Draft Environment Audit Notification

REGD. No. D. L.-33004/99 The Gazette of India CG-DL-E-02022024-251722 EXTRAORDINARY PART II—Section 3—Sub-section (ii) PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY No. 390] NEW DELHI, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2024/MAGHA 12, 1945 MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE NOTIFICATION New Delhi, the 29th January, 2024 S.O. 414(E).- Whereas, the Central Government proposes to issue the following draft notification in exercise of the powers conferred to it by sub-section (1), and clause (v) of sub-section (2) of section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986), as required under sub-rule (3) of rule 5 of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986, for the information of the public likely to be affected thereby; and notice is hereby given that the said draft notification shall be taken into consideration on or after the expiry of a period of sixty days from the date on which copies of the Gazette containing this notification are made available to the Public; Any person interested in making any objections or suggestions on the proposal contained in the draft notification may forward the same in writing for consideration of the Central Government within the period so specified to the Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Indira Paryavaran Bhawan, Jor Bagh Road, Aliganj, New Delhi-110 003, or send it to the e-mail address at [email protected] Draft Notification Whereas, environmental audit of the projects, activities and processes, approved under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (herein after referred as EP Act); or Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 (herein after referred as Air Act); or Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution), Act, 1974 (herein after as Water Act); or Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 (herein after as FC Act); or Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 (herein after referred as WLP Act) is important to ensure compliance of the stipulated conditions and to verify the compliance of the norms of environmental standards prescribed by the regulatory authority & their effectiveness in order to prevent, control & abate environmental pollution; and Whereas, it is important to identify projects, activities or processes that are non-compliant or are in violation of applicable environmental regulations/standards or are in violation of general or specific conditions mentioned in different green approvals; and to accordingly initiate remedial steps for prevention, control & abatement of environmental pollution; and Whereas, regular audit of such projects, activities or processes wrt environmental conditions and safeguards incorporated in associated environmental approvals viz. Environmental Clearance(EC), Consent to Operate (CTO) etc. shall prompt and encourage self-compliance by putting in place internal control mechanism by the Project Proponent/Industry undertaking such projects, activities and processes, for the purposes of prevention, control and abatement of environmental pollution, leading to increased overall environmental responsibility and resource productivity of the entities, and; Whereas, the outcome of environment audit would also provide important inputs in undertaking appropriate and effective measures aimed at reinforcing our efforts towards conservation and rejuvenation of our environment and fulfilling the obligations of Government of India's commitment on Climate Action including through adopting the principles of LiFE – Lifestyle for Environment and would also provide inputs for effective protection of our environment including identifying best practices in prevention, control and abatement of pollution leading to better performance on environmental indicators; and Whereas, an effective environment monitoring framework comprising Environment Auditing through certified environment auditors is also expected to create an enabling ecosystem for implementing government's vision on Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) rating of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Sovereign Green Bond, climate financing, carbon trading etc; and Whereas, environmental compliance being an important indicator of positive environmental actions, the outcome of the integrated environment audit of the project or activities, can also feed into the Green Credit Rules, 2023 (GCR) vide which positive environmental actions have been incentivised through market based mechanism and generate tradeable green credits; and Whereas, the Certified Environment Auditors can also act as 'designated agency' under the GCR to carry out verification activities under the GCR, if also authorized by the 'Administrator' under the Green Credit Rule, 2023 following the procedure prescribed in GCR; Whereas, the proposed third party environment audit is not an alternate to the existing system of compliance and monitoring through government agencies but is only to supplement the efforts of the government agencies, which will continue with their existing role of random inspection and verification; and Whereas, the proposed third party environment audit is exclusively a voluntary mechanism and intended to be made mandatory for those entities who want to continue within the existing framework of compliance and monitoring through government agencies; and Whereas, for the purpose of undertaking Environmental Audit in a structured manner, it is