ENVIORNMENTAL LAW:

Environmental protection has always been a part and parcel of Indian culture as evidenced by the stipulated responsibilities of the state as well as Citizens for the nature and living being the constitution of India under Article 48A and 51A(g).
Article 48A : The state shall endeavor to protect and improve the natural environment and safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country.
Article 51A(g): Fundamental duty of every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment including forests,lakes,rivers and wildlife and have to compassion for living creatures.

In the Constitution of India it is clearly stated that it is the duty of the state to 'protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country'. It imposes a duty on every citizen' to protect and improve the natural environment including forests,lakes,rivers and wildlife'. Reference to the environment has also been made in the Directive Principles of State policy as well as the Fundamental Rights. The Department of Environment was established in India in 1980 to ensure a healthy environment for the country. This later became the Ministry of Environment and Forest in 1985.

The Constitutional provision are backed by a number of laws - acts,rules,and notifications. The EPA(Environmental Protection Act), 1986 came into force soon after the Bhopal Gas Tragedy and is considered an umbrella legislation as it fills many gaps in the existing laws. Thereafter a large number of laws came into existence as the problems began arising, for example, Handling and Management of Hazardous Waste Rules in 1989. Following is a list of the environmental legislation that have come into effect :
• General
• Forest and Wildlife
• Water
• Air
General :
Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (EPA)
This Act is an umbrella legislation designed to provide a framework for the co-ordination of central and state authorities established under the Water (Prevention and Control) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control) Act, 1981. Under this Act, the central government is empowered to take measures necessary to protect and improve the quality of the environment by setting standards for emissions and discharges; regulating the location of industries; management of hazardous wastes, and protection of public health and welfare.
From time to time the central government issues notifications under the EPA for the protection of ecologically-sensitive areas or issues guidelines for matters under the EPA.
Some notifications issued under this Act are:
• Doon Valley Notification (1989), which prohibits the setting up of an industry in which the daily consumption of coal/fuel is more than 24 MT (million tonnes) per day in the Doon Valley.
• Coastal Regulation Zone Notification (1991), which regulates activities along coastal stretches. As per this notification, dumping ash or any other waste in the CRZ is prohibited. The thermal power plants (only foreshore facilities for transport of raw materials, facilities for intake of cooling water and outfall for discharge of treated waste water/cooling water) require clearance from the MoEF.
• Dhanu Taluka Notification (1991), under which the district of Dhanu Taluka has been declared an ecologically fragile region and setting up power plants in its vicinity is prohibited.
• Revdanda Creek Notification (1989), which prohibits setting up industries in the belt around the Revdanda Creek as per the rules laid down in the notification.
• The Environmental Impact Assessment of Development Projects Notification, (1994 and as amended in 1997). As per this notification:
• All projects listed under Schedule I require environmental clearance from the MoEF.
• Projects under the delicenced category of the New Industrial Policy also require clearance from the MoEF.
• All developmental projects whether or not under the Schedule I, if located in fragile regions must obtain MoEF clearance.
• Industrial projects with investments above Rs 500 million must obtain MoEF clearance and are further required to obtain a LOI (Letter Of Intent) from the Ministry of Industry, and an NOC (No Objection Certificate) from the SPCB and the State Forest Department if the location involves forestland. Once the NOC is obtained, the LOI is converted into an industrial licence by the state authority.
• The notification also stipulated procedural requirements for the establishment and operation of new power plants. As per this notification, two-stage clearance for site-specific projects such as pithead thermal power plants and valley projects is required. Site clearance is given in the first stage and final environmental clearance in the second. A public hearing has been made mandatory for projects covered by this notification. This is an important step in providing transparency and a greater role to local communities.
• Ash Content Notification (1997), required the use of beneficiated coal with ash content not exceeding 34% with effect from June 2001, (the date later was extended to June 2002). This applies to all thermal plants located beyond one thousand kilometres from the pithead and any thermal plant located in an urban area or, sensitive area irrespective of the distance from the pithead except any pithead power plant.
• Taj Trapezium Notification (1998), provided that no power plant could be set up within the geographical limit of the Taj Trapezium assigned by the Taj Trapezium Zone Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority.
• Disposal of Fly Ash Notification (1999) the main objective of which is to conserve the topsoil, protect the environment and prevent the dumping and disposal of fly ash discharged from lignite-based power plants. The salient feature of this notification is that no person within a radius of 50 km from a coal-or lignite-based power plant shall manufacture clay bricks or tiles without mixing at least 25% of ash with soil on a weight-to-weight basis. For the thermal power plants the utilisation of the flyash would be as follows:
• Every coal-or lignite-based power plant shall make available ash for at least ten years from the date of publication of the above notification without any payment or any other consideration, for the purpose of manufacturing ash-based products such as cement, concrete blocks, bricks, panels or any other material or for construction of roads, embankments, dams, dykes or for any other construction activity.

