Streamlining and Strengthening the Environmental Impact Assessment Process
Submissions to the High Level Committee constituted to review various environment Acts
Summary: Key recommendations include consolidating and re-enacting executive orders on the environment impact assessment process, providing a principled basis for determining which projects require environmental clearances, and introducing strategic environment impact assessment.
This Note responds to the call for public comments issued by the High-Level Committee (the ‘HLC’) constituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (the ‘MoEF’) to review the following environment acts- the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, and the Indian Forest Act, 1927.
The terms of reference of the HLC are very broad, and it is beyond the scope of this Note to undertake a detailed analysis of the working of all the abovementioned statutes. Instead, this Note makes a focused set of recommendations on reforming the Environmental Impact Assessment (the ‘EIA’) process in India.
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About the Authors
Dr. Dhvani Mehta {B.L.S. LL.B. (University of Mumbai); BCL, D.Phil (Oxon)} is a Co-Founder at Vidhi and Lead, Health. She has worked specifically on research projects on environmental clearances, the National Green Tribunal, organ transplant laws, end of life care, and pharmaceutical and medical device regulation. She has appeared in the Supreme Court of India in petitions filed by Vidhi on advance medical directives and discrimination against persons affected by leprosy. She has authored chapters on the implementation of environmental judgments and healthcare corruption in India. Dhvani read for a doctoral degree at the University of Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, where she was Chairperson of Oxford Pro Bono Publico and an editor of the Oxford Human Rights Hub blog. Her doctoral thesis explores the idea of an environmental rule of law in India and was cited by the Supreme Court of India.
Yashaswini Mittal was a Research Fellow at Vidhi.
