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New environment law cuts time for hearings
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- A set of key updates to India’s Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Act, the law that governs how the threat posed by large infrastructure projects to the environment ought to be evaluated, proposes to reduce the time given to people to air objections.
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- Provisions in the New EIA Notification
(1) The draft EIA notification proposes to be an update to the EIA of 2006, which specifies a “minimum of 30 days” for people to respond.
(2) The current version of the update, which will likely become law in 60 days, gives a “minimum of 20 days” of notice period.
(3) It also requires that the public-hearing process be wrapped up in 40 days, as opposed to the existing norm of 45 days.
(4) Under the process, an organisation has to submit a detailed plan explaining the nature, need, and remedial measures, if their proposed project could significantly impact a region.
(5) A committee constituted by the Union Environment Ministry then decides on whether the project should be cleared.
- Environment Impact Assessment (EIA):
(1) The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) uses Environmental Impact Assessment Notification 2006 as a major tool for minimizing the adverse impact of rapid industrialization on the environment and for reversing those trends which may lead to climate change in the long run.
(2) EIA 2006 was issued on 14th September 2006, in supersession of EIA 1994, except in respect of things done or omitted to be done before such supersession.
(3) The Notification is issued under relevant provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
(4) EIA Process involves screening, Scoping, Collection of baseline data, Impact prediction, mitigation measures and EIA report, Public hearing, Decision making, Monitoring and implementation of environmental management plan, Assessment of Alternatives, Delineation of Mitigation Measures and Environmental Impact Assessment Report and risk assessment.
Sources
The Hindu