The draft EIA notification, 2020, weakens the role of the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) and gives more authenticity to approved consultants, and this may not be good in the long run to preserve the environment, the SEAC-Tamil Nadu submitted to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
Submitting its comments and suggestions on the draft notification, the SEAC also raised other issues, while welcoming the proposal to deal with projects that fall in the violation category. The Ministry disclosed details of the SEAC’s submissions in reply to a question under the Right to Information Act raised by an individual in Chennai.
Weakened system
In May this year, the SEAC convened a meeting of its members through videoconference. It objected to the proposal of the B2 category projects not being required to be placed before the SEAC and said the draft notification diluted the process and weakened the system for implementing innovative/cost-efficient technologies or processes to prevent the degradation of the environment.
“For the issue of environmental permission [EP], if the projects are directly considered without an appraisal by the SEAC, the suitability of the proposed site, adequacy of the proposed control/mitigation measures to reduce the impact on the environment, as stated in the EMP [Environment Management Plan] proposed, cannot be verified thoroughly by the respective State Environment Impact Assessment Authority [SEIAA] since it is the approving authority,” it said.
The SEAC has been constituted with experts drawn from multiple disciplines to assess proposals in a holistic way, evaluate human health risks and provide appropriate recommendations to the SEIAA.
“Thus, our considered opinion is that all the B2 category projects should be appraised through the SEAC, and the recommendations would form the basis for the approval by the SEIAA,” the SEAC said.
Cases of violation
On the clause to deal with cases of violation, the SEAC said that currently there was no provision to deal with or regulate such cases after April 13, 2018, as per a Madras High Court order. The draft notification, however, provides a provision to deal with such projects that fall in the violation category. “This is a very good move. The MoEF&CC shall impose some stringent conditions, along with the high penalty, so as to avoid the intentional violations,” it said.
The SEAC also deliberated on a few other clauses and submitted its recommendations and suggestions, while concluding that the draft notification weakened the role of the SEAC.
