Amendments made to Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006 amidst COVID-19 

  • IASbaba
  • April 17, 2020
  • 0
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Amendments made to Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006 amidst COVID-19 

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Environment Impact Assessment 

In News:

  • To ramp up availability/production of various drugs against COVID-19, Ministry of Environment has made an amendment to Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006.
  • All projects or activities in respect of bulk drugs and intermediates, manufactured for addressing various ailments, have been re-categorized from the existing Category ‘A’ to ‘B2’ category.
  • The re-categorization of such proposals will lead to decentralization of appraisal to State Level, thus helping in fast track the process.
  • This amendment is applicable to all proposals received up to 30th September 2020.

Important value additions:

Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)

  • It is a process of evaluating the likely environmental impacts of a proposed project 
  • It is statutorily backed by the Environment Protection Act, 1986
  • New EIA legislation, 2006 makes it mandatory for various projects such as mining, thermal power plants, river valley, infrastructure and industries to get environment clearance.
  • The onus of clearing projects is on the state government depending on the size/capacity of the project. 
  • Environment Impact Assessment Notification of 2006 has decentralized the environmental clearance projects by categorizing the developmental projects in two categories – Category A (national level appraisal) and Category B (state level appraisal).
  • Category A projects – They require mandatory environmental clearance and thus they do not undergo the screening process.
  • Category B Projects- They undergo screening process and they are classified into two types:
    • Category B1 projects (Mandatorily require EIA).
    • Category B2 projects (Do not require EIA).

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