NGT seeks CPCB's response on plea challenging its circular

The National Green Tribunal today issued notice to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on a plea challenging its recent circular that there will be no requirement to obtain 'consent to establish' in case of construction projects and that environment clearance would suffice.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Swatanter Kumar sought response of CPCB on the application by February 15, the next date of hearing.
The application was filed by the Society for Protection of Environment and Biodiversity in a pending petition which has challenged the Ministry of Environment and Forests' (MoEF) recent notification exempting real estate projects from obtaining prior environmental clearance.

The plea, filed by advocates Sanjay Upadhyay and Salik Shafique, sought a stay on the CPCB's February 2 letter to the state pollution control boards, saying it was in violation of the provisions of the Water Act and Air Act in pursuance to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) amendment notification on December 9, 2016.
It said this move "will further deteriorate the natural environment and ecology".
As per CPCB's circular, all projects requiring environment clearance are exempted from 'consent to establish' and they can directly be granted 'consent to operate' subject to environment clearance granted by the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and MoEF.

The plea said as per the provisions of Water Act and Air Act, prior consent of the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) is required for establishment of any industry and application in a prescribed format is required to be submitted before the board.

"Respondent number 3 (CPCB) by way of an executive order is violating the provisions of the two important environment legislations of the country which is bad in law pursuance to the EIA amendment notification dated December 9, 2016.
"It is also pertinent to mention that procedure of issuance of the 'consent to establish' also requires physical inspection by the officer of SPCB to ensure the compliance by the industries. That doing away with requirement of 'consent to establish' will be disastrous for environment," it said.

"Moreover, monitoring of the project during construction phase by SPCB will be completely ruled out as the role of SPCB only commence after the grant of the 'consent to establish' and 'consent to operate'," the plea said.
In the petition relating to MoEF's notification, the bench had earlier refused to stay the December 9, 2016 notification but had restrained it from granting any fresh permission under the new regulations.
MoEF's amended notification exempts building and construction projects of all sizes from the process of EIA and prior environmental clearance before beginning construction.
For smaller projects (less than 20,000 square metres), the amended notification even has a "self-declaration" clause, which will ensure issuance of permission from urban local bodies.

For larger projects of more than 20,000 square metres size, the EC and building permission will be given by urban local bodies simultaneously in an "integrated format".