Lec 15: EIA Process in India

Summary

This lecture, part of IIT Roorkee's series on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), delves into the intricacies of the EIA process in India, examining its legal framework, history, and evolving policies. Focusing on the key legislations like the Environmental Protection Act of 1986, the session underscores the EIA's critical role in sustainable development. It further discusses the 2006 notification and the 2020 draft, highlighting their differences and implications, as well as potential impacts of EIA processes post-implementation. The lecture also touches on public consultation's importance and explores real-world examples that demonstrate the necessity of monitoring and regulation through effective EIA practices.

Highlights

• EIA notifications detailed in 2006 and 2020 cater to developments requiring environmental approvals. 📅
• Consequences of bypassing EIA processes can lead to disasters, as seen in real-life scenarios in India. 🔍
• Emphasizing pollution prevention over control is a key strategy outlined in the policies. 🌿
• Public involvement and transparency are emphasized to prevent conflicts in development projects. 👥
• Innovations like circular economies are encouraged for better resource management. ♻️
• Environmental impacts are considered fundamental even in securing project approvals. 🏗️

Key Takeaways

• The 1986 Environmental Protection Act is the backbone of EIA in India. 🦴
• EIA notifications, notably 2006 and the draft of 2020, guide the environmental project assessments. 📜
• Sustainable resource use and preventing pollution are core to India's environmental policies. 🌍
• EIA processes necessitate public consultation and hold project stakeholders accountable. 🤝
• Failures in EIA compliance can lead to environmental and social crises. ⚠️
• Differences between the 2006 and 2020 EIA notifications include clearer project categorizations and defined terms. 🚧

Overview

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process in India is anchored by the Environmental Protection Act of 1986, ensuring that all development projects consider ecological balance and sustainability. Various policies and legislations have shaped the EIA framework, aiding in safeguarding the environment while allowing for development.

A pivotal part of the EIA is public consultation, which ensures community involvement in environmental decisions affecting them. This participatory approach helps mitigate conflicts and ensures transparency in project implementations. Real-life examples from India highlight the severe social and environmental impacts of neglecting this process.

The transition in EIA practices is evident in the differences between the 2006 and 2020 notifications, with more defined categories and processes aiming to streamline environmental clearances while encompassing a wider array of projects. The effective implementation of these processes ensures that development projects do not harm but potentially benefit the environment.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:30: Introduction and Overview of Lecture The introduction and overview chapter begins with background music and applause, indicating the start of a lecture. The speaker greets the audience with 'hello friends' and introduces the topic of this series, which focuses on various aspects of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
• 01:30 - 03:00: EIA Process in India and Legal Foundation The chapter discusses the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process in India, elaborating on the procedural aspects and the foundational legal bases. It delves into the history and evolution of EIA regulations, focusing on significant milestones like the EIA Notification of 2006 and the proposed draft of 2020. The lecture aims to explore the underpinning legal acts and principles that guide the EIA process in the country.
• 03:00 - 04:30: Comparison of EIA Notifications 2006 and 2020 The chapter provides an overview of the evolution of environmental policies, focusing on a detailed comparison between the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notifications of 2006 and 2020. It mentions that the 2020 notification is still in draft form but expected to be implemented soon and discusses potential impacts that might arise post its implementation.
• 04:30 - 07:30: Policies and Strategies for Environmental Protection This chapter focuses on the policies and strategies for environmental protection, primarily emphasizing the Environmental Protection Act of 1986, which serves as the foundational legal framework for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process in India. It highlights both the 2006 version of the EIA as well as the 2020 draft notification, aiming to delve into the impacts and discussions surrounding these legislative measures.
• 07:30 - 10:30: Development Projects and Their Environmental Impact The chapter discusses the foundation of the 1986 Environmental Protection Act, highlighting the central government's authority and responsibility to implement measures to protect and enhance environmental quality. It emphasizes governmental power in preventing and controlling environmental impacts, particularly in the context of development projects.
• 10:30 - 13:30: Environmental Clearances and Implementation The chapter discusses the processes needed to reduce environmental pollution and conserve resources. It provides a basic idea of the acts related to this goal. The chapter briefly mentions the 1988 National Forest Policy, highlighting its primary objective.
• 13:30 - 16:30: Public Consultation and Participation The chapter titled 'Public Consultation and Participation' discusses the importance of maintaining environmental stability and ecological balance. It emphasizes that ecological balances have been established over millions of years, and any disturbance due to human activities can lead to harmful consequences. The chapter likely explores the need for public engagement in environmental conservation efforts to prevent such imbalances.
• 16:30 - 19:30: Monitoring and Compliance This chapter discusses the importance of environmental monitoring and compliance, emphasizing the role of policies in promoting sustainable practices. It highlights efforts to bring one-third of the land under plantation, acknowledging forests as the 'lungs' of the planet. Furthermore, the chapter touches on constitutional provisions for environmental protection, underlining its foundational significance in policymaking.
• 19:30 - 22:30: Current Challenges and Case Studies The transcript discusses the constitutional aspects of environmental protection in India, particularly through the interpretation of Article 21, which pertains to the right to life and personal liberty. It highlights the interconnection of environmental protection with fundamental rights, suggesting that it has constitutional backing, as reflected in Articles 48A and 51A(g).
• 22:30 - 24:00: Conclusion and References The chapter discusses various environmental policies, including a national conservation strategy from 1992. It focuses on the sustainable and equitable use of resources, ensuring that natural resources are accessible to all groups uniformly.

Lec 15: EIA Process in India Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] [Music] [Applause] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] hello friends so in the series of different aspects of eia today we will
• 00:30 - 01:00 discuss the eia process in india how does it take place what are the basis for this eia process and what are different acts and what is the principle which is behind this eia so all those things we will look into in today's lecture ah so before you know eia process was defined in terms of eia notification 2006 and eia notification draft which is currently you know in the process which is draft 2020.
• 01:00 - 01:30 so before this there were there were many major environmental policies so those policies we will discuss and after that we will see like comparisons between eia notification of 2006 and 2020 ah with 2020 is still in the draft mode and you know it will be notified i think soon and then possible impacts of eia process after implementation of eia draft
• 01:30 - 02:00 notification what what are those implied or possible impacts that that will also be discussed during this lecture and after that we will conclude so ah this environmental protection act 1986 that is the basic you know bone you can say of this whole structure of eia and this act is the legal base for eia process in india whether of 2006 or whether 2020 draft notification so this is the basic fundamental
• 02:00 - 02:30 foundation you can say of 1986 environmental protection act so this this basically states in nutshell the central government shall have the power to take all such measures as it deems necessary ah or this expenditure this expedient for the purpose of protecting and improving the quality of the environment and preventing and controlling any betting all those
• 02:30 - 03:00 processes which are required for reducing the environmental pollution and to conserve the environmental resources so this is that is the basic idea behind this act which is in detail i have just given you in nutshell very brief concept note in in the same line like in 1988 national forest policy was launched and the basic objective of this policy was to
• 03:00 - 03:30 ensure the environmental stability and ecological balance so that there is no activity which can disturb the balance of the environment as you know we have already discussed it several times that ecological balances come into picture through you know thousands and millions of years and if you disturb them due to our man made activities then their balance can be disturbed and that can ah you know the consequence consequences of that imbalance can be very harmful to the
• 03:30 - 04:00 ecosystem as well as to us also and you know this policy also try to ensure like targets to bring one third area under the plantation so that because ah people say that the forest lands plants are the lungs of our whole you know this planet so we should protect those lungs and the protection of environment has been provided means its not just out of the blue basically in constitution also in the
• 04:00 - 04:30 constitution of india also in article 48 a and 51 a g they give this you know for judicial interpretation of article 21 which is the protection of life and protection personal liberty so they are interrelated to each other so environmental protection is part of that like right to life you can say so that is you means you can interpret that it has constitutional bearing or constitutional roots which is
• 04:30 - 05:00 reflected in terms of different policies for the environment another policy was their national conservation strategy and policy of 1992 and that was basically the those you know in platform basic ideas are given for that policy that is like sustainable and equitable use of resources that means it should not be that the natural resources are accessed by some group ah you know
• 05:00 - 05:30 more than other groups of the society or the nation so it should be equitable means every citizen must have equal opportunity towards the natural resources or towards the environmental wealth of the country its not like that one has some privileges or others do not have this is not there so the sustainable means ah only those kind of resources exploitation or harnessing should be done so that it should not get some harmful impacts which can
