Environmental Clearance Process
Presented by
D. Sarkar
Sr. Environmental Engineer
West Bengal Pollution Control Board
Development of Environmental Clearance (EC)
Process in India
 The environmental movement in India got a boost from the Stockholm
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Conference on Human Environment held in June 1972
In 1982, Government of India (Ministry of Environment and Forest) introduced
the need of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) / Environnemental
Management Plan (EMP) for public sector projects
In 1994, EIA Notification under the Environmental Protection Act 1986
was introduced
Ø NOC (No Objection Certificate) from State Authority
Ø Environmental Clearance from Ministry of Environment & Forests
Public Hearing was introduced in 1997
In 2006, the EIA Notification-1994 has been replaced by a more comprehensive
EIA Notification covering a larger variety of projects and activities i.e. EIA
Notification Sep 14, 2006.
EIA Notification 2006
Objective:
 To formulate a transparent, decentralized and efficient regulatory mechanism to:
 Incorporate necessary environmental safeguards at planning stage of specified
investment projects.
 Involve stakeholders in the public consultation process
DEVELOPMENTAL ACTIVITIES REQUIRING ‘EC’
 All new projects/activities listed in Schedule. Schedule is based on potential
environmental impacts, not investment limits;
 Change in capacity (beyond specified limits), change in process, change in product
mix of existing projects
EIA 2006 –.... contd
 As per EIA notification Sep 14, 2006, a schedule is provided for list
of Projects or Activities requiring prior Environmental Clearance
 All new projects listed in the schedule including expansion,
modernization of the existing projects or activities and change in
product mix shall require prior Environmental Clearance
 Only land can be secured before the Environmental Clearance, no
construction work can be done before obtaining EC
Categorization of projects and activities
 All projects and activities are
broadly categorized in to two
categories - Category A and
Category B
 spatial extent of impacts
 impacts on natural and man
made resources
 impacts on human health
General Conditions (GC)
Any project or activity specified in Category ‘B’ will be treated as
Category A, if located in whole or in part within 10 km from the
boundary of :
 Protected areas notified under the Wild Life (Protection) Act,
1972
 Critically polluted areas as identified by the Central Pollution
Control Board from time to time
 Eco-sensitive areas as notified under section 3 of the E (P) Act,
1986, such as Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani, Matheran,
Pachmarhi, Dahanu, Doon valley, and
 Inter-State boundaries and international boundaries
Requirements of prior Environmental Clearance (EC)
 EC by whom?
 Category A projects: Central Government in the Ministry of Environment
and Forests
 Base decisions on the recommendation by Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC)
 Category B projects: At state level the State Environment Impact
Assessment Authority (SEIAA)
 The SEIAA shall base its decision on the recommendations of a State or Union
territory level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) as to be constituted for in this
notification
 In the absence of a duly constituted SEIAA or SEAC, a Category ‘B’ project shall
be treated as a Category ‘A’ project (shall be appraised at Central level after
amendment in 2009)
List of Project Categories requiring to obtain EC
I. Mining extraction of natural resources and power generation (for a specified
production capacity)
1(a) Mining of minerals
1(b) Offshore and onshore oil and gas exploration, development & production
1(c) River valley projects
1(d) Thermal Power plants
1(e) Nuclear power projects and processing of nuclear fuel
II. Primary Processing
2(a) Coal Washeries
2 (b) Mineral beneficiation
III. Materials Production
3(a) Metallurgical industries (ferrous & non ferrous)
3(b) Cement plants
List of Project Categories requiring to obtain EC
IV. Materials Processing
4(a) Petroleum refining industry
4(b) Coke oven plants
4(c) Asbestos milling and asbestos based products
4(d) Chlor-alkali industry
4(e) Soda ash industry
4(f) Leather/skin/hide processing industry
V. Manufacturing/Fabrication
5(a) Chemical fertilizers
5(b) Pesticides industry and pesticide specific intermediates (excluding formulations)
5(c) Petro-chemical complexes (industries based on processing of petroleum fractions &
natural gas and/or reforming to aromatics)
5(d) Manmade fibres manufacturing
List of Project Categories requiring to obtain EC
5(e) petrochemical based complexes (processing other than cracking & reformation and not
covered under the complexes)
5(f) Synthetic organic chemicals industry (dyes & dye intermediates; bulk drugs and intermediates
excluding drug formulations; synthetic rubbers; basic organic chemicals, other synthetic organic
chemicals and chemical intermediates)
5(g) Distilleries
5(h) Integrated paint industry
5(i) Pulp & paper industry excluding manufacturing of paper from waste paper and manufacture of
paper from ready pulp with out bleaching
5(j) Sugar industry
VI. Service Sectors
6(a) Oil & gas transportation pipeline (crude and refinery/petrochemical products), passing
through national parks/sanctuaries/coral reefs/ecologically sensitive areas including LNG
Terminal
6(b) Isolated storage & handling of hazardous chemicals (as per threshold planning quantity
indicated in column 3 of schedule 2 & 3 of MSIHC Rules 1989 amended 2000)
List of Project Categories requiring to obtain EC
VII. Physical Infrastructure including Environmental Services
7(a) Air ports
7(b) All ship breaking yards including ship breaking units
7(c) Industrial estates/parks/complexes/areas, export processing zones (EPZs),
Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Biotech parks, leather complexes
7(d) Common hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facilities (TSDFs)
7(e) Ports, Harbors
7(f) Highways
7(g) Aerial ropeways
7(h) Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs)
7(i) Common Municipal Solid Waste Management Facility (CMSWMF)
VIII. Building/Construction projects/Area Development projects and Townships
8(a) Building and construction projects
8(b) Townships and Area Development projects
State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA)
SEIAA shall be constituted by the Central Government
 Comprising of three Members
 Chairman and other member shall be experts/professionals fulfilling the
eligibility criteria given in Appendix VI.
