Q.01

What is the CPCB?

The CPCB is India's Central Pollution Control Board. Its own site describes it as "a statutory organisation" that "was constituted in September, 1974 under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974". It was later "entrusted with the powers and functions under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981" (CPCB, Introduction).

Approach: I used the CPCB's official "Introduction" page and looked at what CPCB material the datasets hold.

Role and position

  • It is a field formation of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. It gives the Ministry technical services on the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (CPCB).
  • It has two main objectives:
    • "to promote cleanliness of streams and wells in different areas of the States by prevention, control and abatement of water pollution"
    • "to improve the quality of air and to prevent, control or abate air pollution in the country" (CPCB)
  • Its main ongoing work includes the National Air Monitoring Programme and water quality monitoring of India's rivers and other water bodies (CPCB).

CPCB material I can search for you

  • The annual National Inventory on Generation and Management of Hazardous and Other Wastes. This covers authorised units by state, such as generators, recyclers, Rule 9 utilisers and TSDFs (hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facilities).
  • The CPCB Hazardous Waste Archive. It holds Technical Expert Committee minutes and the historical Rule 9 operating procedures.
  • The CPCB's historical Auto Fuel Quality specification page, last updated September 2017.

I can look up something specific in any of these next, for example the authorised hazardous-waste units in a given state.

Q.02

When was it set up and under which law?

The CPCB was set up in September 1974 under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. In the CPCB's own words, it "was constituted in September, 1974 under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974" (CPCB, Introduction).

Approach: The datasets I can search don't include India's Water Act or a CPCB record on its founding, so I took this from the CPCB's official Introduction page.

Laws added after 1974

  • Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981: the CPCB "was entrusted with the powers and functions under" this Act.
  • Environment (Protection) Act, 1986: the CPCB gives the Ministry of Environment and Forests technical services on this Act's provisions (CPCB).

I can pull the text of the 1974 Water Act provision that sets up the Board from India's official legislation portal next, if that would help.

Q.03

How does it work with the state pollution control boards?

The CPCB sits above the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs). It coordinates them and settles disputes between them, gives them technical help, and can issue written directions that bind them. The SPCBs do the day-to-day regulating in their own states, including granting consents to industry. The text below is the Water Act, 1974 as the CPCB compiled it, with amendments up to 31 March 2021 (CPCB Pollution Control Law Series, 7th ed.).

Approach: The datasets I can search don't hold the Water Act or the Air Act. I read both in the CPCB's official compilation and checked the CPCB's own pages. I couldn't open India Code (the government's official legislation portal) this time, so the wording below has not been checked against it.

What the CPCB does for the State Boards (Water Act s.16(2))

  • (b) "co-ordinate the activities of the State Boards and resolve disputes among them"
  • (c) "provide technical assistance and guidance to the State Boards", and carry out and sponsor research
  • (d) plan and organise training; (f) publish data, manuals and codes on treating sewage and trade effluents
  • (g) set standards for a stream or well "in consultation with the State Government concerned"
  • (h) plan and run "a nation-wide programme" for preventing and controlling water pollution
  • (ee) take over State Board functions when ordered to under s.18(2) (see below)

What the State Boards do (s.17(1))

  • Plan and carry out a pollution-control programme for the state's streams and wells, and advise the state government.
  • Inspect effluents and treatment plants, and set effluent standards. Their standards cover receiving waters "not being water in an inter-State stream".
  • Make orders requiring polluters to take remedial measures, and advise on where polluting industry should be located.
  • Work "with the Central Board" on training, and perform other functions "entrusted to it by the Central Board or the State Government" (s.17(1)(e), (o)).
  • Grant or refuse consent. Under s.25(1), no one may set up a discharging industry or process, or start a new discharge, "without the previous consent of the State Board".

Directions and fallback powers (s.18)

  • Every State Board "shall be bound by such directions in writing as the Central Board or the State Government may give to it". If the two conflict, the matter goes to the Central Government to decide (s.18(1)(b)). The CPCB itself takes directions from the Central Government (s.18(1)(a)).
  • If a State Board fails to follow CPCB directions and "a grave emergency has arisen", the Central Government can order the CPCB to do that State Board's functions for a set area and period. The CPCB can then recover its costs (s.18(2)-(3)). The State Board keeps its powers everywhere else (s.18(4)).

Union Territories

  • No State Board is set up for a Union Territory. The CPCB acts as the State Board there and may delegate those powers to a body the Central Government names (Water Act s.4(4); Air Act s.6).
  • In practice these bodies are Pollution Control Committees. For example, a CPCB notification of 25 March 2021 handed all its Water Act and Air Act powers for Ladakh to the Ladakh Pollution Control Committee. The CPCB's Member Secretary sits on that committee.
  • The CPCB's directory lists 29 SPCBs and 6 Pollution Control Committees (CPCB, SPCBs & PCCs).

Air pollution The Air Act, 1981 hands air pollution to the same bodies. The CPCB acts as the central board under it (s.3). Each SPCB set up under the Water Act is treated as that state's air board (s.4) (CPCB compilation).

Funding SPCBs and PCCs collect water cess under the Water Cess Act, 1977. An undated CPCB coordination document says 80% of the cess is paid back to the SPCBs, and the CPCB suggests what they should spend it on, such as monitoring, standards and training (CPCB, Co-ordination with Pollution Control Boards and Committees).

Later changes The CPCB's water pollution page lists two newer instruments that the 2021 compilation does not include (CPCB):

  • GSR 85(E) of 30 January 2025, guidelines on granting, refusing or cancelling consent
  • GSR 696(E) of 11 November 2024, rules on holding inquiries and imposing penalties

I haven't read either one. I can open them next to see how they change the consent and enforcement steps described above.

Q.04