• 05:30 - 06:00 completely destroy a particular aspect or component of the environment so it should be in a sustainable way then to conserve the natural and man-made heritage there are heritage of both nature like natural for example ganga river or you know certain oceans certain parts of the himalayas all those are heritage natural heritage which are part of the cultural heritage also so manmade heritage and natural heritage which are part of our centuries civilization centuries old you know thousands of
• 06:00 - 06:30 years old civilization so the conservation protection of those heritage is also the part of this policy and preventing and controlling the future deterioration of any part of the land or water or air so that is one very important aspect that any activity which can influence in negatively the land mass or the water bodies or the airshed that should be discouraged or that should be addressed
• 06:30 - 07:00 properly if there is some activity negative sense ok then development projects so the development projects should be means of course when we will do urbanization industrialization or any other activity which are related for meeting our metalistic needs ok so so called developmental activities when we do then of course their byproducts also influence the natural and man-made environment but we have to take care
• 07:00 - 07:30 that their adverse environmental consequences should be minimum we have to minimize them so that kind of policy and policy measures as well as technological interventions we should put in place so that the development project should not be very negative to any kind of resource whether it is natural or man made then restoration of ecological degraded areas because of you know natural process as well as manmade process some ecosystem get deteriorated over the years
• 07:30 - 08:00 so the restoration should be part of our responsibility part of our policy part of of government programs or policies so this is part of that 92 national conservation studies and policy at the same time you know policy statement on abatement of pollution 1992 also includes like more emphasis on pollution prevention rather than pollution controlling or cleaning after the end of the pipe ah emissions or treatment like
• 08:00 - 08:30 maybe its better to you know there is a saying prevention is always better than cure so after emissions you know we clean the environment or after affluent we treat the affluent its better that those kind of effluents should not be there ok so that means the resources or the raw material or in the changes of the process of technology can be in such a way that the waste discharge or affluent discharge or emissions can be very minimum
• 08:30 - 09:00 so prevention is the basic thing or philosophy adoption of best available practicable and those technologies which can prevent pollution as i said miss for example in furnaces some people are using ah you know that oil or coal etc so lot of emissions are there maybe one can use electric furnaces so that kind of technology can prevent the pollution in that work environment right then promotion of clean and low waste
• 09:00 - 09:30 technologies any kind of technology which result in very minimum kind of waste that is welcome right so waste minimization should be there also the waste reuse and recycling we have to think creatively right so there is a saying that there is nothing waste every waste is a resource for something else so if we do that kind of circular economy or circular ah you know this in eco industry development then we can address these issues also
• 09:30 - 10:00 the improvement of water quality or environmental audit related processes natural resource accounting all these come into this promotion of clean technology and environment friendly technology sometimes people call them green technology and they are also part of new concept of circular economy in which you know every kind of waste is a resource for something so this is a circular economy ok like in i think in denmark or so some industrial development have been in
• 10:00 - 10:30 such a way that one industry's waste has been resourced for the other industry for example one can have brick formation industry nearer to the ah thermal power plant based on the coal because flyers can be used there ok so that way means that if you identify certain industries where the waste product of one industry can be used as the raw metal for other industry then ah that can be a wonderful process of reuse and recycling of the materials
• 10:30 - 11:00 ok then in 2012 national wall water policy was implemented water is very important you can see now we have this you know shakti mantra so lot of emphasis is there and the reason is because over the years we have seen that you know this you can call that mindless development have really harmed our water resources in a very big way ah i i personally remember that when i was a kid in wales in rajasthan in east rajasthan wells were
• 11:00 - 11:30 so much you know up into water table during this monsoon season that people those our kids used to swim and you know jump into them and it was very upper layer at the at the brim level you can see but now no well every well is dried now those wells are nowhere open wells now what is happening we have these two wells and the water table is you know even more than 500 feet some somewhere so you can see how we have exploited this ground water and
• 11:30 - 12:00 this this this can be a big problem so to address those things now national water policy is there and objective is that we have to take cognizance of the existing situation which is very serious means many times you might have heard that the third world war will be on the water okay the access to the clean water or the usable water is a big challenge everywhere because we need usable water water is there but usable water may not
