{"id":52662,"date":"2023-02-18T17:31:16","date_gmt":"2023-02-18T12:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/?p=52662"},"modified":"2023-02-18T17:31:20","modified_gmt":"2023-02-18T12:01:20","slug":"how-to-draft-eia-report-to-spcb-for-public-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/how-to-draft-eia-report-to-spcb-for-public-hearing\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Draft EIA report to SPCB for Public Hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The present site clearance procedures for projects in the\ncountry insist on carrying out <strong><a class=\"text-primary\" href=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/environmental-impact-assessment-eia\">Environmental Impact Assessment<\/a><\/strong> (EIA) for specific\nprojects under the EIA notification of 2006. This notification, which replaced\nthe EIA notification of January 27, 1994, was released by the Ministry of\nEnvironment &amp; Forest, Government of India, on September 14, 2006. The law\nmandated that the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC), at the level of the\nState Government, and the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC), located within the\nMinistry of Environment and Forests, conduct &#8220;detailed scrutiny&#8221; of\nthe Public Hearing minutes, including any written comments received from\ninterested parties. As per the notification, the Expert Assessment Committee\nmust provide categorical justifications for how the Project Proponent addressed\nthe concerns voiced by the general public.The Central or State\nGovernment agency in charge of approving or rejecting a proposed project must\ntake the locals&#8217; public opinion into account. The public consultation process must\nconsist of two steps: a public hearing and the submission of written comments.\nThis block will give a detailed account of drafting an <strong>EIA report<\/strong> to SPCB for a Public Hearing. But first, let&#8217;s\nunderstand which projects must apply for public consultation with the SPCB. Industrial\nprojects located in any of the notified ecologically fragile\/sensitive areas\ngiven below, would need environmental clearance (EC) irrespective of the type\nof project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Religious and historical places<\/li><li>Archaeological monuments<\/li><li>Scenic areas<\/li><li>Hill resorts<\/li><li>Beach resorts<\/li><li>Estuaries<\/li><li>Gulf areas<\/li><li>Biosphere reserves<\/li><li>Coastal areas rich in corals, mangroves, breeding\ngrounds of specific species<\/li><li>National parks and sanctuaries<\/li><li>National lakes and swamps<\/li><li>Seismic zones<\/li><li>Tribal settlements<\/li><li>Areas of scientific and geological interest<\/li><li>Defense installations that are important to\nnational security and sensitive to pollution<\/li><li>Border areas (international)<\/li><li>Airports <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title ez-toc-toggle\" style=\"cursor:pointer\">Page Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/how-to-draft-eia-report-to-spcb-for-public-hearing\/#Process_of_Public_Consultation_in_EIA\" >Process of\nPublic Consultation in EIA<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/how-to-draft-eia-report-to-spcb-for-public-hearing\/#Process_of_making_an_application_for_Public_Consultation\" >Process of\nmaking an application for Public Consultation<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/how-to-draft-eia-report-to-spcb-for-public-hearing\/#How_is_a_Public_Hearing_Conducted\" >How is a Public\nHearing Conducted?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/how-to-draft-eia-report-to-spcb-for-public-hearing\/#Conclusion\" >Conclusion&nbsp;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Process_of_Public_Consultation_in_EIA\"><\/span>Process of\nPublic Consultation in EIA<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Nearly all EIA systems make some provision for the\ninvolvement of the concerned public for an interactive and intensive\nstakeholder engagement process. This dialogue is in the form of public\nconsultation or public participation. The State Pollution Control Board (SPCB)\nor Union Territory pollution Control Committee (UTPCC) have been entrusted with\npublic consultation process by the EIA Notification of 2006. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The EIA notification of 2006\ncontains guidelines for conducting pubic hearing consultations.<strong> <\/strong>The activity was referred to as a &#8220;Public\nHearing&#8221; in the EIA notification from 1994, but it is now referred to as a\n&#8220;Public Consultation&#8221; in the 2006 notification. A final \u201cEIA\nReport&#8221; is prepared after a public consultation that includes the mitigation\nmeasures duly addressing the concerns raised by the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before a public consultation is held, the concerned State\nPollution Control Board is responsible for making it publicly known at least 30\ndays before the public hearing date. A notice in this regard must be issued\nthat includes the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Date and\ntime of the Public Hearing <\/li><li>Locations\nwhere the necessary materials will be available at the Public Hearing <\/li><li>The\nannouncement should appear in one significant national daily newspaper and one\nregional daily that is written in the state&#8217;s official language.