1390 1930

Environmental Clearance granted to the projects

from 26.05.2014 to 31.03.2016

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S. No Sector No of EC Granted Project Cost (Crore)

Employment

Generated

1 Industry 398 231528.39 106696

2 Non Coal Mining 264 19714.74 44249

3 Coal Mining 85 57541.18 13743

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Infrastructure/CRZ/Bu

ildg. Construction 255

259570.82 47953

5 Nuclear & Defence 3

19560.99 7600

6 Thermal 27 96681.76 37374

7 River Valley 17 54657.61 12710

Total 1049 739255.49 270325

ACTION TAKEN ON PMO’s SUGGESTIONS

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S.No Sector Number of

Agreed

Reforms

Number on

which action

Completed

Number on

which action

is pending

1 Environment

Clearance

36 31 05

2 Forest Clearance 18 18 0

3 Wildlife Clearance 5 5 0

4 CRZ Clearance 1 1 0

Total 60 55 05

Action has been completed on 55 reforms. In remaining 5 reforms, action is pending, as 2 reforms are related to carrying capacity study of river basins, 2 reforms are related to amendment in laws and one reform pertaining to Green Platform is likely to take some more time.

STREAMLINING THE SYSTEM

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• Weighted average time taken in grant of EC

reduced from 600 days to 192 days.

• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate

Change has taken initiatives from time to time to

streamline and rationalise the Environment

Clearance process:

• Initiatives taken during the last 2 years are as

follows:

STREAMLINING THE SYSTEM

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1. USE OF ICT:

MoEFCC from 1st July, 2014,

SEIAA from 2nd July, 2015,

DEIAA from 28.06.2016,

Project Proponent can track his application and also has

access to previous Environment Impact Assessment

Reports.

• General Conditions amended reducing 10 km distance from PA, CPA, ESZ to 5

Km – more projects will be appraised at State level.

• TPP [1(d)] up to 15 MW based on biomass or non-hazardous municipal solid

waste using auxiliary fuel such as coal, lignite/ petroleum products upto 15%

exempted from EC and more than 15 MW will be Category ‘B’.

• Non-Molases based industry [5(g)], the threshold limit raised from 30 kld to 60

kld (< 60 kld) to be appraised as Category ‘B’.

• Mineral Beneficiation projects [2(b)] threshold limit for Category ‘B’ raised from

0.1 MTPA to 0.5 MTPA (<0.5 MTPA throughput).

• Irrigation projects [1(c)] of CCA > 2000 ha. to <10000 ha. appraised as

Category ‘B’.

• Delegated power at the district level headed by District Magistrate or District

Collector for mining of minor minerals including sand mining for mine lease area

upto 5 ha. for individual lease and 25 ha. in cluster.

• Constituted DEIAA and DEAC.

DECENTRLIZATION

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• All highway projects [7(f)] in border States exempted from scoping

requirement.

• All linear projects in border States exempted from the requirement of

public hearing subject to suitable conditions.

• Standardized thirty nine sector specific model Terms of References

(TORs): launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister in April 2015.

• Standard TORs enable the project proponent to commence preparation

of an EIA report after successful online submission and registration of

the application. Additional ToRs, if any has to be prescribed in 30 days

by EACs/SEACs, failing which automatic TORs issued to PP.

• Advisory issued to EACs/SEACs to seek information in one go from the

proponent.

FACILITATING FASTER INFRASTRUCTURE, INDUSTRIAL &

EDUCATIONAL GROWTH

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• Exemption from PH for expansion of coal mining up to 6 MTPA.

• Cases will be considered for EC even if the data in EIA report is slightly

older than 3 years if EAC has recommended.

• Documents required for evidence of possession of land for

consideration of EC – Govt. initial Notification and consent of land

owners.

• Construction of industrial shed, school, college, hostels for education

institution are exempt from the requirement of EC under EIA

Notification, 2006.

• Clarified that industrial sheds implies building(whether RCC or

otherwise) which is being used for housing plant, machinery of

industrial units and include Godowns and buildings connected with

production related and other associated activities of the unit in the

same premise.

FACILITATING FASTER INFRASTRUCTURE, INDUSTRIAL &

EDUCATIONAL GROWTH

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• Projects granted CRZ Clearance under 1991 Notification will not

require clearance under Notification of 2011.

