| \n APPENDIX \u2013XV\n <\/td> | \n Environmental cell at the level of local\n authority\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n Amendments in the EIA Notification (October\n2007):<\/strong> This amendment prescribed the qualifications and eligibility\ncriteria concerning Chairman and Member EAC by substituting the eligibility\ncriteria given in APPENDIX VI for chairman EAC and other members.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAmendments in the EIA Notification (December\n2009)<\/strong>: through this amendment, the project proponent of Category\n‘A’ projects was to make the award of the environmental clearance process\npublic and host the environmental conditions and safeguards by advertising it\nat least in two local newspapers in the area where the project is located. The\nproponent was also to display the details on its website permanently.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAmendments in the EIA Notification (January\n2016): <\/strong>it was one of themost\nimportant amendments. The following were the significant changes introduced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n- A new category of \u2018B2\u2019 was inserted in the schedule,\nwhich was related to the mining of minor minerals.<\/li>
- Led to the formation of DEIAA for matters falling\nunder Category \u2018B2<\/li>
- The amendment put mining of minor minerals up to 5\nhectares of mining lease area under the preview of new committees DEIAA and\nDEAC at the district level.<\/li>
- Formation of District Level Expert Appraisal\nCommittee (DEAC) and defined their structure, term, qualifications of the\nexpert as well as their function.<\/li>
- Exemption of cases from prior EC as specified in Appendix IX, such as extraction\nof ordinary clay or sand, manual extraction of ordinary clay or sand, manual removal\nof sand deposits on agricultural fields, customary extraction of sand and\nordinary earth from Gram Panchayat for community or personal use in the\nvillage.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Amendments in the EIA Notification (March\n2016):<\/strong> This amendment introduced paragraph 13 for preparing and presenting\nthe EIA report and EMP. Only consultant organisations accredited for a\nparticular sector and the project category for that sector with the QCI or NABET\nor any other agency notified by the MoEF from time to time will be allowed to\nprepare the EIA report and an EMP for a project.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAmendments in the EIA Notification (November\n2016)<\/strong>: expansion\/change\/modernisation of product mix in existing\nprojects were exempted from the requirement of prior environmental clearance\nthrough this amendment. The amendment further provided that the project\nproponent follows the procedure for obtaining the certificate for No Increase\nin Pollution Load concerned SPCB given in Appendix \u2013XIII.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAmendments in the EIA Notification (December\n2016): <\/strong>This amendment put in place a new framework and the\ninstitutional structure for streamlining the EC process for the building and\nconstruction sector. This amendment was a move towards delegating powers and\nenhancing the country’s ‘Ease of Doing Responsible Business’. The highlights of\nthe amendment were<\/p>\n\n\n\n- The amendment mainly focused on integrating standard\nand objectively monitorable. All building and construction projects covering\n20,000 sq. mt and above were subjected to environmental clearance given by the\nSEIAA. <\/li>
- Under the revised norms, environmental clearance\nwere to be issued integrated along with the building permit under building\nby-laws.<\/li>
- Also, the SLA subject to EIA will give clearance\nfor built-up areas from 1,50,000 to 3,00,000 sq. mt, while the MoEF will clear\nthose projects over 3,00,000 sq. mt.<\/li>
- The Townships and Area Development projects\ngreater than 3,00,000 sq. mt built-up area or covering an area \u2265 150 ha area\nwere included in Category “A” of the Schedule and appraised by MoEF.<\/li>
- Area less than 20,000 sq. mt. will be subject to a\nself-declaration, and buildings of size 5000 sq. mt to 20,000 sq. mt will also\nfollow environmental norms in the construction and maintenance phase.<\/li>
- For the first time, the Qualified Building\nEnvironment Auditors, as empanelled by the MoEF&CC, were to assess and certify\nthe building projects and provide self-declaration for compliance and\ncertification by Qualified Building Environment Auditors was introduced for\nbuilding.<\/li>
- Provision for an Environmental cell in the local\nauthorities to appraise and monitor building projects and provide environmental\nplanning in this area was made. The Environmental cell was to have independent\nsectoral experts. After completion of the project, the cell will randomly check\nthe projects for compliance, including five years audit report.<\/li>
- No Consent to Establish and Operate was needed\nfrom the SPCB for residential buildings of built-up areas up to 1,50,000 square\nmeters.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Amendments in the EIA Notification in 2021: <\/strong>EIA Notification 2006 was changed about\n33 times through 24 official orders and nine amendments. The significant\namendments were related to the extension of validity of existing environmental\npermissions of projects, the extension of terms of central and state expert\nappraisal panels, and specific exemptions to the thermal power plants,\npharmaceutical sector, manufacturing and mining of coal, minerals and ordinary\nearth for linear projects etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThese changes were sector-specific\neasing of regulations, tightening grip on expert panels and state authorities,\ncorporate environment authority, Exemption of additional sectors from public\nhearing and Environment clearance and changes to the clearance and compliance\nprocess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amendments\nin the EIA Notification of 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n- This\namendment exempted highway projects of\nstrategic and defence importance from environmental clearance. This\nhelped the government do away with the need for clearance for the construction of the Char Dham project.<\/li>
- Exemption to the thermal power plant: Thermal power plants based on\nbiomass or non-hazardous municipal solid waste and upto 15 MW capacity that used auxiliary\nfuel up to 15 per cent were\nalso exempted.<\/li>
- Ports that cater to small fishermen and deal in\n fishing were also exempted\n from environmental clearance. Also, toll plazas that need width expansion for\n the installation of collection booths and other expansion activities in\n airports without an increase in the airport’s existing area were exempted.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
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