MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(DR. HARSH VARDHAN)
(a) & (b) A statement is laid on the Table of the House
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Statement referred to in reply to part (a) & (b) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 43 by Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss due for reply on 20.07.2018.
(a) The Ministry issued a Notification vide S.O. 804(E) dated the 14th March, 2017 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 to appraise the projects, which have started work on site, expanded the production beyond the limit of environmental clearance or changed the product mix without obtaining prior environmental clearanceunder the provisions of the Environment Impact Assessment Notification (EIA), 2006. Accordingly, 51 industrial/infrastructure projects in state of Tamil Nadu have registered under the provisions of the aforesaid notification.
(b) The details of recent environment impact assessment report on the Sterlite Copper Plant, ONGC projects, 8 lane Chennai-Salem Greenfield Express highway project of NHAI, proposed Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) projects of Tamil Nadu are as given below:
i. Sterlite Copper Plant: The first environmental clearance for this project was granted on 16th January 1995. The project proponent has further obtained environmental clearance for expansion from time to time. The project proponent has made an application for prescribing fresh Terms of Reference for preparation of Environment Impact Assessment report for expansion proposal on 14th February 2018, which is under consideration. The Environment Impact Assessment report will be prepared only after prescribing Terms of Reference. Therefore, there is no recent Environment Impact Assessment report prepared by the project proponent.
ii. ONGC projects: The Ministry has recently considered Environmental Impact Assessment reports of two projects of M/s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) in Tamil Nadu, namely Exploratory Drilling of 22 Wells (Onshore) in Ramanathapuram PML (Tamil Nadu) and Exploratory Drilling of 35 Wells in L-1 PML, Kuthalam PML, Kali & Greator Kali PML, Bhuvanagiri PML and Neyveli PML in Cauvery Basin (Tamil Nadu). The Environment Impact Assessment report of Exploratory Drilling of 22 Wells (Onshore) in Ramanathapuram PML (Tamil Nadu) was considered by the Expert Appraisal Committee (Indutry-2) in its meetings held during 26- 27 October, 2016 and 26– 29 December, 2016. However, based on observations of the Regional Office of the Ministry at Chennai regarding non-compliances of earlier environmental clearance conditions, the proposal for environmental clearance was rejected. Subsequently, the project proponent submitted requisite information on 6th June 2018, the proposal is proposed for appraisal in the next meeting of Expert Appraisal Committee scheduled during 25-27 July, 2018.
The Environment Impact Assessment report (EIA)/Environment Management Plan) of Exploratory Drilling of 35 Wells in L-1 PML, Kuthalam PML, Kali &Greator Kali PML, Bhuvanagiri PML and Neyveli PML in Cauvery Basin (Tamil Nadu) was considered in Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) meeting during 18-19 January, 2016; 27-28 February, 2017 and 17-18 April, 2017. However, proposal was deferred as no public hearing was conducted, as per the prescribed Terms of Reference. Further, the validity of the ToR had been expired. Therefore, the project proponent was asked to apply afresh. Hence, no Environment Impact Assessment Reportwas submitted.
iii. 8 lane Chennai-Salem Greenfield Express Highway Project of NHAI: The Ministry prescribed terms of reference for preparation of Environment Impact Assessment Report to the project dated 8.6.2018. The project proponent has not yet submitted Environment Impact Assessment report to the Ministry.
iv. Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR): No proposal for development of PCPIR in the Tamil Nadu has been received in the Ministry.
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