• 12:00 - 12:30 be inaccessible reach ok to propose the framework so that a system can be created and lodged and institutions can be put in place so that the conservation of water may be there and it can be ah in a holistic way right plan of action in a unification manner so that at the national level one policy can be ah thought upon and implemented properly up to the last and like at the village level or so then you know 2006 national environmental policy
• 12:30 - 13:00 was put in place like better livelihoods through resource conservation instead of their degradation so again positive outlook and greater role and responsibilities to the local bodies that is very important you know when people participate in any program then success rate is high otherwise what happens you know us and they that kind of division in the thought does not help means if you force some policy from outside
• 13:00 - 13:30 because of some governmental institutions if local people are not taken into trust or in into like participation then they will not be able to visualize that this is our policy they will see it is outside some group is there they are doing because of their own some interest and there are many issues ok so the local bodies you know role should be defined their responsibility should be defined then success rate becomes high then eia act as principal methodology for appraisal
• 13:30 - 14:00 and review of the new project so this philosophy was taken into account that the eia must be there a good document should be prepared based on ah complete study so that objective analysis can be there and one can see if there is any kind of positive or negative impact on these all three ah you know part of like society economy and the environment then coordination among stakeholders ok between government between industries
• 14:00 - 14:30 and between like users or rural folks or wherever industries are being put or any project is brought upon so those local population must be brought into picture environmental protection as an integral part of the development means development should not be delinked with the environment any development activity which is harmful to the environment should not be accepted that means the proposal of the development or development activity
• 14:30 - 15:00 should be totally integrated they should be unified they should not be separable means whenever we talk about the development we should talk about the environment and we should you know put policy in such a way that any development activity should not harm the environment rather it should protect or it should add value to the environment in one or the other way that is very important so the eia notification 2006 was brought ok that this will be the way of ah
• 15:00 - 15:30 environmental impact assessment henceforth and you know this is again ah legally based on environment protection act 1986 that is the you know foundation thing on on that foundation you know some structures are put in right and it has certain restrictions it is putting some restrictions on prohibitions on new projects or modernization of existing product projects or activities in terms of like environmental implications that that's the
• 15:30 - 16:00 thing and it is applicable to every part of india including ah you know territory territorial waters and all those ah components of national boundaries then restrictions based on potential environmental impact that is the important thing because we have to keep environment every time when we talk of any development or industrial activity then state environmental impact assessment authority that was made and what kind of authority it is how it is defined it is constituted by central government
• 16:00 - 16:30 and there are processes like three members including chairman and member secretary should be in that committee and state or ut union territory that will forward the names of the members and member secretary to the center to get approval and those members shall be professionals or experts its not like some political ah member can be there because professional or experts who understand the whole you know this scenario or whole action
• 16:30 - 17:00 interaction of the environment and development activities they would be able to add value to the whole process so this is defined that professionals or experts will be the members and one of the members shall be the chairman ok in that and decision of committee shall be unanimous means its not like one has descend or something like no one there will be consensus they will reach to a conclusion and it should be taken in ah you know meeting ah or otherwise like major majority or
• 17:00 - 17:30 whenever majority previous then it is a committee's decision means even if somebody having some reservation ultimately it is the committee's decision there is no like if and what something like that constituted after every three years so that new you know people can come with new perspective new ideas new outlook they can contribute in constructive way right and then the need of environmental clearance without environmental clearance project will not be implemented so that is very important thing
• 17:30 - 18:00 so that has been part of the legal requirement right environment clearance is the legal requirement without that project will not be implemented okay so the proponent of the project which permits to start the project they will get the environmental clearance and this environmental clearance is needed before any construction work or preparation of land by the ah project management except for securing like purchasing land etcetera but when
