Constitute State Environment Impact Assessment Authorities In 6 Weeks If Absent: Supreme Court Directs States

Constitute State Environment Impact Assessment Authorities In 6 Weeks If Absent: Supreme Court Directs States

The Supreme Court on November 12 directed State Governments to constitute State Environment Impact Assessment Authorities (SEIAA) within 6 weeks wherever they have not been formed.

The above direction was made when the Court was hearing a civil appeal against an order of the National Green Tribunal which disapproved the grant of Environment Clearances in certain leases by the District Environment Impact Assessment Authorities (DEIAA) instead of SEIAA. 

The bench of CJI Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar was hearing a challenge by the Union to the order of NGT, Delhi dated September 13, 2018 which directed the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to revise its 2016 notification which exempts regulatory clearances in mining leases for areas from 0 to 25 hectares. 

The notifications challenged before the NGT dated 15.01.2016, 20.01.2016 and 01.07.2016 had the effect of diluting the procedure for obtaining environmental clearance in respect of mining of minor minerals for areas from 0 to 25 hectares as it brought such leases within 'B-2 category projects' where Public Consultation, Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environment Management Plan (EMP) was exempted. 

Notably, under the B-2 category projects, the EC was to be granted by the DEIAA as opposed to SEIAA which oversees grants in B-1 category projects (leases of areas between 50-25 hectares). 

The bench of NGT noted that such notifications, particularly of January 15, 2016 were contrary to the Supreme Court decision in Deepak Kumar Vs. State of Haryana & Ors, where it was held that all mining leases in respect of its size would require to obtain Environmental Clearance and be subjected to strict regulatory framework as that of all major minerals. 

The Tribunal thus ordered : 

"It is reiterated that any attempt to split the lease area for the purpose of avoiding the applicable regulatory regime shall be viewed seriously. This in our view will be in the interest of the environment as deliberated in detail in the case of Deepak Kumar (supra) and would also satisfy the Precautionary Principle and the Principle of Sustainable Development contemplated under Section 20 of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010."  

" The MoEF&CC shall, therefore, take appropriate steps to revise the procedure laid down in the impugned Notification dated 15th January, 2016 in terms of the above directions and observations so that it is conformity with the letter and spirit of the directions passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Deepak Kumar (supra)."

Subsequent to this, the Union issued an Office Memorandum (OM) dated 12.12.2018 by which the District Environment Impact Assessment Authorities (DEIAA) were made dysfunctional. The workload of the DEIAA was then delegated to SEIAA. Another set of O.Ms dated 15.12.2021 and 28.04.2023 was issued where all the EC grants for mining leases under the B2 project categories were to be made by SEIAA instead of DEIAA. 

In light of the above, several ECs issued by DEIAA between the period from January 15, 2016 to September 13, 2018 were to be re-appraised by SEIAA. Thus the Top Court on November 12 extended time for re-appraisal of the ECs falling within such a period by SEIAA by March 31, 2025. 

The bench observed : "we extend the time for completion of re-appraisal by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authorities till 31.03.2025. This direction will apply in the cases where the Environment Clearance is valid, as mining activity can only continue during the period of validity of the EC." 

Parties who have not yet applied for re-appraisal by SEIAA were additionally given 3 weeks' time.

The bench had further directed "The State Governments will also ensure that SEIAA, where not constituted, are constituted within a period of six weeks from today."  

The matter will now be heard in January 2025.