A guide to the Biological Diversity Act, 2002

Understanding the Biological Diversity Act 2002 - a dossier Compiled by Kanchi Kohli

A simple guide to Intellectual Property rights, Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge by Tejaswini Apte

Eleven Years of the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 1994; How Effective Has It Been?

Kanchi Kohli and Manju Menon

The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification was issued under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, in January 1994. The notification made it mandatory for 29 industrial and developmental activities (increased to 32 by subsequent amendments) to get environmental clearance from the central government before establishing or starting operations. The EIA process was introduced with the purpose of identifying / evaluating the potential beneficial and adverse impacts of developmental projects on the environment, taking into account environmental, social, cultural and aesthetic considerations.
After eleven years of the notification, citizens’ experiences of the EIA notification and decision-making process of development projects is filled with disappointment, anger and frustration. Throughout this period NGOs, citizens’ groups and activists have raised concerns about the inherent flaws and discrepancies in the notification as well as the problems with its implementation, which have been brought together in this publication. Apart from a few positive amendments and some good initiatives, the actual potential of the notification is yet to be realised.
What is worse is that the Ministry of Environment and Forests (the nodal ministry for the implementation of the EIA notification), is in the process of ‘reforming’ the environmental clearance procedure. The report takes a critical view of these proposed reforms based on the information available to the public. It concludes with a set of recommendations based on the learning and experiences that have emerged over the last eleven years.

pp 94, Rs.100