<\/li><li>The\ncompetent authority is required to publicize the hearing using alternative\nmethods, such as drumming, announcing on radio or television, etc., in areas\nwhere the newspaper does not circulate.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Cases that come\nunder the purview of Public Consultation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Except for the following, all projects falling under\ncategories &#8220;A&#8221; and &#8220;B1&#8221; or activities must engage in public\nconsultation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Irrigation\nproject modernization [item 1(c)(ii) of the Schedule of EIA notification, 2006].<\/li><li>Any projects\nor activities approved by the relevant authorities and not prohibited by such\napprovals are located in industrial estates or parks (item 7(c) of the\nSchedule).<\/li><li>Expansion of\nroads and highways [item 7(f) of the schedule] without requiring further land\npurchases.<\/li><li>All\nTownships, Building, Construction, and Area Development Projects (item 8).<\/li><li>All\ninitiatives and activities fall under category &#8220;B2.&#8221;<\/li><li>Any\ninitiatives or operations regarding the nation&#8217;s security and defence or other\nstrategic factors as decided by the Central Government.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Process_of_making_an_application_for_Public_Consultation\"><\/span>Process of\nmaking an application for Public Consultation<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As per the new draft notification, the following steps\nmust be taken while applying for Public consultation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>The\napplicant must request such a public hearing or consultation by sending a brief\nletter to the SPCB. If the project site covers more than one District, or State\/\nUnion Territory, the project proponent must make separate requests to all\nconcerned SPCB or UTPCC to hold the public hearing.<\/li><li>The public\nconsultation must be undertaken as per the procedure given at Appendix-I of the\nnotification.<\/li><li>The public\nhearing, including submission of public hearing proceedings to the concerned\nRegulatory Authority, must be completed by the SPCB or UTPCC concerned within 40\nworking days from the receipt of the request letter from the proponent. <\/li><li>If the concerned\nSPCB\/ UTPCC does not undertake\/complete the public hearing within the specified\nperiod, the Regulatory Authority will engage another public agency that is not\nsubordinate to the Regulatory Authority to complete the process within a further\nperiod of forty working days.<\/li><li>If the\npublic agency nominated reports to the Regulatory Authority concerned that due\nto the local situation, it is impossible to conduct the public hearing that\nwill enable the free expression of views of the concerned local persons, it can\nreport the facts in detail to the Regulatory Authority, which may decide on if public\nconsultation in the case need not be included in the public hearing.<\/li><li>For\nobtaining responses in writing from concerned persons having plausible stakes\nin the environmental aspects, the SPCB\/ UTPCC can invite responses from such\npersons by preparing and placing by placing the Summary EIA report by the\napplicant and the copy of the application on their website, within 10 days of\nthe receipt of the request for public hearing. <\/li><li>The\nRegulatory Authority can also use other appropriate media to ensure publicity\nabout the project. However, the authority can, on a written request from any\nconcerned person, make the draft of the EIA report available for inspection. All\nthe responses received as part of this public consultation process must be\nforwarded to the project proponent.<\/li><li>After the\npublic consultation, copies of proceedings of the hearing will be provided to\nthe project proponent, who then has to address all the material environment\nconcerns expressed and make appropriate changes in the draft EIA Report, EMP,\nor the mitigation plan, if needed. The final EIA report will then be submitted\nto the concerned Regulatory Authority for the next stage, i.e. appraisal.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What Are The Documents To Be Provided Before A Public Hearing?\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All projects, as given in the 2006 notification, must\napply to the Member Secretary of SPCB \/ UTPCC concerned before conducting a\npublic consultation. The following documents must be submitted: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simple letter addressed<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At least 10 hard copies and a soft (electronic) copy of\nthe Draft EIA Report prepared in English. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At least 10 hard copies of a summary of the EIA Report in English and the official language of the State or Union Territory or Regional language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These documents must be made available at least 30 days\nbefore the public hearing date, and they must be published in both English and\nthe state&#8217;s official language or the local tongue. The Terms of Reference <strong>(ToRs)<\/strong><sup><a class=\"text-primary\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Terms_of_reference\"><strong>[1]<\/strong><\/a><\/sup>\ngiven by the relevant agency must be followed when creating the draught EIA\nReport (EAC or SEIAA). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_is_a_Public_Hearing_Conducted\"><\/span>How is a Public\nHearing Conducted? <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Supervising and presiding over a public Hearing is the\nresponsibility of a Panel made up of the District Magistrate, Deputy\nCommissioner or their representative (not below the rank of an ADM), assisted\nby a representative of the relevant State Pollution Control Board. The public\nhearing panel&#8217;s only responsibility is to record the hearing&#8217;s proceedings. The\npanel is not permitted to recommend approval or make mitigating suggestions. At\nthe Public Hearing, the panel must accept both written and oral submissions\nfrom members of the public. The representative of the Project Proponent must\nalso inform the general public of the adverse environmental effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The framework outlined in Appendix III of the EIA\nNotification 2006- must be used for the Draft EIA report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1. Initialization<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2. Project Description <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3. Environment Description<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4. Expected Environmental Effects and Mitigation\nStrategies<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>5. Alternatives Analysis (Technology &amp; Site)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>6. Program for Environmental Monitoring <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>7. Further Research<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>8. Project Advantages<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>9. Cost-benefit analysis of the environment<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>10. Plan for Environmental Management <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>11. Recap and Verdict<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>12. Information on Consultants Employed<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Conclusion\"><\/span>Conclusion&nbsp; <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The foundation of the Environment Impact Assessment procedure is public consultation. It aims to find out what the locally impacted communities and those with a plausible stake in the environmental aspects of the project think about the proposed project. The draft EIA notification 2020 mandates public consultation only once in the entire assessment process of a project after the draft EIA report is prepared.&nbsp;These amendments have attracted criticism, especially because the concerned community fear that the amendment will further limit public participation. For some development projects, the EIA Reporting and conducting public hearings is a critical phase in the environmental clearance procedure as it gives the local populace a chance to speak up and voice their worries and opinions about the planned project to the proponent and the government. Therefore, in today\u2019s changing circumstances, the assistance of EIA experts with proven track records in the required stages of assessment report preparation, including public consultation, becomes essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"text-left\"><b>Read Our Article<\/b>: <mark style=\"background: #fffd03 !important;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/types-of-environmental-impact-assessment\/\">Types Of Environmental Impact Assessment<\/a><\/mark><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The present site clearance procedures for projects in the country insist on carrying out Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for specific projects under the EIA notification of 2006. This notification, which replaced the EIA notification of January 27, 1994, was released by the Ministry of Environment &amp; Forest, Government of India, on September 14, 2006. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":52667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2093],"tags":[3118],"acf":{"service_id":"584"},"authorName":"Muskaan Verma","authorImageUrl":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/MicrosoftTeams-image-14.jpg","authorDescription":"Muskaan has completed her BA.LLB and LLM, gaining vast legal knowledge and expertise. She has keen interest in legal research and content writing, having prior experience of publishing numerous research papers in international journals on Environmental Laws and Corporate Laws.","postViews":3763,"readingTime":6,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52662"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52662"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52668,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52662\/revisions\/52668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corpbiz.io\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}