India to get single environmental law to address violations
A new aspect of the law would be the introduction of penalties and compensation for those violating environmental laws
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is proposing a new environmental management law to replace the Air Act 1981, Water Act 1974, and the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 as an single all-encompassing law to regulate environmental issues in India.
A ministry official told The , that this was not an amendment of previous Acts, but a consolidated environment management act. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity said that since the environment includes air and water, it should be dealt with comprehensively, which was ‘the basic idea (of the new law).
According to the report in the paper, the official also added that it made sense to have one law because a lot of the provisions in the existing air, water, and environmental laws were repetitive. A new aspect of the law would be the introduction of penalties and compensation for environmental violations. Currently, the laws only provide for closure or imprisonment for companies violating the law, but there is no clear provision for environmental compensation which courts have been pronouncing through judgments. The new law is more likely to make violators comply rather than having to resort to extreme steps such as shutting down industries or imprisonment.
The official was quoted as saying that the new law will factor in the current laws and also incorporate international benchmarks on environmental issues. The law is also likely to introduce new environmental management tools such as emissions trading schemes and extended producer responsibility. He added that the first draft of the law is likely to be ready in six months.
The ministry has commissioned law firm J Sagar Associates to draft the new law that will be put in the public domain for comments once it’s ready.
Edited by Diya Koshy George