Environment Impact Assessment

Environment Impact Assessment

Why in news?

Earlier this year, the Apex Court has urged legislators and policy experts to ensure that Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) studies are done before giving the green signal for urban development projects in India’s cities.

 

Background:

• In a judgment, the SC referred to media reports of how haphazard urban development has ruined the ‘Garden City’ of Bengaluru as witnessed during a major spell of rain in 2022.
  • The city struggled for drinking water while it lay submerged after the downpour.
• The recent judgment came in regard to a proposal to convert independent residential units into apartments in Chandigarh Phase 1.
  • The court prohibited the move in order to protect the heritage status of ‘Corbusian’ Chandigarh

 

What is EIA:   Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a structured methodology employed to analyse and comprehend the potential environmental consequences associated with upcoming projects or activities. It serves the purpose of evaluating and predicting how these projects might affect the natural surroundings before their implementation.   The concept of EIA originated in the 1960s and 1970s in response to growing concerns about the environmental repercussions of large-scale development projects. On 27 January 1994, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, issued the first EIA notification. The adverse effects of projects such as the construction of dams, highways, and industrial facilities on ecosystems and communities necessitated a systematic approach to assess and alleviate these impacts.   The global recognition of the importance of EIA has led to the establishment of international conventions and agreements advocating for its implementation. The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972 was a significant milestone that underscored the necessity for environmental assessment in decision-making. Other noteworthy agreements include the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), both emphasizing the importance of considering environmental impacts in various sectors

 

What are the SC concerns:

• The ruling cited a report from the UNEP, emphasizing that over 50% of the global population resides in urban zones.
• It is imperative for the legislative, executive, and policymakers both at the central and state levels to establish provisions mandating Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies before approving urban development.
• Striking a proper equilibrium between sustainable development and environmental preservation is essential.

 

Aim of EIA:

• It aims to predict environmental impacts at an early stage in project planning and design, find ways and means to reduce adverse impacts, shape projects to suit the local environment and present the predictions and options to decision-makers.
• EIA systematically examines both beneficial and adverse consequences of the project and ensures that these effects are taken into account during project design.
• It helps to identify possible environmental effects of the proposed project, proposes measures to mitigate adverse effects and predicts whether there will be significant adverse environmental effects, even after the mitigation is implemented.
• By considering the environmental effects of the project and their mitigation early in the project planning cycle, environmental assessment has many benefits, such as protection of environment, optimum utilization of resources and saving of time and cost of the project.
• Properly conducted EIA also lessens conflicts by promoting community participation, informing decision makers, and helping lay the base for environmentally sound projects. Benefits of integrating EIA have been observed in all stages of a project, from exploration and planning, through construction, operations, decommissioning, and beyond site closure

 

Stages of EIA:

Impact of EIA:

• EIA considers various components to assess a project’s potential environmental impacts comprehensively. It evaluates the
  • Physical impactssuch as land use changes and habitat loss
  • Biological impactssuch as effects on flora and fauna and
  • Social impactssuch as displacement of communities and changes in livelihoods
• EIA assesses a project’s potential impacts on air quality, including emissions of pollutants. It also considers impacts on water resources, such as water availability and quality changes. Additionally, soil quality is assessed to determine potential impacts on agricultural productivity and soil erosion. The process evaluates potential impacts on biodiversity, including terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. In addition, it considers the conservation of endangered species, habitat fragmentation, and ecosystem services.
• EIA also includes assessing socio-economic aspects, such as impacts on local communities, employment, and infrastructure. It also examines potential health impacts on workers and nearby communities due to project

 