 Chairman shall be an expert in EIA process.
 Member Secretary shall be a serving officer of the State Government
familiar with environmental laws.
 All decisions of the SEIAA shall be unanimous and taken in a meeting
Expert Committees for Screening, Scoping and Appraisal
(EAC and SEAC)
 Expert Committees
 Expert Appraisal Committees (EACs) at the Central Government
 State Expert Appraisal Committees (SEAC) at the State or the Union
territory
 Responsible for screening, scoping and appraising projects
 EAC/SEAC may inspect sites (during screening, scoping and
appraisal)
 EAC/SEAC shall not have more than 15 regular members.
 Procedure for selection and maintenance of EAC and SEAC is
given in notification, as per composition and eligibility criteria
given in Appendix-VI.
Application for Prior Environmental Clearance
 An application seeking prior environmental clearance in all cases shall be
made
 In the prescribed Form 1 and Supplementary Form 1A
 Supporting document for Form 1: Pre feasibility report.
 Form 1 to be submitted:
Ø After identification of the prospective site for the project
Ø Before commencing any construction activity
Ø Before preparation of land at the site
 Submit pre-feasibility report for all and conceptual plan for
construction activities
Form – 1 (Application for the Project Consideration)
Contents:
 Size of the Project (Capacity)
 Expected cost of the Project
 Activities involved in the Project
Demolition work
Dredging
New road, rail or traffic during construction or operation
 Use of natural resources
 Production of solid waste
 Release of pollutants, toxic or noxious substances to air
 Effluent generation
 Generation of noise and vibration
Stages in EC process
 Stage 1: Screening (Only for Category ‘B’ projects and activities)
 Stage 2: Scoping
 Stage 3: Public Consultation
 Stage 4: Appraisal
 Sequential order
 all of which may not apply to particular cases as set forth in this
notification
Stage 1: Screening
 Only for Category B projects and activities to determine if they need EIA
 Category A projects compulsorily need EIA
 Scrutiny of an application seeking EC by SEAC for determining whether
or not the project or activity requires further environmental studies
 Form 1
 Form 1A
 Classify projects as B1 (require EIA) and B2 (don’t require EIA)
 For categorization of projects into B1 or B2, the MoEF has issued
appropriate guidelines from time to time
Stage 2: Scoping
 Who does the scoping?
 Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) in the case of Category ‘A’ projects
or activities
 State level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) in the case of Category
‘B1’ projects
 Determine comprehensive Terms Of Reference (TOR) addressing all
relevant environmental concerns for preparation of an Environment
Impact Assessment (EIA) Report based on
 on the basis of the information furnished by applicant in the prescribed
application Form1/Form 1A
 ToR proposed by the applicant
 a site visit by a sub- group of EAC or SEAC only if considered necessary
Stage 2: Scoping ....contd.
 If TOR not finalized and conveyed to the applicant within sixty days of the
receipt of Form 1, TOR suggested by the applicant shall be deemed as the
final TOR approved for the EIA studies
 Approved TOR shall be displayed on the website of the MoEF or the
concerned SEIAA
 Applications for EC may be rejected at this stage itself
 the decision together with reasons for the same shall be communicated
to the applicant
 Prepare EIA draft report (Manual for different activities has available in
MoEF website)
Stage 3: Public consultation
 Process by which the concerns of local affected persons and others who
have plausible stake in the environmental impacts of the project or
activity are ascertained
 All category ‘A’ and category ‘B1’ projects or activities shall undertake
Public Consultation with exemption of followings:
Ø Modernization of irrigation projects
Ø Expansion of road or highways projects
Ø All projects concerning national defence and security etc.
