Water Act Exemption

REGD. No. D. L.-33004/99 The Gazette of India CG-DL-E-22072024-255621 EXTRAORDINARY PART II-Section 3-Sub-section (i) PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY No. 388] NEW DELHI, FRIDAY, JULY 19, 2024 MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE NOTIFICATION New Delhi, the 19th July, 2024 Draft EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN CATEGORIES OF INDUSTRIAL PLANTS FROM CONSENT MECHANISM AS PER SECTION 25 OF THE WATER (PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF POLLUTION) ACT, 1974 G.S.R. 425(E). -The following draft notification which the Central Government proposes to issue, in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 25 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 (hereafter referred as Water Act) for bringing out regulations for exemption of certain categories of Industries from requirement of prior Consent to Establish/Consent to Operate(CTE/CTO) is hereby published for information of the public and other stakeholders likely to be affected. Further, notice is hereby given that the said notification will be taken into consideration by the Central Government on or after the expiry of sixty days from the date on which copies of this notification as published in the Gazette of India are made available to the public; Any person interested in making any objection or suggestion on the proposals contained in the draft notification may do so in writing within the period so specified through post to the Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Indira Paryavaran Bhawan, Jar Bagh Road, Aliganj, New Delhi-110003 or electronically at email address [email protected] or [email protected] Draft Notification Whereas, the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 was amended with a view to exempt certain categories of industries/activities from dual compliance of Consent To Establish (CTE)/Consent To Operate (CTO) and Environmental Clearance (EC); And whereas, the Ministry consulted the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to prepare the notification for exempting such Industries; And whereas, this notification is intended not only to enhance ease of doing business, minimizing compliance burden of Industries, but also to reduce duplication in the work at the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB)/Pollution Control Committee (PCC) level; And whereas, due care has been taken, while preparing this notification, that appropriate monitoring and compliance of pollution is ensured. Now therefore, in exercise of powers conferred under Section 25 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, the Central Government, hereby notifies these Regulations on exemption of certain categories of industries/activities from mandatory condition of prior consent, as follows: Exemption of certain categories of industries/activitiesfrom prior consent 1. Background 1.1. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and CPCB have received representation on consent mechanism adopted across the States and Union Territories in respect of high consent fees, non- uniformity in fee structure across States/UTs, time taken in grant of consent, duplication of procedures etc. Subsequently, an amendment of certain provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 has been made and proviso to Section 25 is inserted to enable Central Government to exempt certain industries/activities from Consent Mechanism for enhanced trust-based governance, ease of living and ease of doing business. 1.2. The Procedure for EC is quite comprehensive and covers almost all the issues holistically which are considered while giving CTE. Hence, in effect, it's a duplication of compliance when same industries/activities are mandated to obtain EC as well as CTE. Further, if any issues are left out, they may be integrated in the EC. 1.3. Keeping in view the above issues, this notification is being issued for public consultation. 2. Date of Coming into Effect: This notification shall come into force, at once in the States of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and the Union territories from the date of notification in official gazette, and in any other State which adopts Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Act, 2024 under clause (1) of article 252 of the constitution read with clause (2) thereof; from the date of such adoption. 3. All industries/activities categorized as 'White' by CPCB shall be exempted from the mandatory condition of obtaining CTE and CTO from SPCBs/PCCs under Section 25 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, subject to the following conditions: a. These units will have to intimate about their operation to SPCBs / PCCs in the form of a self-declaration, complying with all the prevalent rules and regulations. They are not required to pay any consent fee. b. SPCBs/PCCs shall maintain list of such industries/ activities separately, which shall be updated from time to time. с. SPCBs / PCCs shall ensure that no activities other than those intimated, are carried out by such exempted units. 4. The projects / activities requiring prior EC as per the Environmental Impact Assessment notification, 2006 (as amended from time to time) under Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 shall be exempted from obtaining CTE separately, subject to following conditions: a. They have obtained necessary EC from the competent authority under the notification referred above. b. CTE in all such cases shall be deemed to have been integrated with EC с. The Conditions of CTE, as may be required, will be integrated in the conditions of EC itself in the following manner: (i) The competent authority for issuance of EC under EIA Notification, 2006 shall communicate the application of the Project Proponent (PP) to the concerned SPCB/PCC, as the case may be. (ii) The concerned SPCB/PCC will examine the case and communicate its comments to the above referred competent authority within the time limit prescribed by it, which shall not be less than 30 days. (iii) SPCB / PCC may undertake inspection of the site, if required before sending their comments. Further, SPCB / PCC may also raise queries to the PPs for additional information, if required. Any time taken by the PPs in responding to the queries of SPCBs / PCCs shall be in addition to the time limit prescribed. (iv) The EC granting authority shall consider the comments of the concerned SPCB/PCC for inclusion of additional conditions while issuing the EC, which will inter-alia, include that the PP shall pay the requisite CTE fee to SPCBs/PCCs within 30 days of issuance of EC. (v) The EC will become operational only after the payment of CTE fee. Delay in payment of CTE fee beyond 30 days may attract late fee as may be decided by the concerned SPCB/PCC. (d) Such industries / activities shall be required to obtain CTO separately from the SPCB / PCC and any other authorization /permission, wherever required as per the prevailing rules and regulations. 5. Industries/ activities not included in para 3 and 4 above shall be required to obtain CTE and CTO and other permissions, as per the prevailing rules and regulations. 6. Subject to the provisions of the Act and this notification, MoEFCC may issue necessary guidelines for smooth implementation of this notification. [F. No. Q-15012/1/2022-CPW] NARESH PAL GANGWAR, Addl. 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. GORAKHA NATH YADAVA