Draft EIA Notification 2020

• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has published the draft Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification 2020, with the intention of replacing the existing EIA Notification, 2006 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
• The Key Proposals of the 2020 Draft include:
  • Reduced Time for Public Hearings: One of the major steps of the EIA Mechanism is the public participation. The 2020 draft proposes to reduce the notice period for public hearings from 30 days to 20 days.
  • However, the MoEFCC has claimed it to be “in tune with the times”, given the growth of internet and mobile telephony.
  • Exemption of Projects: Furthermore, by classifying a number of projects into A, B1 and B2, a host of projects are exempted from public scrutiny.
    • Category B2 projects do not require mandatory Environment Clearance (EC), unlike the Category A and B1 projects.
    • Exempted Projects: The projects under this exempted category include:Offshore and onshore oil, gas and shale exploration.
      • Hydroelectric projects up to 25 MW.
      • Irrigation projects between 2,000 and 10,000 hectares of command area.
      • Small and medium cement plants.
      • Acids other than phosphoric or ammonia, sulphuric acid.
      • MSMEs in dye and dye intermediates, bulk drugs, synthetic rubbers, medium-sized paint units.
      • All inland waterway projects and expansion or widening of highways between 25 km and 100 km with defined parameters.
        • These include roads that cut through forests and dredging of major rivers.
      • Aerial ropeways in ecologically sensitive areas.
      • Specified building construction and area development projects; built-up area up to 1,50,000 sq. m.
  • Post-clearance compliance: It implies that once a project gets approved by the concerned authority, the proponent projects are required to adhere to certain rules laid down in the EIA report in order to ensure that no further environmental damages take place.
  • Annual Submission of Reports: The new draft EIA, proposes the submission of compliance reports annually whereas as per the 2006 notification, the compliance report was to be submitted every six months. Environmental experts are of the view that allowing a longer period for filling the compliance report will give an opportunity to project proponents to hide disastrous consequences, which could go unnoticed.
  • Report Prepared Solely by Project Proponents: Meanwhile, submission of the compliance report will be solely prepared by the project proponents itself, which, without oversight and review, may lead to inaccurate information submitted on the project.
  • No Public Reporting for Non-Compliance: The EIA Notification 2020 excludes reporting of violations and non-compliance by the public. Instead, the government will take cognisance of reports only from the violator-promoter, government authority, Appraisal Committee or Regulatory Authority.
  • Post-facto Clearance: Another major proposal in the draft 2020 is granting ‘post-facto clearance’ where a project that has been operating without environmental clearance, can be regularised or allowed to apply for clearance.
    • The judiciary has held, as in the case of Alembic Pharmaceutical vs. Rohit Prajapati in April 2020 that “environment law cannot countenance the notion of an ex post facto clearance.”
  • Penalty for Firms: Firms found violating the terms of their establishment, if they have to get the clearance, however, will have to pay a penalty.

 

Way Forward

• Independent EIA Authority:
  • Civil society groups have suggested the need for an independent Environmental Impact Assessment authority headed by a judicial officer and composed of representatives from communities, people groups, scientists, sociologists and environmentalists. Such a body would be independent of the ministry of environment and forests. The decision of this authority would be binding on the MOEF.
• Sector wide EIA is needed:
  • There is a need to conduct policy-level and sector-wide EIAs in the form of strategic impact assessments (for various sectors including mining, power and so on). This is critical to judge the impacts of macro- economic, developmental and other policies, schemes and programmes.
• Conduct options Assessment:
  • EIA s should follow only after an options assessment and a least cost plan for a project is done by the state or central government.
• Creation of an information desk:
  • An information dissemination desk may be assigned within the MOEF which anyone can write to regarding the status of clearance of projects. This desk should be mandated to respond within a maximum of ten days by post/ courier and a maximum of two days by email, to the contact information that has been furnished by the person seeking the information.
  • Since all meetings and discussions are documented as electronic data, the officers should furnish this information regarding the status of clearance, with a record of the discussions in the Expert committee on the projects.
•  Environmental Risk Assessment:
  • New approaches such as Environmental Risk Assessment which enable more flexible and dynamic assessments of direct and indirect impacts must be explored.
  • As part of this process, recognized Safety and Environmental Auditors must compulsorily meet local populations and submit a detailed report of potential risks due to the project.
• Quality of EIA Reports:
  •  The checklist needs to include impacts on agricultural biodiversity, biodiversity related traditional knowledge and livelihoods. Further, cumulative impacts of projects that are technically linked or located in the same ecological region, and impacts of the eventual closure of the project or components of the project should also be incorporated into the checklist.
  • Finally the list should contain details on a full exploration of alternatives, especially decentralized alternatives, to mega projects. The checklist also needs to cover various kinds of impacts resulting from a particular activity.
• Public Hearings:
  • The public hearing should be held for all projects which are likely to have environmental and social impacts. This should be strictly implemented. The scope of the public hearings needs to be widened to at least those projects which require forest clearance under the forest conservation act,1980.
• Composition of Expert Committees:
  • The present executive committees should be replaced by experts from various stakeholder groups, who are reputed in environmental and other relevant fields.
  • The process of selection of those committees should be open and transparent, the minutes of the committee meetings, decisions and advice by these committees should be open to the public.
• Capacity Building:
  • NGO s, civil society groups and local communities need to build their capacities to use the EIA notification towards better decision making on projects that can impact their local environments and livelihoods.
  • Capacities can be built to proactively and effectively use the notification rather than respond in a manner that is seen as negative or unproductive.
• Monitoring, Compliance and Institutional Arrangements:
  • The EIA notification needs to build within it an automatic withdrawal of clearance if the conditions of clearance are being violated, and introduce more stringent punishment for noncompliance.
  • At present the EIA notification limits itself to the stage when environmental clearance is granted. The MOEF should set up more regional offices, each with smaller areas of jurisdiction, to effectively monitor the compliance of clearance conditions.
  • It would be useful to have advisory Expert committees at the MOEF regional offices, comprising ecologists, sociologists, local community members, government officials and representatives of local institutions to help with the clearance of projects at the regional levels and monitoring of compliance of conditions.
  • A robust monitoring mechanism should be established by the state department where the central projects involving forest clearance are given out. Such a monitoring body should be given powers to address compliance of both sets of clearance conditions together and to take punitive action against the project proponent in case of non compliance of any of the conditions.
  • Local communities should be brought into the formal monitoring and reporting process of the compliance of conditions presently done by the regional offices of the MOEF. This would help the regional office as well since the geographical areas and number of projects that come under each office is vast which affects the efficiency and regularity Student Notes: of the monitoring process.