necessary to notify Environmental Auditors Scheme that prescribes the necessary eligibility criteria and procedure for empanelment of qualified personnel, laying down their roles and responsibilities, obligation and liabilities and the mechanism and framework which need to be put in place for undertaking such audits; and Whereas, Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006 (herein after referred as EIA Notification) at Para 7(i)(III) already prescribes requisite provision of Public Consultation 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, and at Para 10 prescribes Post Environmental Clearance Monitoring mechanism; and thus any environment auditing framework will be only an endeavor furthering the Government of India's efforts towards strengthening of environmental compliance through an effective monitoring mechanism; NOW, THEREFORE, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) & clause (xiv) of sub-section (2) and sub-section (3) of section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986)), read with sub-rule (4) of the Rule 5 of the Environment Protection Rules, 1986; the Central Government hereby issues this notification for environmental audit of the projects, activities and processes that are mandated to obtain environmental clearances and/or approvals from the Central Government and/or from the State Government under the EP Act, Air Act, Water Act, FC Act, WLP Act or under any other Act or Rules or Regulations pertaining to Environment, Forest and Climate Change. 1. Short title and commencement (1) This notification may be called the Environment Audit Notification, -------. (2) It shall come into force from the date of its publication in the official Gazette. 2. Definitions- (1) In this Notification, unless the context otherwise requires-- a. "Act" means the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986(29 of 1986); b. "Administrator" means the Administrator referred to in rule 7 of GCR; c. "Audit Criteria' means the criteria that forms the basis for conducting environmental audit and that may be enumerated in the guidelines to be formulated in this regard; d. "Authorized Environment Audit" means Environment Audit undertaken by registered Environment Auditor under the extant notification; and prior to the extant notification, Environment Audit undertaken by government recognized Environment Auditor, and/or by the Environment Auditor duly engaged by the Government or its agencies; e. "Certified Environment Auditor (CEA)" means an environment auditor possessing qualification, minimum experience, and meeting such criteria as specified in the guidelines for the CEA, and certified by Environment Audit Designated Agency (EADA) as notified by the Central Government from time to time; f. "Designated agency" means an entity designated as such under rule 13 of GCR; g. "Empanelment Agency" means the agency or agencies, as identified by the Government from time to time, for undertaking empanelment of Environment Audit Firm (EAF), as per the criteria enumerated in the guidelines to be formulated in this regard; h. "Empaneled Environment Auditing Firm (EAF)” means firms or agencies comprising professionals including Registered Environment Auditors having expertise in various aspects of environmental management that inter-alia include national and international environmental frameworks, legislations, conventions and declarations, guidelines, environmental approvals, environmental standards, relevant concepts for effective environmental assessment and management viz. pollution load assessment, carrying capacity of an area, energy audit, environment financial audit, environment compliance audit, environment performance audit, water audit etc, and meets the criteria, as specified in the guidelines and are empanelled by Empanelment Agency as notified by the central government from time to time; i. 'Environment Audit' means an independent and objective examination of various facets relating to environment management; adherence to environmental safeguards and consent conditions, compliance and efficacy of processes being adopted by an organization, a facility or a site so as to verify whether, or to what extent, they conform to specified audit criteria in the context of responsible environment management and also as regards compliance of the conditions prescribed while granting environmental clearances/approvals and shall encompass, but not limited to, Environmental Financial Audit, Environmental Performance Audit & Environmental Compliance Audit in context of Environmental obligations. j. "Environment Auditor (EA)” means an individual professional or firm having expertise in various aspects of environmental management that inter-alia include national and international environmental frameworks, legislations, conventions and declarations, guidelines, environmental approvals, environmental standards, relevant concepts for effective environmental assessment and management viz. pollution load assessment, carrying capacity of an area, energy audit, environment financial audit, environment compliance audit, environment performance audit, water audit etc; k. “Environment Audit Designated Agency (EADA)" means the agency or agencies, as notified by the government from time to time, responsible for overall management of the Environment Audit Scheme including drawing up eligibility criteria and conducting necessary exams for the certification and registration of Environment Auditors, monitoring of their performance, trainings, capacity