 Public Consultation may be exempted by Expert Appraisal Committee
(EAC/SEAC) if project is not affecting the local people
Stage 3: Public consultation
 Public Consultation shall ordinarily have two components
 public hearing at the site or in its close proximity- district
wise, to be carried out in the manner prescribed in
Appendix IV, for ascertaining concerns of local affected
persons
 obtain responses in writing from other concerned persons
having a plausible stake in the environmental aspects of the
project
Component 1: Public hearing
o Public hearing shall be conducted by the State Pollution Control Board
(SPCB) in consultation with District Magistrate of concerned district
o at the site or in its close proximity-district wise
o Notice of Public Hearing to be published in two widely circulated
newspaper at least 30 days prior to public hearing
o forward proceedings to the regulatory authority concerned within 45
days
o If not appoint another independent organization to do the same within
another 45 days
Component 2: Responses from other concerned persons
 Invite responses from such concerned persons by placing on their website the
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Summary EIA report
Use other appropriate media for ensuring wide publicity about the project
Within seven days of the receipt of a written request for arranging the public
hearing
Make available on written request from any concerned person the Draft EIA
report for inspection at a notified place during normal office hours till the date
of the public hearing
All the responses received as part of this public consultation process shall be
forwarded to the applicant through the quickest available means
Videography of proceedings must
After public consultation…
 Applicant shall address all environmental concerns expressed
during this process
 Make appropriate changes in the draft EIA
 Final EIA report shall be submitted by the applicant to the
concerned regulatory authority for appraisal
Stage 4: Appraisal
 Detailed scrutiny by the EAC or SEAC of
 documents like the Final EIA report
 outcome of the public consultations including public hearing
proceedings
 submitted by the applicant to the regulatory authority concerned for
grant of environmental clearance
 Appraisal of all projects or activities which are not required to undergo
public consultation, or submit an Environment Impact Assessment
report (Category B2) shall be carried out on the basis
 prescribed application Form 1
 Form 1A
 any other relevant information
Stage 4: Appraisal
 EAC or SEAC
 shall recommend to the regulatory authority concerned
 either for grant of prior environmental clearance on
stipulated terms and conditions
 or rejection of the application for prior environmental
clearance, together with reasons for the same.
 Prescribed procedure for appraisal is given in Appendix V
Grant or Rejection of EC
 The regulatory authority shall consider the recommendations of the EAC
or SEAC concerned and convey its decision to the applicant
 The regulatory authority shall normally accept the recommendations of
the Expert Committees
 In cases where it disagrees with the recommendations of the Expert
Committee (Central or State), the regulatory authority shall request
reconsideration by the Central or State Expert Appraisal Committee
 After reconsideration, irrespective of views of Expert Committee,
decision of the regulatory authority concerned shall be final
Grant or Rejection of EC
 If decision not granted within stipulated time, the applicant may proceed as
if the environment clearance sought for has been granted or denied by the
regulatory authority in terms of the final recommendations of the Expert
Committee concerned
 Deliberate concealment and/or submission of false or misleading
information or data which is material to screening or scoping or appraisal
or decision on the application shall make the application liable for rejection
 Rejection of an application or cancellation of a prior environmental
clearance already granted shall be decided by the regulatory authority, after
giving a personal hearing to the applicant, and following the principles of
natural justice
Validity of Environmental Clearance
 Ten years in the case of River Valley projects
 Thirty years for mining projects
 Five years in the case of all other projects and activities
 Area Development projects and Townships, the validity period shall be
limited only to such activities as may be the responsibility of the
applicant as a developer
Post Environmental Clearance Monitoring
 Submission of half – yearly compliance reports in respect of
stipulated prior environmental clearance terms and conditions
to regulatory authority (Submit by 1st June and 1st December)
 All such compliance reports submitted by the project management
shall be public document to be displayed on the website or
concerned regulatory authority
 Post project monitoring in respect of Category ‘A’ and ‘B1’ Projects
to be carried out by MoEF’s Regional Offices.
Summary of EIA process and Rough Timelines
Who does it?
Submission of application (Form 1, prelim reports)
Stage 1: Screening; Decide project A, B1 or B2
60 days
Investor
Expert
Committee
Stage 2: Scoping; Come up with Terms of Reference (TOR)
Prepare preliminary EIA report
45 days
Stage 3: Public consultation (2 components)
Investor
State Pollution
Control Board
Update EIA report (Investor)
60 days
Stage 4: Appraisal
15 days
30 days
Final Decision
Expert
Committee
Regulatory
Authority
Flowchart for Revised EC Process for Cat-B projects excluding Building
Sector (State Level)
Environmental Appraisal for Category “B” projects (State level) –
Building Projects