From wpsi@VSNL.COM Sat Aug 21 13:59:34 2004 Date: Thu, 29 Jul 2004 19:03:50 +0530 From: Wildlife Protection Society of IndiaTo: nathistory-india@Princeton.EDU Subject: CLARIFICATION: Simplification of Environmental Clearance Procedure ? [ Part 1.1, Text/PLAIN (charset: ISO-8859-1 "Latin 1") 84 lines. ] [ Unable to print this part. ] [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] We would like to clarify that the following message was a Press Release that was sent out by the Press Information Bureau, Government of India, on 21 July 2004. Links can be found at www.sify.com/legal/fullstory.php?id=13526804, and also at www.pib.nic.in. SIMPLIFICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL CLEARANCE PROCEDURE New Delhi, July 21, 2004 Environmental clearance for project proposals is granted usually within the mandated time frame of 120 days from the date of receipt of complete information from the project authorities. However, environmental clearance for many of the projects gets protracted beyond the prescribed time frame due to non-submission of the requisite information. Various measures have been taken by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to streamline and simplify the environmental clearance procedure with a view to promote time-bound and transparent decision making, by making amendments to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Coastal Regulation Zone Notifications and by bringing procedural changes. These measures include:- · Time limit of 90 days for completing appraisals, 30 days for communicating decision and 60 days for completing the public hearing by State pollution Control Boards (SPCBs). · Investment limit raised from Rs. 50 crores to Rs. 100 crores for new projects. · Dispensed with the requirement of public hearing for Small Scale Industries (SSIs) located in industrial areas/estates, widening and strengthening of highways, offshore exploration activities beyond 10 kms from the nearest habitat, mining projects of major minerals with lease upped 20 ha, modernisation of existing irrigation projects and units to be located in Export Processing Zone (EPZ) and Special Economic Zone (SEZ). · Dispensed with the requirement of EIA report for pipeline projects. · No Objection Certificate (NOC)/consent to establish not insisted upon at the time of receipt of the application for environmental clearance. · Industrial projects costing less than Rs. 5.0 crores are examined in-house and decision taken. · Powers have been delegated to the State Governments for granting environmental clearance of certain categories of thermal power projects. The simplification of environmental clearance procedures already brought forth has helped in expediting the process for grant of environmental clearance. In order to further improve and expedite the environmental clearance process and make it more effective, time bound and transparent, a comprehensive review of the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 1994 has already been taken up. END ========================================== WILDLIFE PROTECTION SOCIETY OF INDIA M-52, Greater Kailash Part I New Delhi 110 048 Tel: (Int+91.11) 2621.3864 & 2629.2492 Fax: (Int+91.11) 2646.4918 Website: www.wpsi-india.org Email: wpsi@vsnl.com ==========================================