A centrally-appointed committee should take over the interim decisions of state environmental impact bodies when their tenures lapse, or when they are non-functional, the Union Environment Ministry has said.
In a draft notification published on March 5, the Centre argues that such an arrangement would ensure “continuity” in decision-making as state bodies re-assemble between tenures. A centrally appointed standing body could also be responsible for “other tasks, as may be entrusted to it by the Central Government from time to time,” related to the environmental impact assessment process.
Under the Environmental Impact Assessment notification, State Environmental Impact Assessment Authorities (SEIAA) are tasked with granting environmental clearances for “category B” projects, such as leather tanning industries, small scale mining, and metallurgical processing. These authorities are advised and guided by State Expert Appraisal Committees (SEAC), with tenures of three years, extendable by one more year.
The members making up these bodies are required to have 15 years of experience in subjects like environmental management, risk assessment, life sciences, or sector specific knowledge.
According to the Centre, while the reconstitution of these bodies is normally initiated six months before the tenure ends, “delays occur due to late or incomplete submission of proposals from States.” Such delays lead to a “complete halt in the EC process,” since proposals are redirected to the centre, “leading to extended timelines and unwarranted delays in the appraisal of the projects, thereby impacting project timelines and investor confidence.”
As a counter measure, the centre has proposed extending the tenures of state bodies to four years, and setting up a centrally-appointed Standing Authority on Environment Impact Assessment (SAEIA), assisted by a Standing Committee on Environment Impact Appraisal (SCEIA), to take over clearance-related decision-making for six months – extendable by another six months.
The members of these committees are proposed to be “ex-officio Members as deemed appropriate,” by the central government.
The proposal follows several amendments to India’s environmental laws and regulations, in an attempt to cut down time taken to process clearances.
Banner image: A metallurgical furnace in Assam. Image by Don Vikro via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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