Environmental Clearance in India Explained
What is environmental clearance (EC) in India under the EIA Notification 2006: which projects need it (Category A vs B), what is the process and documents, and how does state-level clearance through SEIAA work in states like Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka?
I've written this from the original EIA Notification 2006 (S.O. 1533(E), 14 September 2006) and a few official MoEFCC and state documents. The archive I can search only goes up to 2017. The Schedule thresholds and procedures below are therefore the 2006 text as first published, and later amendments to the Schedule or procedure may have changed them.
Approach
I searched the archive of MoEF Gazette notifications held on PARIVESH, which covers 1986 to 2017. I read the full principal notification: the categories, the four stages, Form 1, the Schedule, validity and monitoring. I also read MoEF's transition circulars and its November 2006 order setting up the central expert committees. I found no EC proposals for Maharashtra, Gujarat or Karnataka in the PARIVESH proposal register I can search. For the state picture I used official MoEFCC and state government web pages only.
What EC is
EC means "prior environmental clearance". You need it before any construction work or land preparation starts (securing the land is allowed). It applies to three situations [1]:
- any new project or activity listed in the Schedule;
- expansion or modernisation that takes a project past the Schedule thresholds;
- a change in product mix beyond the specified range.
The notification was issued under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and replaced the 1994 EIA notification [1].
Category A vs Category B
Projects are split by how far their impacts could spread and their potential effects on human health and resources [2]:
- Category A: cleared by the central Ministry (MoEF, now MoEFCC) on the recommendation of the central Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC).
- Category B: cleared by the State/UT Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) on the recommendation of the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC). If a state has no properly constituted SEIAA or SEAC, its Category B projects are treated as Category A.
Example thresholds from the 2006 Schedule [2]:
| Activity | Category A | Category B |
|---|---|---|
| Mining of minerals | ≥50 ha lease; all asbestos mining | <50 ha and ≥5 ha |
| Thermal power (coal/lignite/naphtha/gas) | ≥500 MW | <500 MW |
| Cement | ≥1.0 Mtpa | <1.0 Mtpa; all stand-alone grinding units |
| Pesticides (technical grade), fertilisers, petroleum refining, airports | All projects | none |
| Synthetic organic chemicals (dyes, bulk drugs and intermediates) | Outside a notified industrial estate | Inside a notified estate |
| Isolated storage of hazardous chemicals (MSIHC thresholds) | none | All projects |
| Building/construction (8(a)) | none | ≥20,000 and <1,50,000 m² built-up area |
| Townships/area development (8(b)) | none | ≥50 ha and/or ≥1,50,000 m²; always appraised as B1 |
Two conditions can change the category [2]:
- General Condition: a Category B project becomes Category A if any part of it lies within 10 km of a protected area, a critically polluted area, a notified eco-sensitive area, or an inter-State or international boundary.
- Specific Condition: if an industrial estate or SEZ has its own EC, individual units inside it don't need separate EC, provided the estate's conditions are met.
The process
1. Application. File Form 1 (plus Form 1A for construction projects) with a pre-feasibility report. Construction projects (item 8) file a conceptual plan instead of the pre-feasibility report. Apply after identifying the site and before any construction [2].
2. Four stages. Not every stage applies to every project [2]:
- Screening (Category B only): the SEAC decides whether an EIA is needed. Projects that need one become B1; the rest become B2 and need no EIA report.
- Scoping: the EAC (Category A) or SEAC (Category B1) sets the Terms of Reference (ToR) within 60 days of receiving Form 1. If it misses that deadline, the ToR proposed by the applicant are deemed approved. Building and construction projects skip scoping.
- Public consultation: required for Category A and B1 projects. The State Pollution Control Board holds a public hearing and forwards the proceedings within 45 days of the request, and written responses are also invited. Exempt: B2 projects, building and construction projects, units in approved industrial estates, highway expansion without new land acquisition, irrigation modernisation, and defence projects.
- Appraisal: the committee examines the final EIA/EMP and the public consultation outcome within 60 days, then sends its recommendation to the regulator within the next 15 days.
3. Decision. The regulator decides within 45 days of the recommendation, which is 105 days from the final EIA report [2].
- If the decision isn't communicated in time, the applicant may proceed as if the committee's recommendation has been adopted.
- Concealing or misrepresenting material information makes the application liable for rejection, or an EC already granted liable for cancellation.
4. After clearance [2]:
- Validity: 10 years for river valley projects; project life up to 30 years for mining; 5 years for everything else. It can be extended by up to 5 years if you apply within the validity period.
- Compliance reports: half-yearly reports on the EC conditions are due on 1 June and 1 December. They are public documents.
- Transfer: an EC can be transferred to another entity on the same terms, without going back to the expert committee.
5. Expansion and product mix. Expansions and product-mix changes are filed in Form 1, and the committee decides within 60 days what EIA and consultation are needed [2]. A later MoEF notification allows quantity changes within a product mix without fresh EC, if the products stay in the same category and within the overall limits already granted. The concerned SPCB allows these changes [3].
How SEIAA works
Under the notification [2]:
- The central government constitutes each SEIAA under section 3(3) of the Environment (Protection) Act, using names nominated by the state.
- It has three members: a Member-Secretary who is a serving state officer, and two experts. The expert in EIA process is Chairman.
- Non-official members serve fixed 3-year terms.
- Decisions must be unanimous and taken in a meeting.
- The SEAC screens, scopes and appraises Category B projects and must meet at least monthly.
When SEIAAs were first being set up, MoEF processed Category B files itself and transferred them to each SEIAA once it was notified [4].
In the three states, the official records I found show the same SEAC-to-SEIAA model:
- Maharashtra: the SEAC considers proposals and recommends them to SEIAA Maharashtra, which sits in the Mantralaya, Mumbai. Meeting statements are published on the state's EC portal run by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board.
- Gujarat: SEIAA Gujarat publishes its agendas through MoEFCC's environment clearance portal. SEAC Gujarat files are visible there under references like "SEAC/GJ/...".
- Karnataka: SEIAA Karnataka is constituted by the MoEF under section 3(3), grants EC after considering the SEAC recommendation, and its composition and pending proposals are listed on the MoEFCC portal.
- Filing route: official state government material confirms that SEIAAs process EC applications through MoEFCC's PARIVESH portal.
The official sources I reviewed don't give state-specific procedural rules, fees or thresholds for Maharashtra, Gujarat or Karnataka. As far as they show, all three apply the central notification.
Sources: