(a) whether many Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) have been closed/are on the verge of closure for want of environmental clearance in various States of the country including Rajasthan;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons for delay in environmental clearances, State/UT-wise;
(c) whether any mechanism has been put in place by the Government to grant environmental clearance timely for mining activities in the country; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
(a) and (b): Mining leases are granted by the State Governments. Environmental Clearances are given by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change or the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority. Therefore, the details of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) which have been closed/ are on the verge of closure due to want of environmental clearance in various states are not maintained centrally. However, no PSU of the Ministry of Mines has been closed/ is on verge of closure for want of environmental clearance.
(c) and (d): Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has notified the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 which deals with the process to grant Environmental Clearances. The projects of mining with mining lease area equal to or greater than 50 ha are handled at the level of MoEFCC for grant of EC. The projects with mining lease area less than 50 ha are handled by the respective State Environment Impact Assessment Authority.
Time lines have been prescribed under the EIA Notification, 2006, according to which terms of Reference (TOR) shall be conveyed by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) within thirty days of the receipt of Form-I to the Project Proponent. Thereafter, as per the TORs issued, the project proponents are required to comply with the conditions mentioned in the TORs which inter-alia include collection of base-line data, approved mine plan, conducting public consultations, and submission of final EIA/ Environment Management Plan (EMP) Reports to the Ministry of Environment and Forests along with all the relevant documents.
On receipt of final EIA/EMP report after the public consultation, the project is appraised by the EAC in a transparent manner in a proceeding to which the Proponent is invited for furnishing necessary clarification in person or through an authorized representative. Thereafter, the EAC makes appropriate recommendations of the proposal and the Ministry takes the final decision with regard to Environmental Clearance as per the EIA Notification, 2006. This decision is conveyed to the Proponent within forty five days of the receipt of the recommendations of EAC. In other words, the decision is to be conveyed within one hundred five days from the receipt of the final EIA/EMP report/requisite documents from the Project Proponent.
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