INCREASED DISCRETIONARY POWERS OF BUREAUCRACY It proposes to increase the government’s discretionary power and limiting public engagement in safeguarding the environment. No solution for the political and bureaucratic stronghold on the EIA process. Projects concerning national defense and security are considered strategic. For other projects, the government gets to decide on the “strategic” tag. No information on “such projects shall be placed in the public domain This opens a window for summary clearance for any project deemed strategic without having to explain why. MANY EXEMPTIONS 2020 draft exempts a long list of projects from public consultation. Road and Pipeline in border areas. THE “border area” is defined “area falling within 100 kilometers aerial distance from the line of actual control with bordering countries of India.” That would cover much of the northeast, the repository of the country’s richest biodiversity. All inland waterways projects All expansion/widening of national highways These include roads that cut through forests and dredging of major rivers. POST FACTO CLEARANCE A project operating in violation of the EPA can now apply for clearance. Violator will only need 2 plans for remediation and resource augmentation which is to1.5-2 times the ecological damage assessed and economic benefit derived due to violation. Penalty per day of late clearance- minuscule (1 APRIL 2020- Supreme Court order held that such clearances are contrary to law) PUBLIC COMPLAINTS If any violations are taking place, they have to be reported either by a government authority or the developers themselves. There is no scope foe any public complaint about violations. Instead, the reliance is on the violators to disclose, suomotu, that they broke the law. CONSTRUCTION Earlier buildings of 20,000sq.m of above required an environmental clearance after detailed scrutiny by the state level expert appraisal committee. Now according to the 2020 draft, the limit will be 150,000sq.m WEBINAR LINK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3BUF-6zFKg ARTICLE LINK https://idronline.org/the-eia-draft-2020-needs-to-berestructured/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIw7vIqLr87AIVzaqWCh0AigixEAAYASAAEgJcX PD_BwE NEWSPAPER LINK YOUTUBE VIDEO •https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Visakhapatnam/visakhapatnam-gas-leakhow-negligence-and-violations-led-to-a-deadly-disaster/article31761949.ece •https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/assam-gas-field-may-have-floutedgreen-guidelines/story-uhmEbSU6w7NUSCqdJmpVLJ.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gedyglp_MM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmeYMF2pdVs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uner_xD_hA4