building of CEAs, Registered Environment Auditors (REAs) and EAF; l. "Environment Compliance Audit" includes audit of activities, project or processes to ascertain whether any one or a combination of them are being implemented in accordance with the relevant environmental laws, rules, notifications, regulations and standards and shall include examination and compliance of specific terms and conditions, prescribed in respect of respective project on case by case basis under the EP Act, Air Act, Water Act, FC Act, and WLP Act and various notifications, rules and regulations issued in this regard; m. "Environment Financial Audit" means the component of environment audit that enables the auditor to express an opinion on whether the financial statements reflect financial bandwidth, adequate provisions/reserves/resources are available in the accounts towards meeting the environmental liabilities/obligations and expenditure incurred in material respects that can be directly linked to environmental costs, obligations, impacts and outcomes and correlate the extent of production or output with the environmental approvals granted or required to be obtained under relevant environmental regulations applicable to such project, activity or processes; n. "Environment Performance Audit" includes evaluation/examination of performance of the entity, efficacy of the technology solutions or other practices undertaken while executing the project, activity or processes from the perspective of preventing, controlling & abating pollution and to meet the prescribed standards and indicators; o. "Green approvals" means any approval/ clearance/ authorisation granted or obtained under any regulations framed under EPA, 1986; Air & Water Act; FC Act; and WLP Act, or under any other related extant regulations, orders of the Central or State Government; p. "Guidelines” means guidelines published by the Govt. or EADA in the context of this notification on different issues from time to time; q. "Registered Environment Auditor (REA)" means CEAs who are registered with the MoEFCC for undertaking environment audit; r. "Registered Environment Auditing Firm (REAF)" means empanelled EAFs who are registered with the MoEFCC for undertaking environment audit; s. "National Certification Examination" means online All India Examination, to be conducted by EADA, for certifying environment auditors. 3. Roles & Responsibilities of REA/ REAF The roles and responsibilities of the Environment Auditor shall include: i. To undertake independent third-party environment audit of project, activities and processes w.r.t. prevalent Environmental Laws and regulations such as EC under EIA Notification, 2006; Consent to Operate (CTO) under Air and Water Act; Authorization under Hazardous Waste Rules etc; Forest Clearance under FC Act; Wildlife Clearance under WLP Act, CRZ Regulations, etc; ii. The Environment Audit shall encompass, but will not be limited to, Environment Financial Audit, Environment Performance Audit, and Environment Compliance Audit in the context of Environmental obligations; iii. To undertake verification of the Self Compliance Report of the project, activities and processes as per the prescribed regulations and standards; and using the approved guideline, protocols, templates and practices; iv. To recommend mitigation measures with respect to identified environmental impacts, wherein with reference to EC, mitigation measures indicated in the Environment Management Plan (EMP) (as part of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report) and those identified during assessment of the project for EC shall be taken into consideration; v. To undertake sampling and analysis for emissions, effluents, etc. and evaluation of pollution control and waste management devices installed; wherever required, for which the auditor shall have equipment/tools/systems and software or shall take services of NABL/MoEF&CC/CPCB/SPCB recognized laboratories for collecting information and data during the audit; vi. To report cases of violation and non-compliance of extant Environmental regulations applicable to the project, process or activity, as the case may be; vii. To undertake computation of Environment Compensation for non-compliance and violation; viii. To prepare and submit the Environment Audit Report as per the extant regulation and guidelines; ix. To carry out verification activities in respect of the GCR as 'designated agency', if also authorized by the 'Administrator' under the Green Credit Rule, 2023 following the procedure prescribed in GCR. 4. Sources of information, to be considered, for undertaking audit may include: i. Green approvals obtained by the project proponent from relevant government agencies/regulatory authorities. ii. EMP as associated with EIA report; iii. Rules and regulations governing the project proponent relating to environmental compliance. iv. Internal audit reports of the project proponent and/ or evaluation reports by external experts, if available. v. Commitments and assurances provided by the project proponent to government agencies, regulatory bodies etc. vi. Inspection by Regional Offices (RO)/Sub-Regional Office (SRO)/SPCB/CPCB. vii. Materials from civil society organizations, peer review reports, media reports, academic reviews etc. viii. Financial accounts of the project proponent; ix. Technology solutions adopted by the proponent and benchmarking it with performance and industry standards and practices, and extant regulation thereof; x. Sustainability assessment