Centre proposes prior green clearance exemption for solid waste management, effluent treatment units

The EAC said that solid waste management facilities and CETPs are governed under provisions of the Water Act, 1974, and the Air Act, 1981, and the regulatory regimes under these statutes are both stringent and comprehensive.

The draft notifications have thus proposed to omit entries related to solid waste municipal management facilities and CETPs from the list of activities that need prior environmental clearance under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) notification, 2006.

The draft notifications would be open for public comments, objections or suggestions for a period of 60 days, the notifications stated. The two issues were appraised by the sectoral EAC, in this case, the ‘Infrastructure-II’ panel, which appraises projects ranging from airports to waste treatment and disposal plants and hazardous waste disposal facilities.

As per the draft notification on solid waste facilities, the EAC noted that, based on the recent new categorisation of industries by the Central Pollution Control Board, solid waste management facilities would qualify as ‘essential environmental services.’

The notification also said that in November 2017, a previous office memorandum of the ministry had clarified that only those solid waste management facilities that include a landfill would require prior clearance. “In this regard, after due deliberation the Expert Advisory Committee was of the considered view that all CMSWMF (common municipal solid waste management facilities) may be exempted subject to environmental safeguards to be implemented,” the draft notification stated.

It added that such facilities bring value addition by producing various by-products such as secondary raw material, compost, energy, and promote circular economy and sustainable development.

As per the draft notification on CETPs, the EAC said that in light of technological advancements, there is a robust compliance mechanism in place, and there was a demonstrable shift towards sustainable water management practices; thus, the exemption could be considered, subject to safeguards to be followed during the construction and operation of such plants. An expert advisory committee of the ministry examined EAC’s recommendation and agreed upon the exemption, as per the draft notification.

What Solid Waste Management Rules say

Under the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, which regulate waste management in the country, a ‘facility’ is defined as any establishment where solid waste management processes such as segregation, recovery, storage, collection, recycling, treatment or safe disposal are carried out. Such facilities are appraised as Category ‘B’ projects under the EIA notification and are scrutinised by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority.

In 2017, the ministry issued an office memorandum, which stated that, except for landfill sites, the other processes of waste management, if proposed independently, were not covered under EIA notification. It had also noted that there was a tendency to locate landfill sites near low-lying areas such as wetlands, ponds, and near forests and rivers, and hence, it may not be appropriate to exempt them from the scope of environmental clearance.

CETPs, on the other hand, are effluent or wastewater treatment plants established in industrial clusters of different sectors, such as pharmaceutical industries, tanneries, textiles, pulp and paper, to name a few. The effluent discharge from individual plants is connected to these common plants to meet the zero liquid discharge norms, and some also include recycling facilities to reuse wastewater.

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