The Ministry Of Environment, Forest And Climate Change (MoEFCC) on May 09, 2022 has issued a notification to amend an older notification that is notification No. S.O. 1533 (E), dated the 14th September, 2006 which is related to the prior clearances for any new construction project or any environmental activities.
The following amendments have been made:
• The schedule, which specifies List Of Projects Or Activities Requiring Prior Environmental Clearance, has been amended.
• In Appendix IV, which specifies Procedure For Conduct Of Public Hearing, in para 3, para 3.3a has been inserted, namely:
“3.3 (a) In the event of any such postponement referred to in sub-paragraph 3.3, the time duration for convening the rescheduled public hearing should not be less than forty-five days from the date of first advertisement already published in accordance to para 3.1 for initial date of public hearing and it shall be ensured that a minimum notice period of fifteen days shall be provided to the public before the re-scheduled date of the public hearing, for furnishing the responses in writing: Provided that SPCB or UTPCC along with concerned authorities, as mentioned at para 2.2, shall ensure that all requisite documents are available to public in accordance with sub-paragraphs 2.3 and 2.4 from the date of first advertisement published for the initial date of public hearing till convening of the rescheduled public hearing.”
• In Appendix IV, which specifies Procedure For Conduct Of Public Hearing, the following proviso has been inserted, namely:
“Provided that in case the project or activity is confined to the territorial jurisdiction of one sub-division, the District Magistrate/District Collector/Deputy Commissioner, as the case may be, may alternatively authorise any officer not below the rank of Sub-Divisional Magistrate to supervise and preside over the entire public hearing process assisted by a representative of SPCB or UTPCC, as the case may be.”
[Notification No. S.O. 2163(E)]
