India being a developing economy, have new industries and manufacturing units emerging every day, which makes it very difficult for the government to individually check the requirements that need to be fulfilled by each producer/entrepreneur, especially with respect to the environment. Due to this Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has delegated this responsibility to the Central and state pollution control board.
One of these responsibilities is granting a Consent certificate to the entrepreneurs, either online or offline. These certificates are provided by the state pollution control board like WBPCB Consent to Establish online.
State Pollution Control Board
Central Pollution Control Board, established under Section 3 of The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974[1], guided by the Central Government, is given the duty to prevent and well as control water pollution. Still, with such a large country, it becomes very difficult for one authority to keep in check the activities under each state. Therefore, to delegate the responsibility of the Central Pollution Control Board, the state pollution control board for each state were established under Section 4 of The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. The member of the State Pollution Control Board is nominated by Central/State Governments whose primary functions are mentioned under The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
Some of these functions are:-
- The State Pollution Control Board is the statutory body established to plan, monitor, cement, research and development as well as educate and train on pollution Control.
- Design and execute the comprehensive programme for the prevention, control or reduction of Air and water pollution.
- Advise state in the matters concerning prevention, control or reduction of Air and water pollution
- Collaborate with the Central Pollution Control Board regarding the training of personnel who are or are to be engaged in programs related to prevention, control or reduction of Air and water pollution.
- Assist in technical aspects as well as guide investigations and research in relation to issues of increasing Air and water pollution and prevention, control or reduction of Air and water pollution.
- Determine or modify the standard for streams or wells and the quality of Air in collaboration with the State Government.
- Assist state government in matters relating to the location of the premises of any industries that are likely to cause Air and water pollution.
- SPCB is headed by Chairman, followed by Member Secretary.
The state pollution control board is also responsible for providing Certificates to industries of Consent to establish or Consent to operate.
West Bengal also has its own state pollution control board having the power to grant WBPCB Consent to establish online.
Certificate of Consent
Before establishing any manufacturing business/Production plan, it is very important to acquire a Certificate of Consent from the State Pollution Control Board. A certificate of Consent is deemed mandatory for any production units under The Water Act, 1974 and The Air Act, 1981. The units which come under E-Waste (Management) Rules, Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, Plastic Waste (Management) Rules and Bio-Medical Waste (Management) Rules. They are also required to apply for the Consent Certificate under The Water Act, 1974 and The Air Act, 1981.
Certificate of Consent is granted by the State Pollution Control Board under Section 17 (f) of The Water Act, 1974, which stipulates that “to inspect sewage or trade effluents, works and units for the treatment of sewage and trade effluents and to scrutinize plans, specifications or other data relating to plants set up for the treatment of water, works for the purification thereof and the system for the disposal of sewage or trade effluents or in connection with the grant of any consent as required by this Act;” and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) set the procedure for establishing under Section 21.
As per the governing laws, the Certificate of Consent is acquired in two parts:
Consent To Establish – Consent To establish properly known as NOC (No objection Certificate) are mandated to be acquired for the new industry as per The Water Act, 1974 and The Air Act, 1981. This Consent Certificate is provided by the State Pollution Control Board, for example, the West Bengal Pollution Control Board, as per the categories of the industries like Red Category, Orange Category, Green Category, White Category, and Exempted.
Consent to Operate- Consent To operate is mandated to be acquired for the industry, which has already established all the operating units as per the No Objection Certificate issued by the state pollution control board as per The Water Act, 1974 and The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. The industries applying for a Certificate to operate are also categorized as Red Category (Industries coming under the Red category are categorized as producing maximum pollution with the highest pollution Index score of 60 and above. These industries are banned from any ecologically fragile area/protected area), Orange Category (Industries that have a higher pollution index of 41 to 59 are categorized under Orange Category. These include Lime manufacturing units, glass-making industries, Pharmaceutical formulation etc.), Green Category (Industries having a pollution index of 21 to 40 come under the green category), White Category (Industries having the least amount of pollutants released is up to 20. The industries included in white categories are not mandated to obtain Consent to operate. The simple information sent to SPCB/PCC is enough) and Exempted according to the pollution or hazard that may be caused due to its operation.
WBPCB Consent to establish online
As explained above, Consent to establish is granted by the concerned state in which the industry or manufacturing units are operating. For establishing new industry state pollution control board has sited restrictions, especially while selecting land, which the upcoming entrepreneurs are required to keep in consideration.
For every different type of industry, there are different issuing authorities for granting WBPCB Consent to establish online.
- Small Scale Industry (Green and Orange) – DIC, Officer-in-charge, Sub DIC
- Medium Scale (Green and Orange) and Small and medium scale (Red) – Regional Offices of WBPCB
- All large-scale units – O&E Cell of WBPCB at head offices
- All EC attracting units – EIM Cell of WBPCB at head office
- Brickfield – DL & LRO
- Stone crusher – BDO & SDO
- The Consent to establish is acquired by the entrepreneurs/Manufacturers from the state pollution control board through their official site, after which the No Objection Certificate is granted, whose validity last for seven years.
- The Application for Consent to establish is submitted with the applicable fees through online payment and required documents.
- After submitting the application, it is reviewed by the authority, followed by a personal inspection by the officer.
- After inspection, the report is made on the basis of the visit, on the basis of which the Certificate to Consent is provided.
Documents required for submitting WBPCB Consent to establish online
- Any Documents related to Land (Rent receipt, rent agreement, porch, Lease agreement, land deed)
- Gross Capital Investment Certificate (Self-certified undertaking)
- Project reports consisting of details on effluent, solid waste management, emission, finished products, raw materials, and manufacturing process, including the list of machinery.
- The self-certified site plan/layout with road map/route map
- SSI Certificate of Partners/Directors, Industry Department Certificate
Conclusion
Nowadays, it is very easy for entrepreneurs to acquire WBPCB Consent to establish online because of the less confusing process and time-saving methods. But then also, many a time, producers/manufacturers because for some reason, do not obtain the Certificate making it very difficult for the government to keep in track of the environmental aspect. Therefore, to avoid this, entrepreneurs are given a penalty of imprisonment that may extend to 3 years with or without a fine extending to ten thousand rupees.
