INTRODUCTION
As per EIA notification S.O 1533
dated 14/09/2006, by Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF), obtaining prior
environmental clearance from the concerned regulatory authority before the
commencement of work has become mandatory for all developments which meet
certain criteria specified in the notification. Obtaining clearance is
mandatory for certain expansion / modernization works also.
All projects are classified into
category ‘A’ or ‘B’, of which clearance for all category ‘A’ projects are to be
given by the MOEF, and clearance for category ‘B’ projects are granted by the
State level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA). In the absence of
SEIAA in any state, the MOEF will be considered as the regulatory authority. The
category B is again subdivided in to ‘B1’ and ‘B2’, where projects under
category ‘B1’ require a proper Environmental Impact Assessment. The categorization
of projects are given here.
In Kerala, the State level Environment
Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC)
were formed by central government vide a notification S.O 2484(E) dated 3rd
November 2011. The Directorate of Environment & Climate change,
Thiruvananthapuram (located at Pettah) is designated to act as the Secretariat
of the SEIAA and SEAC. SEIAA is a three member committee, with chairman, member
and a member secretary. The SEIAA bases its decisions on the recommendations of
the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC), which also was formed by the same
notification. SEAC has currently 14 members, and their term is three years from
the date of notification. SEACs meet at least once every month.
CLEARANCE
PROCESS – Specific for Construction / Township development projects (under item
8)
The procedure for obtaining the
environmental clearance for construction projects is as mentioned in the
central government notification SO1533 dated 14/09/2006.
1. A
project proposal with an application in the prescribed format as Form-1 &
(or) Form-1A as in the annexure II of the notification to be submitted along
with a conceptual plan to the regulatory authority before starting any
construction activities at site. This application is scrutinized in detail by
the SEAC, and determines whether the project falls in category B1 or B2. All projects
in category B1 require an Environmental Impact Assessment.
2.
Within 60days of receiving the
application and Form-1 from the proponent, the SEAC will convey the terms of
reference (TOR) addressing all relevant environmental concerns for the preparation
of Environmental Impact Assessment report.
3.
The final EIA report (for those
projects under category B1) and environmental management plan shall be
submitted to SEAC, and this will then be taken for a presentation meeting
before the SEAC. The project proponent is also required to attend the presentation
meeting of SEAC, and shall make a presentation on the salient features of the
project, the related environmental issues, proposed environmental management
plans. The representative of the project proponent shall also respond to the
queries / suggestions which the committee may raise during the discussion. Based
on this meeting, the SEAC makes categorical recommendations to the regulatory
authority concerned (SEIAA) for grand of prior environmental clearance on
stipulated terms and conditions. Before the presentation meeting, the project
proponent shall distribute one copy each of the full set of proposal to all the
members of the SEAC at least 15days in advance to the date of meeting.
4.
Once the environmental clearance is
obtained from the regulatory authority, it is mandatory for the proponent to
submit half-yearly compliance reports in respect of the stipulated prior
environmental clearance terms and conditions, in hard and soft copies to the
regulatory authority concerned.
APPOINTMENT
OF CONSULTANTS
The proponent can appoint an environmental
consultant for conducting the impact assessment and preparing the report as
well as the detailed proposal for submission. The consultant can also attend
the SEAC meeting as an authorized representative of the proponent. In such
case, the consultant shall be an accredited consultant by the Quality Council
of India (QCI). Also, the representation should be through an irrevocable POA (Power
of Attorney) executed and formally registered with the sub registrar.
Next: What makes a project
proposal complete?