study reports conducted following nationally or globally accepted procedures; 5. Methods for collecting audit evidence: Audit evidence shall be collected through any or combination of means such as written queries, questionnaires, interviews, photographs, testing of samples or any other methodology prescribed in the guidelines or as deemed appropriate by the environment auditors. The auditor may adopt any or a combination of the following methods for collecting audit evidence: i. Review of relevant documentation and reports; ii. Interview of relevant site personnel; iii. A site inspection of relevant activities/processes and Project iv. Comparative international best practices v. Other audit evidence collection methods, as appropriate, depending on the objective and scope of the audit vi. Inspection Reports/Auditing carried out by individuals/Committees as per Orders/Judgements of NGT/Courts. 6. Site Visit and Sampling- Site visits shall be undertaken with the objective of collating adequate, acceptable and material audit evidence including for sampling, if necessary to support the audit findings and conclusions. 7. Period under Audit- The audit shall include activity, processes or project undertaken during the period since the previous authorized environment audit; or where there has been no previous authorized environment audit, the period since the date of the issue of relevant green clearances/approvals under relevant regulation; and if such environmental approval has not been obtained, from the date of commencement of the project or activity or process. 8. Periodicity of Audit- Periodicity of the audit in the context of a project, activity or process thereof shall be, as prescribed by the Central Government from time to time. 9. Implementation of Environment Audit Notification- The extant Notification shall be implemented through an Environment Audit Designated Agency (EADA), namely National Productivity Council (NPC) or any other agency that may be notified by Central Government which shall be responsible for the effective implementation of the extant Notification with assistance from all the requisite agencies/organizations including the Empanelment Agency. 10. Roles & responsibilities of the Environment Audit Designated Agency (EADA) shall include: i. Certification and registration of Environment Auditors and their renewal, withdrawal, suspension or cancellation of such certification or registrations; ii. Specifying minimum eligibility requirements for certification of EAs and registration of CEAs; iii. Conduct of requisite examination and/or undertake such other process to identify qualified personnel for certification and registration as Environment Auditor, if required by engaging National Testing Agency (NTA); iv. Specifying guidelines/procedures/standards for functioning of REAs; v. Monitoring the performance of REAs and issuance of directions, as may be required, for compliance; vi. Conduct of training through workshops, seminars, conferences etc. of CEAs and EAFs to keep them updated on state-of-art technologies, mitigation methods etc. vii. Undertaking capacity building measures such as:- a. Encouraging self-training b. Knowledge-sharing and benchmarking with other audit institutions c. Facilitating internships d. Collaboration with environmental organizations and other stakeholders e. Engagement of experts for knowledge experience sharing f. Preparing online training and capacity building material including those related to practise in environmental auditing. viii. Take disciplinary action against REAs against whom complaints are received including suspension/cancellation of their registration. The EADA shall, however, not take any action against an Auditor without following the principles of natural justice. 11. Roles and Responsibilities of Empanelment Agency- i. Empanelment and registration of EAF and their renewal, withdrawal, suspension or cancellation of such registrations; ii. Specifying minimum eligibility requirements for empanelment and registration of EAFs. iii. Undertake such process to identify EAF for empanelment and registration as REAF iv. Specifying guidelines/procedures/standards for functioning of REAF; v. Monitoring the performance of REAFs and issuance of directions, as may be required, for compliance; vi. Conduct training through workshops, seminars, conferences etc. for REAF to keep them updated on state-of- art technologies, mitigation measures etc. vii. Take disciplinary action against REAs against whom complaints are received including suspension/cancellation of their registration. The Empanelment Agency shall, however, not take any action against an REAF without following the principles of natural justice. 12. Registration of EADA and Empanelment Agency- EADA and Empanelment Agency shall be registered with Ministry for five (5) years and will be evaluated every year on the basis of prescribed guidelines which shall be the basis of their confirmation as EADA or Empanelment Agency. 13. Accountability of EADA and Empanelment Agency- The EADA and Empanelment Agency shall perform its functions under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. They shall: i. Perform its functions in a transparent manner ii. Ensure that stakeholder discussions, as may be relevant, are made publicly available iii. Publish an annual report of the activities undertaken by it as per the Guidelines formulated by the Ministry in this regard, the copy of which will be also submitted to the Ministry The Central Government, on being satisfied that the notified EADA and Empanelment Agency has been found lacking in the discharge of its roles and responsibilities and/or has breached trust may de-register EADA/Empanelment Agency as deemed appropriate. 