 

India-US Semiconductor Deal

Why in news?

• In recent news, Micron Technology, a US-based company, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat state government to establish a Semiconductor Unit worth Rs 22,500 crore near Ahmedabad.
• Earlier, during the India–US 5th Commercial Dialogue 2023, India and the US signed an MoU on establishing the Semiconductor Supply chain, aiming to realize India’s ambition of becoming a hub for electronic goods.

Significance of the MoU:

• The MoU aims to establish a collaborative mechanism on semiconductor supply chain resiliency and diversification, aligning with the US’s CHIPS and Science Act, 2022, and India’s Semiconductor Mission.
• The project intends to create 5,000 direct jobs, contributing to India’s self-reliance in memory chip manufacturing.
• It supports the government’s goal of promoting domestic manufacturing, reducing import dependency in the semiconductor sector, and enhancing India’s global position as a semiconductor manufacturer.

Semiconductor Chips:

• Semiconductors, such as silicon, germanium, gallium, arsenide, and cadmium selenide, possess conductivity between conductors and insulators.
• They are fundamental to modern electronics, serving as the heart and brain of various devices.

Importance:

• Semiconductors are crucial across sectors like aerospace, automobiles, communications, clean energy, information technology, and medical devices.
• The global demand for these components has led to a chip shortage, impacting economic growth and jobs.

India’s Semiconductor Market:

• As of 2022, the Indian semiconductor industry was valued at USD 27 billion, with over 90% being imported, indicating significant external dependence.
• The market is expected to reach USD 55 billion by 2026, with India’s consumption of semiconductors projected to surpass USD 80 billion by 2026 and USD 110 billion by 2030.

Challenges in Semiconductor Manufacturing in India:

• Setting up semiconductor fabrication facilities (fabs) is extremely expensive, involving billion-dollar investments.
• The sector demands substantial capital, entails high risk, and requires sustained investments due to rapid technological changes.
• The fiscal support from the government is deemed insufficient, considering the scale of investments required.
• India lacks fabrication capacities, with only one old fab located in Mohali, Punjab.
• Chip fabs are resource-intensive, needing significant water, stable power supply, ample land, and a skilled workforce.

 

Initiatives Related to Semiconductors:   §  In 2021, India introduced a USD 10 billion-dollar Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to encourage semiconductor and display manufacturing. §  The Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme aims to nurture domestic companies involved in semiconductor design. §  The Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS) was launched. §  India’s Semiconductor Mission, initiated in 2021 with a financial outlay of Rs 76,000 crore, focuses on setting up semiconductor fabs, display fabs, and other related facilities.

 

Way Forward:

• Favorable trade policies are crucial for building a plurilateral semiconductor ecosystem.
• India must enhance research and development in the sector.
• The government should connect related industries to create a comprehensive chip manufacturing ecosystem, strengthening national capability.
• Besides the US, India should explore collaboration opportunities with other countries like Taiwan and Japan to reduce import dependency in the semiconductor sector.