• 18:00 - 18:30 you are preparing for that project then ec must be there this is this was the ah you know first priority or first requirement then projects requirement requirement for environmental clearance which kind of project should be there so all new projects or activities listed in ein notification of 2006 so there is a list which projects will require eia okay and different categories are also we will discuss those later on and the expansion of activities listed in that notification 2006
• 18:30 - 19:00 with addition of capacity building or capacity beyond the limits specified that would also need ei its not that once you have made the project and then you can do anything with that project no you have to define if it is you know beyond certain limits then again new i is required any change of ah in a product mix in an existing ah this manufacturing unit beyond the specified range so there are some limits or range which have which have been specified beyond that you you need
• 19:00 - 19:30 again one more eia if earlier eia was done no problem but if you are changing that thing beyond a limit then again ei is required ok now ah you know the process of environmental clearance how this environmental clearance is taken so easy for project type activity we have to think about and categorization through screening process means when we see what kind of project proposal is there so accordingly the notification says
• 19:30 - 20:00 that in which category it will come ok so a category projects or b category projects according to 2006 we are talking environmental eia notification of 2006 we are talking not of the 2020 draft notification ok please make this ah remember this then it is done by ministry of environment and forest and climate change and this eac that committee and this sei a which we just
• 20:00 - 20:30 you know we just discussed state environment impact assessment authority that will take the decision according to ah it is written here also all these acronyms ok what are the project categories how we define a or b those kind of things so there are some guidelines like high impact projects or im you know medium impact project so accordingly a and b are there so are high impact projects which have you know highly impactful and b medium impact projects so two broad
• 20:30 - 21:00 categories a or b have been defined so that if something fall in b category then how to process further and something is in a category then how to do ok all these things have been decided and divided properly so if you see in this table categorization of transport sector ah because this is the you know course of transportation systems so otherwise eia talks about every kind of industry or development activity but we are just you know taking example of transport sector because
• 21:00 - 21:30 this is more nearer to our this course so airports project type ok so all airports will be in category a this will not be in category b oil and gas pipeline these will be again in category a right aerial rope ways they will be in category b harbour port according to their you know handling capacity like more than 5 million tons per annum that cardo cargo is handled by that port then
• 21:30 - 22:00 this excluding fishing harbors ok only those cargo related ports or harbors which are dealing with more than 5 million tons per nm cargo they will be in category a otherwise less than that will be in category b so that is important to ah distinguish between these highways new national highways okay expansion of national highways greater than 30 kilometer or involving additional right of way greater than
• 22:00 - 22:30 20 meter involving land acquisition and passing through more than one state means interstate then those highways will be in category a otherwise new state highways which do not go beyond one state or you know they are ah in within this reach of ah 30 kilometer national state highways greater than 30 kilometer involving additional right way of greater than 20 meter involving land acquisition but they do not go beyond one state then they are part of category b
• 22:30 - 23:00 railway projects do not come under eia notification of 2006 okay but eia report is necessary for other clearances such as forest clearance or other ah you know related clearances otherwise you know like these are not treated ah for other like other highways or airports etcetera so this is given some kind of you know because of its role in our goods and services to the
• 23:00 - 23:30 passengers that that may be one reason change in project category means once one category is there but in some situations one category can go to other category for example category b will be treated to category a in some cases for example if it is located whole or part within 10 kilometer from the boundary of these four kind of zones like ah under wildlife protection act if some area is defined and that project is
• 23:30 - 24:00 within 10 kilometer of this zone then this will be treated as category a even if it was category b according to that table which we just discussed okay then notified echo sensitive areas again if project within that area or within 10 kilometer then this will be category a critically polluted area as notified by central pollution control board there are certain industrial areas which are highly polluted ok so we do
• 24:00 - 24:30 not need more projects there otherwise they will add into ah more pollution ok so if within 10 kilometer of that area critically polluted area that will be treated as a so more stringent rules regulations will be applied inter state boundaries and international boundaries so nearer to the 10 kilometer again even if project is small that will be treated as category a project okay then application for environmental clearance so that is
• 24:30 - 25:00 the part of whole eia which is submitted to the agencies which are responsible for giving you know environmental clearance so the applications for seeking ah this environmental clearance is submitted in terms of prescribed form one and form ah one a which will be see late in next slide and then applicant will furnish some pre feasibility project report certain guidelines are there for that to submit that report and pre feasibility project report wont