Forest and Wildlife:
The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, Amendment 1991
The WPA (Wildlife Protection Act), 1972, provides for protection to listed species of flora and fauna and establishes a network of ecologically-important protected areas. The WPA empowers the central and state governments to declare any area a wildlife sanctuary, national park or closed area. There is a blanket ban on carrying out any industrial activity inside these protected areas. It provides for authorities to administer and implement the Act; regulate the hunting of wild animals; protect specified plants, sanctuaries, national parks and closed areas; restrict trade or commerce in wild animals or animal articles; and miscellaneous matters. The Act prohibits hunting of animals except with permission of authorized officer when an animal has become dangerous to human life or property or so disabled or diseased as to be beyond recovery (WWF-India, 1999). The near-total prohibition on hunting was made more effective by the Amendment Act of 1991.

The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980
This Act was adopted to protect and conserve forests. The Act restricts the powers of the state in respect of de-reservation of forests and use of forestland for non-forest purposes (the term non-forest purpose includes clearing any forestland for cultivation of cash crops, plantation crops, horticulture or any purpose other than re-afforestation).

Water :
Water quality standards especially those for drinking water are set by the Indian Council of Medical Research. These bear close resemblance to WHO standards. The discharge of industrial effluents is regulated by the Indian Standard Codes and recently, water quality standards for coastal water marine outfalls have also been specified. In addition to the general standards, certain specific standards have been developed for effluent discharges from industries such as, iron and steel, aluminium, pulp and paper, oil refineries, petrochemicals and thermal power plants. Legislation to control water pollution are listed below.

Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974
This Act represented India's first attempts to comprehensively deal with environmental issues. The Act prohibits the discharge of pollutants into water bodies beyond a given standard, and lays down penalties for non-compliance. The Act was amended in 1988 to conform closely to the provisions of the EPA, 1986. It set up the CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board) which lays down standards for the prevention and control of water pollution. At the State level, the SPCBs (State Pollution Control Board) function under the direction of the CPCB and the state government.

Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977
This Act provides for a levy and collection of a cess on water consumed by industries and local authorities. It aims at augmenting the resources of the central and state boards for prevention and control of water pollution. Following this Act, The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Rules were formulated in 1978 for defining standards and indications for the kind of and location of meters that every consumer of water is required to install.

Air :
To counter the problems associated with air pollution, ambient air quality standards were established, under the 1981 Act. The Act provides means for the control and abatement of air pollution. The Act seeks to combat air pollution by prohibiting the use of polluting fuels and substances, as well as by regulating appliances that give rise to air pollution. Under the Act establishing or operating of any industrial plant in the pollution control area requires consent from state boards. The boards are also expected to test the air in air pollution control areas, inspect pollution control equipment, and manufacturing processes.
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for major pollutants were notified by the CPCB in April 1994. These are deemed to be levels of air quality necessary with an adequate margin of safety, to protect public health, vegetation and property (CPCB 1995 cited in Gupta, 1999). The NAAQS prescribe specific standards for industrial, residential, rural and other sensitive areas. Industry-specific emission standards have also been developed for iron and steel plants, cement plants, fertilizer plants, oil refineries and the aluminium industry. The ambient quality standards prescribed in India are similar to those prevailing in many developed and developing countries.
To empower the central and state pollution boards to meet grave emergencies, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Act, 1987, was enacted. The boards were authorized to take immediate measures to tackle such emergencies and recover the expenses incurred from the offenders. The power to cancel consent for non-fulfilment of the conditions prescribed has also been emphasized in the Air Act Amendment.
The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Rules formulated in 1982, defined the procedures for conducting meetings of the boards, the powers of the presiding officers, decision-making, the quorum; manner in which the records of the meeting were to be set etc. They also prescribed the manner and the purpose of seeking assistance from specialists and the fee to be paid to them.
Complementing the above Acts is the Atomic Energy Act of 1982, which was introduced to deal with radioactive waste. In 1988, the Motor Vehicles Act, was enacted to regulate vehicular traffic, besides ensuring proper packaging, labelling and transportation of the hazardous wastes. Various aspects of vehicular pollution have also been notified under the EPA of 1986. Mass emission standards were notified in 1990, which were made more stringent in 1996. In 2000 these standards were revised yet again and for the first time separate obligations for vehicle owners, manufacturers and enforcing agencies were stipulated. In addition, fairly stringent Euro I and II emission norms were notified by the Supreme Court on April 29, 1999 for the city of Delhi. The notification made it mandatory for car manufacturers to conform to the Euro I and Euro II norms by May 1999 and April 2000, respectively, for new non-commercial vehicle sold in Delhi.