Why in News?
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has amended environmental consent rules to introduce an integrated single-window consent mechanism for industries.
Description:
What Has Been Amended:
Industrial units can now submit one single application to obtain:
- Consent under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981
- Consent under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974
- Authorisations under various Waste Management Rules
Applications continue to be processed by State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) and Pollution Control Committees (PCCs).
Key Features:
- Integrated consent: Replaces multiple parallel applications with a single consolidated process.
- Consent to Operate (CTO): Validity will now continue indefinitely until cancelled. Periodic renewal requirement removed.
- Processing timelines: For Red Category industries, approval time reduced from 120 days to 90 days.
- Environmental safeguards retained: Periodic inspections will continue. Consent can be cancelled in case of violations.
Classification of Industries:
Blue Category industries cover Essential Environmental Services (ESSs) such as municipal solid waste management facilities, sanitary landfills, sewage treatment plants, and CBG plants using municipal/agro waste. They are incentivised to promote waste management. CBG plants based on industrial waste remain under the Red category.
Role of Environmental Auditors:
- Registered Environmental Auditors, certified under the Environment Audit Rules, 2025, are permitted to conduct site inspections andverify environmental compliance.
- Intended to speed up consent processing and reduce administrative load on SPCBs.
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