Question : Environmental Clearance

(a) the total number of proposals received by the Government for environmental/forest clearances including hydroelectric, thermal power and coal mining projects during the last three years, project and State/UT-wise;
(b) the present status of such proposals along with the time by which they are likely to be cleared by the Government;
(c) whether the Government proposes to delegate its power to State Authorities for faster clearance; and
(d) the other steps/measures taken by the Government to expedite the environmental/forest clearance?

MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(DR. HARSH VARDHAN)

(a) & (b) The State/Union Territory wise details of proposals received in the Ministry for environment and forest clearances, and their present status are at Annexure I&II respectively.

(c) The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 mandates the requirement of prior environment clearance to the projects/activities listed in the schedule to the said Notification. The Notification already provides for constitution of State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) and State Environment Impact Assessment Authorities (SEIAA) in different States/Union Territories for appraisal and approval of projects/activities covered under category B. The appraisal and approval of only category A projects/activities are at Central level.

(d) Different measures taken by the Government to expedite environment clearances include, dedicated on-line portal/facility for effective monitoring, standardization of terms of reference for preparation of EIA reports and the Environment Management Plan, exemption from public consultations to certain projects/activities, streamlining the procedures, etc. The general approval for diversion of 1.00 ha of forest land for certain categories of public utility projects has already been accorded keeping in view the development aspiration of the States/UTs and in the case of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected district, this general approval has been enhanced to 5 Ha. The Ministry has taken several initiatives such as launching web portal for online submission and monitoring the status of forest clearance proposals and delegation of Powers to Regional Empowered Committees (RECs) constituted at each Regional Office for final disposal of proposals, involving diversion of 5 to 40 hectares of forest land (except the proposals related to mining, regularization of encroachments and hydel projects).
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