• 25:00 - 25:30 be required in case of few projects then a copy of the conceptual plan shall be certain categories are there where pre feasibility project report is not required then conceptual plan will be required so its not like you do not need to submit anything and you can get environmental clearance it is not so you have to submit some sort of information to the decision making organization or agencies so we were talking about form 1 and 1 a what is this this application so this is a kind of checklist
• 25:30 - 26:00 ah ok that gives different parameters so tech tick yes no those kind of thing checklist is there in terms of the impact of details like yes or no the 93 parameters in 10 categories of the impact which we discussed earlier so those are in that checklist okay form 1a requires to fill details about 10 impacts such as vegetation or air quality or water quality or you know solid waste related things those issues are listed there
• 26:00 - 26:30 and they become part of form one a pre feasibility report is consist of like what is the background of the project a brief description of the project then site analysis where it is located what are the weather climate conditions then what are the proposed infrastructures when we are going to develop it rehabilitation or resettlement plan if that kind of issue is there ok for example in dams related activities ah those are the part of the whole plan or eia project schedule
• 26:30 - 27:00 and cost estimates that should also be there because cost estimates and the project schedule will give us an idea that how many years it will go on and when cost estimates is there then there are certain activities so with that activity we can relate what kind of impacts may be there overall analysis of the proposal in terms of like social economic and environmental impact that will be the detailed part of the pre-feasibility report then if there is no requirement of
• 27:00 - 27:30 pre-feasibility report then you have to give a brief conceptual plan so again project description is there site location important features of the projects impacts if any so these are the things which are required for even smaller projects then we see the steps for scoping ah process in ein notification according to 2006 so the tor terms of reference comprehensive terms of reference for the preparation of eia report by the applicant has to submit according to the those guidelines right
• 27:30 - 28:00 then site visit by a subgroup of appraisal committee is compulsory so that they can see the site in physically and they can relate those impacts which can be ah possible in that site in that location then tur shall be conveyed by the appraisal committee within 60 days of the receipt of the application means this is the responsibility of the appraisal committee if they want to give some comments on the tur they accept it as it is or they want to make some changes they have to
• 28:00 - 28:30 give within two months period to the client well so if por are not finalized and convert to the applicant within 60 days provided to r will be assumed final so if no comments are received that means the whatever you are you have submitted that is fine that is acceptable by the decision making body ok that approved tor shall be displayed ah you know on the website so that everybody can see it so the whole transparency is there because there are so many
• 28:30 - 29:00 stakeholders wherever project is coming there are so many stakeholders even if they are not part of that project because the project will directly or indirectly will influence their life so even if some villager is there he has or she has you know equal right constitutional right that they should know what is going on because of this project so to you are visible to all ok so on the website of moef ministry of environment forest and climate change it will be available then the prior this ec or environmental clearance
• 29:00 - 29:30 may be rejected on the recommendation of the appraisal committee that is possible ok on the basis of whatever information has been given they can decide ok this is not good something has to be done so the reason of rejection shall be communicated within 60 days so again timeline is there so responsibility is there for the committee that you cannot just linger on you cannot harass the client they are the part of our country building activity so if you are not satisfied give them answer so that
• 29:30 - 30:00 accountability is there that is wonderful part of this notification then public consultation is also important means project is coming somewhere so the public participation must be there public hearing must be there so those kind of issues are implemented in real sense public meetings are organized and the any public member can give some feedback or they can ask some queries so that is part of this whole eia and you know sometimes if this public
• 30:00 - 30:30 consultation is not possible then you know one has to define the reasons and alternates like maybe some representatives of the public can be invited and feedback can be taken something can be done but it cannot be ignored totally right now some examples that why it is so important okay so in year twenty one one u p government ah you know had done this acquisition of land for yamuna express ah way around greater noida but there
• 30:30 - 31:00 were some issues so agitations you know erupted and this political and social crisis kind of situation ah emerged right so if public participation had been done properly and documented properly and you know there was no gap then such situations can be avoided that means the public participation and public consultation must be in a transparent way there should not be scope for any doubt and maybe some legal documents should be