14. Certification of Environmental Auditors- Environment Auditor shall be certified by the EADA utilizing following two modes which shall be detailed out in guidelines: i. Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) – to be in operation for a limited specified period ii. National Certification Examination (NCE) process. The EADA shall prescribe minimum eligibility criteria for each of the above modes in the guidelines. 15. Applicability of NCE and RPL scheme i. The National Certification Examination (NCE) process for certification of the EAs is expected to be operational by -------2024 to take care of REA pool development requirement. ii. The RPL mode of certification of the CEAs to be operationalized by ------2024 and will remain in operation as notified by the Central Govt from time to time. 16. Registration of CEA and empanelled EAF- i. No professional or firm shall render services as an Environment Auditor unless registered by the Ministry. In order to be registered, the professional and firm shall be certified by EADA and empanelled by Empanelment Agency, respectively for which they have to possess minimum stipulated qualifications and/or criteria, and professional may have to undergo requisite selection process including appearing for an examination (if prescribed), to be conducted by the EADA, as per the prescribed procedure; ii. Ministry shall maintain an online register containing list of Registered CEA and empanelled EAF; iii. CEAs after certification can also be engaged with private/ public entities assisting them with reference to environmental management and environmental compliance. However, those CEAs engaged by industries cannot be registered with Ministry as REA for undertaking auditing under the Environment Audit Notification. iv. The detailed certification process for professional and detailed empanelment procedure for Environment Audit Firm (EAF) and their registration shall be as prescribed in the guideline. 17. Period of Validity of Registration i. The registration of CEA shall be valid for a period of THREE YEARS and will be renewable after every three years for which Certified Environment Auditor shall attend a short-term refresher course conducted by the EADA and upon successful completion of the requirements of the refresher course, an application for renewal of registration can be made. ii. Registration of EAF shall be valid for a period of FIVE YEARS and will be renewable after five years on the basis of review by Empanelment Agency as per guidelines, as prescribed. 18. Eligibility Criteria- for Certification of Environment Auditors and Empanelment of Environment Audit firms and their Registration shall be as prescribed by the EADA from time to time in the guidelines. 19. Training and Capacity Building of CEA, REA and Registered Environment Audit Firm (REAF)- i. The EADA shall impart training to the Certified Environmental Auditor, Registered Environment Auditor (REA) and REAF with reference to their role in environmental financial, compliance and performance auditing. This shall inter-alia include knowledge of different Environment and Forest related Acts and regulations such as EPA, Air Act, Water Act, Forest Act, Wildlife Act, EIA Notification, Waste Management Rules and other such field of study that is relevant for prevention, control and abatement of pollution such as energy efficiency assessment, taxation, GST, etc. ii. Empanelment Agency shall be involved during the training and capacity building of REAF. 20. Accountability of REA/REAF- The REA/REAF shall undertake the audit as per the scheme, notified by the Government or its authorized agency from time to time. The REAs/ REAFs shall be accountable to the Government for the actions undertaken by them under the scheme notified under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and shall accordingly, be liable for action for breach of its duties/responsibilities. 21. Operational Autonomy of EADA, Empanelment Agency, REA and REAF i. EADA and Empanelment Agency shall exercise operational and functional autonomy in discharge of their roles and responsibilities subject to the conditions and standards prescribed by the Central Government from time to time. ii. REA/REAF shall act in accordance with the Rules and regulations of the Central Government and the Guidelines framed by the EADA. 22. Consequences of breach of trust: REA and REAF, if found to have misrepresented or falsely reported or misreported or not reported any material fact or has manipulated information that is required to be reported in the Audit report or in case of proven instances of unprofessional/unethical conduct and practices shall be construed to have committed breach of trust. The 'consequences of breach of trust' may include any or combination of the following actions: i. Debarring of the REA/REAF: Ministry shall have right to debar a REA/REAF who has committed breach of trust. ii. Revocation of the Registration: The registration can be revoked or suspended for specified period on the grounds of proven instances of unprofessional/unethical conduct and practices of a REA/REAF. The EADA and Empanelment Agency shall constitute a Committee for this purpose to investigate the matter. The concerned REA or REAF shall be informed of the charges against him/her and given a reasonable opportunity to be heard before a decision is taken on the issue. iii. Consequences under Environment (Protection) Act, 1986: The REA/REAF shall also be liable for violation of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 on the grounds of proven instances of unprofessional/unethical conduct and practices and the provisions of Section 15 and 19 of the said Act may also be applicable. 