• If a Port as a whole has obtained EC, individual berths, dredging

etc. will not require separate EC.

• Validity of ToR raised to 4 years for all projects and 5 years for

HEP.

• Validity of environment clearance increased from 5 years to seven

years without altering the overall validity of ten years.

FACILITATING FASTER INFRASTRUCTURE, INDUSTRIAL &

EDUCATIONAL GROWTH

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FACILITATING FASTER INFRASTRUCTURE, INDUSTRIAL &

EDUCATIONAL GROWTH

• Public hearing exemption provided for the existing pellet plants.

• Transfer of environment clearance of cancelled coal block to legal

person to whom such block is subsequently allocated without

referring to EAC/SEAC.

• Preparation and presentation of Environment Impact Assessment

(EIA) report and Environment Management Plan by the accredited

Consultants.

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Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

Vide its OM No. 22-15/2014-1A.III dated 29th August,

2014 has constituted High Level Committee to

undertake a retrospection exercise in the functioning of

forests, wildlife and environment related statues.

HIGH LEVEL COMMITTEE REPORT

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• Environment (Protection) act, 1986 (EP act)

• Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 (FC Act)

• Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (WLP Act)

• The Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act,

1974 (Water Act)

• The Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974

(Air Act)

• The Indian Forests Act, 1927 (IF Act) (Added on 18th

September 2014)

Acts

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• The High Level Committee (TSR Subramanian Committee) submitted its

report in November, 2014.

• The main recommendations are :

(a) Enacting a new umbrella Environment Law-

Environment Law (Management) Act (ELMA).

(b) The above Act to provide for setting up of National

Environment Management Authority(NEMA) and

State Environment Management Authority(SEMA).

(c) These Authorities will have sector-wise experts for

appraisal of projects.

(d) Setting up of a National level institute on Environment.

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Main recommendation of HLC

(e) NEMA/SEMA will make recommendations to the Ministry on

environment clearances.

(f) NEMA/SEMA will develop systems for effective monitoring of

compliances.

(g) A national level electronic database to be prepared for

environment and forest parameters.

(h) Integration of various clearances

(i) Integration of provisions of Water and Air act in the new law and

subsequent sub-subsumation of CPCB and SPCB by NEMA and

SEMA.

(j) In total 55 recommendations have been made by HLC.

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Main recommendation of HLC

Consortium of Ernst & Young LLP and

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co

appointed as Technical consultant by the

Ministry to examine the Recommendations

of HLC

The Technical Consultant has submitted

inception report, Gap Assessment report

and Best Practices report.

HIGH LEVEL COMMITTEE REPORT

• Amendment in Environment (Protection) Act. Incorporation of civil

penalty provisions in EP Act. A Cabinet Note is under finalisation

after receipt of Ministries comments.

•Notification for integrating of environmental conditions with the

building permission up to 150000 sq. mts.

•To establish Green Platform – to create an authentic, dynamic data

base on 111 environmental parameters for the country.

•To organise country wide workshops on sand mining notifications

for its effective implementation.

WORK IN PROGRESS: TARGETS

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•Strengthening monitoring mechanism for environmental compliance:

Environmental Audit.

• Setting up of Environment Regulator.: Hon’ble Supreme Court’s Orders.

•Review of projects to be covered under EIA: NGT orders on Bridges,

Metro etc.

• Notification to deal with cases of “Violations”.

• Strengthening of SEIAA/SEAC.

• De-linking EC and Stage-I FC of the linked coal mine with the EC of TPPs on the line of Ultra Mega Power Plants (UMPPs).

• Considering e-auction coal under the domain of firm coal linkage.

WORK IN PROGRESS….

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Carrying capacity Study for Orissa and Jharkhand mining :

The ICFRE has done study for Jharkhand and submitted its draft final report on 28/03/2016 .

NEERI has done study for Orissa.

River basin Study:

Carrying capacity study and cumulative impact assessment of River Basins

WORK IN PROGRESS….

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1. Questions on environmental clearance granted in

different sectors/ states.

2. Pending Cabinet Note and Draft bill on introducing

civil penalty.

3. Notification on Construction and Violation.

4. Questions on HLC Report.

ISSUES LIKELY TO BE RAISED IN PARLIAMENT

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THANKS