{"id":50757,"date":"2025-08-07T19:18:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T13:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=50757"},"modified":"2025-08-07T19:31:41","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T14:01:41","slug":"eia-supreme-court-verdict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/07-08-2025\/eia-supreme-court-verdict","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court Verdict on Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Environment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Supreme Court held that projects with a <strong>built-up area above 20,000 square meters<\/strong>, whether industrial, educational, or otherwise,<strong> cannot be exempted from the environment impact assessment (EIA) 2006 regime.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The SC reaffirmed that the <strong>State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) <\/strong>would remain the competent authorities for conducting project-level environmental assessments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>EIA can be defined as the <strong>study to predict the effect of a proposed activity\/project on the environment.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>EIA systematically examines both beneficial and adverse consequences<\/strong> of the project and ensures that these effects are taken into account during project design.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It also <strong>proposes measures to mitigate adverse effects.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Significance:<\/strong> Protection of environment, optimum utilisation of resources and saving of time and cost of the project.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It also lessens conflicts by promoting community participation, informing decision makers, and helping lay the base for environmentally sound projects.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>EIA in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>1994:<\/strong> The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MEF), under the Environmental (Protection) Act 1986<strong>, made Environmental Clearance (EC) mandatory.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>EIA 2006 Regime:<\/strong> It is the governing legal instrument to grant green clearance for establishment or expansion of an industry on the basis of the expected environmental impact of the project.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It made it mandatory for various projects such as mining, thermal power plants, river valley, infrastructure and industries to get environment clearance.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>However, unlike the EIA Notification of 1994, the new legislation has <strong>put the onus of clearing projects on the state government<\/strong> depending on the size\/capacity of the project.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Legal and Institutional Framework<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>EIA Notifications: <\/strong>Issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) using powers under the Environmental (Protection) Act 1986.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Institutional Authorities:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Central Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC): <\/strong>For Category A projects (national level).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>State Expert Appraisal Committees (SEACs): <\/strong>For Category B projects (state level).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>State Environment Impact Assessment Authorities (SEIAAs):<\/strong> Grant environmental clearance at state level.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Categorisation of Projects<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Category A:<\/strong> National-level projects with significant impacts (e.g., large dams, major highways).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Category B1:<\/strong> Moderately sized projects with regional impact.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Category B2: <\/strong>Small-scale projects with less impact.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Concerns<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>One positive of the 2006 EIA notification is its<strong> dynamism to accommodate changes in its provisions and processes<\/strong> as per the requirement of the changing times.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>However, this characteristic of the legal instrument seems to have been exploited.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Over 110 changes were made in just 5 years \u2014 most of them without public consultation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"c3d2e0\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"497\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Legal-and-Institutional-Framework.png\" alt=\"Legal and Institutional Framework\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-50780\" style=\"--dominant-color: #c3d2e0; width:405px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Legal-and-Institutional-Framework.png 768w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Legal-and-Institutional-Framework-300x194.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>This flexibility has been misused <\/strong>and industries get approvals \u2014 even if they pollute or harm the environment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Suggestions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Create an independent EIA authority to avoid conflict of interest.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Strengthen public consultation, especially in local languages.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ensure scientific and transparent baseline data.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Regularly update the list of exempted projects based on environmental concerns.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/real-estate\/supreme-court-order-on-green-clearance-paves-way-for-493-stalled-real-estate-projects-in-mumbai-and-pune-credaimchi-101754415463229.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>HT<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The Supreme Court held that projects with a built-up area above 20,000 square meters, whether industrial, educational, or otherwise, cannot be exempted from the environment impact assessment (EIA) 2006 regime.\n<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>About<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The SC reaffirmed that the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) would remain the competent authorities for conducting project-level environmental assessments.\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">EIA can be defined as the study to predict the effect of a proposed activity\/project on the environment.\u00a0\n<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/07-08-2025\/eia-supreme-court-verdict\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":50800,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/08\/eia-supreme-court-verdict.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50757"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50796,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50757\/revisions\/50796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}