23. Conflict of Interest: In order to ensure independence and to avoid conflicts of interest, REA/REAF carrying out auditing, shall not: i. Be related to any owner or operator or Project Proponent of the relevant project, process or activity. Such a relationship includes: employer, business partner, employee, having a contractual arrangement outside the audit, spouse, partner, sibling, parent, and child; ii. Have or had any pecuniary interest in the relevant project, process or activity of the auditee or parent company. Such an interest includes the situation where there is a reasonable likelihood or expectation or obtaining of financial gain or loss to the auditor, or to a person to whom the auditor is closely related (i.e. immediate family, organization in which the person is or has served); iii. Have provided services (not including independent reviews / auditing) to such project, process or activity to the extent that they would be auditing work done by themselves or their company; or iv. Accept any inducement, commission, gift or any other benefit from auditee organisations, their employees or any interested party or knowingly allow colleagues to do so; v. Jointly or severely, undertake the Environmental Audit of any auditee in whose case such REA/REAF has prepared either the EIA or EMP report or has submitted any other report that may be subject matter of the Environmental Audit. 24. Environmental Audit as part of Annual Financial Audit- It shall be desirable to include the environment audit as part of the regular annual financial audits of firms/companies, wherein the concerned audit teams in association with REA/REAF may verify environment compliance in the areas of environment financial audit, environment compliance audit and environment performance audit. 25. Assignment of REA/REAF to projects for Environment Audit- Subject to the provision of Clause 23 above, the assignment of REA/REAF to particular project entity shall be based on random assignment method utilizing computer based online software programme integrated with PARIVESH portal of MoEFCC. 26. Audit Reporting shall be as per the procedure and template prescribed by EADA in the guidelines. 27. Post Audit Report follow-up i. The auditor may provide the draft audit report to the management of the auditee for review and provide the said auditee an opportunity to provide any additional information. The auditee should respond to the audit findings within maximum four weeks of receiving the final report, with an action plan responding to the audit findings and any recommendations; ii. The auditor's draft report should only be revised where additional information or evidence is provided that results in a change to compliance status or corrects errors in fact or misunderstanding; iii. In the event that an audit report requires the development of a particularly complex or technical action plan, the auditee may request for a longer timeframe for completion along with justification, which shall form part of the certified Environment Audit Report submitted to the regulatory authorities; iv. The project with track record of regular annual submission of Environment Audit Report certified by REAF shall be exempted from the requirement of separate certified compliance report from the regulatory authorities with respect to their application of environmental clearance/approval for expansion projects under the existing statutes; 28. Action Taken on the basis of audit reports- Audit reports shall be reviewed by a peer review committee constituted by EADA with approval of the Ministry; and the peer reviewed report shall be forwarded to the regulatory authorities as prescribed in the guidelines, for necessary action. 29. Committee for Environment Auditing Framework under Environment Auditing Notification A committee shall be constituted by the Ministry under the chairmanship of Additional Secretary/ Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for effective implementation of Environment Auditing framework including amendments to Environment Auditing guidelines. The committee shall monitor the implementations of Environment Auditing Scheme and also take such measures as required from time to time related to any provision of the Scheme as may be necessitated for removal of difficulties and smooth implementation of the Scheme. 30. Nothing contained herein prevents mandating any other audit by government, as may be required from time to time by other Agency as deems appropriate under the facts and circumstances of the case. 31. Nothing contained herein prevents the Central Government from initiating any action, in case of any report of damage to environment, which is proven to be true on the basis of investigation substantiated by factual and material evidences and which is brought to its knowledge through sources other than that through environmental auditing under this Scheme. [F. No. IA-J-11014/3/2021-IA-I.Pt.1] Dr. SUJIT KUMAR BAJPAYEE, Jt. Secy. Uploaded by Dte. of Printing at Government of India Press, Ring Road, Mayapuri, New Delhi-110064 and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi-110054