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Polluter pays principle: Centre proposes first-ever tar balls management rules to tackle marine pollution
Tar balls are sticky lumps created due to weathering of oil following leaks, spills, and marine accidents
The Rules propose that state governments declare pollution in coastal areas caused by tar balls as a state disaster and that they act under the Disaster Management Act.
The Centre has, for the first time, proposed dedicated rules to manage tar balls, the sticky, weathered residue from oil leaks, spills, effluents and accidents that causes on-shore and off-shore marine pollution. It affects flora and fauna, and the tourism industry due to their deposition on beaches, especially India’s western coast, which sees tar balls wash ashore during monsoon due to strong winds and currents.
These tar balls contain toxic contaminants, such as heavy metals, trace elements, and persistent-organic pollutants, and pose environmental and health risks.
The Tar-balls Management Rules 2026 assigns responsibilities for generation, collection, storage, transport, treatment, and disposal of this pollutant, including its repurposing as fuel in cement production. Owing to the wide range of responsibilities assigned, it will cover persons or companies that own, control, or operate ships, vessels, and facilities where oil, both crude or fuel, is extracted, explored, transported, and handled. These entities together have been defined as ‘oil facilities’ under the draft rules.
It also outlines the role of ministries ranging from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to the Ministry of Ports, and Defence ministry regarding ‘environmentally sound’ management of tar balls, as well as district and state authorities.
Crucially, it has proposed that state governments shall declare pollution in coastal areas due to tar balls as a state disaster, and they have to act under the Disaster Management Act. Currently, the National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan (NOS-DCP) lays down a framework and responsibilities on how to respond to oil spills and preparation of contingency plans.
State governments, through district administrations, are also to ensure tar ball collection from shoreline, environmentally sound transport to treatment facilities.
Oil facility owners will be liable to pay an environmental compensation as per the ‘polluter pays principle’ if they fail to manage oil in an environmentally sound manner and lead to any oil spill, thereby causing environmental damage or injury to public health. Compensation will also be levied on transporters, operators of treatment facilities if tar balls are not handled properly.
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The Rules also propose a steering committee with members drawn from seven ministries and pollution control boards to advise the governments of coastal states and Union Territories on implementation of these proposed rules.
As part of a framework for disposal, the rules have proposed that tar balls having calorific value over 1,500 kilo-calories can be used as fuel source in industrial processes, mainly in cement industries. This will be permitted after obtaining due authorisation from the state pollution control board concerned.
Studies by Central Pollution Control Board scientists have highlighted that while oil spills trigger wide response measures, small spills are often unreported, exacerbating environmental damage.
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