• 31:00 - 31:30 signed by both parties so that there is no scope of ah making misinterpretations of any situation ok similarly like exception cases where public consultations of this project is not required then there are certain conditions or situation like expansion expansion of the roads and highways which do not involve any further acquisition of land so for that no public consultation is
• 31:30 - 32:00 required that is you know just waved off similarly projects or activities concerning national defense and security so again that our kind of public consultation is not required because the most important thing is security and defense of the nation that is the first priority of whole country and society so we can get away with this so that those projects are not hindered ok so involving those kind of strategy considerations
• 32:00 - 32:30 and ah so that is exempted then specified projects within existing industrial states and some irrigation projects which are of utmost ah importance for farmers for those you know deprived groups of the society which needs ah you know a fast development kind of things so that kind that that kind of thing can also be exempted in in certain cases then appraisal process for eia notification 2006
• 32:30 - 33:00 so the clearance is taken or rejection is there all those things have been should be communicated properly and which we have already discussed that within 60 days these kind of things should be communicated like post this ec means like environment clearance has been obtained then monitoring must be there ok so half yearly every 6 month when project is going on so report should go to the ah this moef cc and pollution control board what kind of activities are there
• 33:00 - 33:30 what kind of impacts are there all those things right so every first june or first december each of each calendar year the report should go for the monitoring compliance are there or not whatever guidelines are there so those compliance should be a kind of public document and it should be accessible to all then you know like some environmental clearances are there and let us assume that suppose you know one contractor
• 33:30 - 34:00 cannot complete that project because one or other reason right and that project has already got the environmental clearance so that clearance can be transferred to another agency if that agency is hired to complete that project so that kind of possibility is there but with same terms and conditions there should not be any major change which can add into some negative impact that is not acceptable but transferable of the ec is possible in certain
• 34:00 - 34:30 situations ok then now we are talking about eia notification 2020 draft so on the basis of some feedback from different stakeholders groups like even ngos or environmentalists or experts etcetera or maybe industrialist or industrial groups so new eia notification is building and the 2020 draft is was there in public mode and anybody could give some feedback so that
• 34:30 - 35:00 new draft has been there in the for the public comments and feedback ah in march twenty twenty ok and this notification will come in force on the date of publication of that final notification after incorporating whatever changes or suggestions which have been received from different works of the people then it will be a official gadget so then it will be into force legal force ok so legally based on again environmental protection act 1986 that is the
• 35:00 - 35:30 basic bond of all these acts now if you want to see what is the difference between 2006 and 2020 ah this eia notification so there are some differences like ah you know in this ein notification 2006 there were only two major categories of the projects a and b in this you know 2020 this b category have been splitted into two b1 and b2 again based on certain feedback so three project categories are there various terms were not defined in 2006
• 35:30 - 36:00 they were you know implied kind of thing but in 2020 notification every term is properly defined there is no ambiguity because of that right yearly data is required for impacts date of one season is sufficient in new guidelines so it can be quick but which kind of you know season has to be chosen so it is better that ah you know those kind of seasons should be chosen which gives us kind of worst case scenario so that we can have better idea about what can
• 36:00 - 36:30 happen in negative way and we can address them properly monitoring at every six month as we have seen first june and first december now yearly monitoring can be there so because of you know some technological interventions may be those kind of paperwork is not required there are other ways to monitor and to do compliance then monitoring report by third party this monitoring has to be submitted by project proponent himself or herself means that agency
• 36:30 - 37:00 they can submit again as i said there are so many technologies that you can always catch hold if there is some manipulation or not so because of those new technologies it is possible to get away with those more rigorous monitoring compliances then increment in project categories in eia draft 2020 like from b to b 1 b 2 and those kind of categories are there because of certain ah
• 37:00 - 37:30 you know dimensions we will see in this example like you know airports ok all airports are a like water air drones ah these have been defined commercially used heli ports all these are now in b2 so one definite terms are there other otherwise earlier there was like ports only right similarly like oil and gas again it is in a elevated roads or you know flyovers or bridges ah more than ah 150 000 square meters
• 37:30 - 38:00 built up area that will be in b2 so you can see a b1 b2 harbor ports earlier all these ports were like more than 5 million tpa transfer nm they were in a and then b category was for less than this 5 million ok but the b2 categories now all projects in respect of inland waterways so inland waterways lot of focus is there of the government earlier that was not part means in
