New environment SOPs allow closure of non-compliant projects, says govt

The government Friday said it has issued the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to deal with environmental violations under which non-compliant projects can be shut down or demolished.

Responding to a query in Lok Sabha, MoS Environment Ashwini Choubey said the ministry has issued the SOP for the identification and handling of violation cases under the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification 2006.

The SOP was issued on July 7, 2021 through an office memorandum.

The SOP is based on the 'Polluter Pays Principles' and 'Principle of Proportionality' for taking action under statutory provisions against defaulters/violators and for taking decision on the closure of the project/activity or otherwise, expeditiously, he said.

The SOP duly takes into account the principles enunciated by the Supreme Court and the High Courts from time to time on the issue, he said.

The memorandum gives powers to government agencies such as the Central Pollution Control Board, State Pollution Control Boards and state environment impact assessment authorities to identify such violations and take penal action against them.

The SOPs refer to two categories of green violations violations involving cases where construction work, including expansion of an existing project, has begun without environmental clearance; and 'non-compliance' in which prior environmental clearance has been accorded to the project, but it is in violation of norms prescribed in the approval.

On being asked whether the Centre has noticed that some state governments are reluctant to take stern action to curb such violations, the minister replied in the negative, saying no such instances have been reported to the Union government.