The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has recently introduced changes that would allow the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority of (SEIAA), various states, to be scored and ranked based upon the time it takes to clear the proposals.
While the government has clarified that the ranking is only to improve the speed of governance, environmentalists and critics say that it would lead to environmentally-damaging projects being cleared.
What is the star rating system?
The ranking system is based upon the EIA Notification 2006 (Environment Impact Assessment) Notification 2006, as well as various guidelines issued from time to time by the ministry. These guidelines are intended to encourage SEIAAs increase efficiency in decision-making according to the EIA Notification 2006.
It is important that you note that the EIA Notification already contains timelines for all EC processing, and the Ministry has added clarification in the past.
The proposed changes will allow SEIAAs to be ranked according to the average time it takes to clear proposals. Two marks will be given to agencies that clear proposals in an average of 80 days. They will be awarded one mark if they take longer than 105 days. If they take between 105 and 120 days, the state authority will receive 0.5 marks. If they take more then 120 days, they will be awarded zero. The agencies will not get any negative marks regardless of the time taken.
The time taken by agencies to obtain clarifications from the parties regarding the proposal will not be counted.
Aside from the time taken, agencies are also marked on six other criteria including site visits and percentage of EC proposals disposed within six months.
The score will then be calculated and a rating from five stars will given.
According to the government, this system will encourage state agencies to quickly and efficiently process environmental clearances for projects without compromising any safeguards.
Critics and environmentalists argue that the pressure on state agencies to grant clearances faster will result in hasty actions without proper review.
These changes and the slew legal amendments the government has made to environmental laws over this year have all threatened to weaken India’s already fragile environmental protections.
Critics claim that projects that are more easily compliant and processed faster can do significant damage to the environment.
This creates a situation in which you don’t have the time to make these decisions properly. It can also lead to artificial competition between states which could result in industries moving to states with quicker environmental clearance. It is as it is. The EIA process is complete regulatory capture. The consultancies that produce environmental impact reports are hired directly by the businesses,” Arpitha Kodiveri (an environmental lawyer and postdoctoral researcher at The New York University School of Law) told The Print.
She added that “the pressure of speed, efficiency, and incentivisation will skew environmental governance to make it pro-business”
(Edited by: Thomas Abraham)