• 38:00 - 38:30 it was not specified properly now in b2 category it has been incorporated that is welcome step similarly highways have been categorized into like b1 and b2 depending upon their length and you know their width etcetera so these are listed here then there are you know certain terms which have been defined in twenty twenty which were not defined properly in ah twenty o six like ah ah eia ah should be done by some accredited
• 38:30 - 39:00 environmental ah assessment groups or people those organizations which are assessment consultant organizations and they should be you know accredited in by nabt national accreditation board for education and training of quality council of india so again more formal more professional way of doing things otherwise earlier sometimes you know some people used to do not with such a serious way any other agency may be notified by
• 39:00 - 39:30 the ministry from time to time so it has been properly defined similarly like dredging how to do although earlier also i said that dredging is not encouraged and now new technologies are coming because dredging is not so environment friendly then for border areas ah you know within 100 kilometers these areas have been defined earlier there were debates which are the border area up to what distance something like that okay similarly like green rating for
• 39:30 - 40:00 integrated habitat assessment grija indian green building ah council all these you know certificate which can be issued by those agencies are defined so that one can flag ah my project is so good because it has got got certificates from these environment friendly related agencies ok then some district divisional level expert appraisal committee has also been properly defined earlier it was not so categorized properly exceptions for
• 40:00 - 40:30 assessment of b1 category projects for eia like earlier also there were some categories but any project or activity specified in category b1 shall be appraised at the center level if located whole or part earlier also we discussed in the b category if you remember the similar project protected areas critically polluted areas echo sensitive zones all these or severely polluted ah areas or ecosensitive zone within that boundary ah five ten
• 40:30 - 41:00 kilometers so it has been again defined that even if b1 category is there it will be treated as a because the center will take the ah cognizance of it directly then ah this monitoring monitoring has been like earlier twice a year as we have already seen in the difference now once a year and the compliance can be done by the proponent itself examples of like some weak monitoring processes
• 41:00 - 41:30 ah there are real life examples which gives us lessons to learn like there was polymer there is polymer plant in visakhapatnam and you know there was some ghee this gas leak and because of this you know it was death of 11 people and approximately one thousand people got sick and what was found that over two decades without environmental and safety clearances this ah you know setup was going on so these are the you know missing gaps
• 41:30 - 42:00 or negligence which should not be tolerated if you know this process was there so this kind of things might be avoided because when you do some processing some monitoring properly then auditing happens and things come into knowledge that oh this is the gap we have to address right similarly like this refinery in sm it has severe damage to the livelihoods because of you know this fire in may 2020 and it
• 42:00 - 42:30 was operating for 15 years without any environmental and safety clearance so these kind of negligence should not be tolerated and they should be brought into this complete eia process that this the monitoring should be continuous there should not be any gap and they should be made legally you know binding ok so the new draft of eia 2020 that is are there and it there is some you know
• 42:30 - 43:00 implications like any environmental impact during one season except for river valley projects so again there are some schools of thoughts or some people who are arguing that it is not good one season people may try to manipulate they may go for any season and it may not be worst case scenario and then the impact may not be so severe which can be in ah the severe kind of condition so those kind of issues are there but maybe notification comes then they they are all addressed
• 43:00 - 43:30 similarly air pollution related like which season should be there what waste line data can be there if you know summer or winter because if something is done in summer maybe in winter because of inversion that situation can be totally different right so though those issues are there and they they should be addressed and we hope that when 20 this 20 new notification will come in 21 or they or we are not sure when it will come but all these issues will be addressed
• 43:30 - 44:00 we are hoping so so in nutshell we can say that the eia process has evolved over the years and now our eia process is very good and this takes ah you know notice of everything which can influence the environment in negative way and these are the references which you can go through ah you know there is lot of information on ah the website of ministry of environment and forest and climate change you should go through those notifications we have just given you know
• 44:00 - 44:30 some bullet form information but notifications are quite detailed so please go through those notifications it will give you better idea better understanding about the whole eia process thank you for your kind attention ah we will continue on you know certain case studies later on thanks again [Music] [Applause] [Music]
• 44:30 - 45:00 [Music] you