CONSENT IN A CAPSULE

The imperative nature of fulfilling the procedural essential of obtaining consent lies in Section
25 of the Water Act, which prohibits persons from establishing or taking steps to establish any
industry, process or operation, or setting up any plant or disposal system which is likely to
discharge sewage or industrial effluents into the stream, well, land, etc. without the consent of
the State Pollution Control Board and Section 21 of the Air Act which prohibits the persons from
establishing or operating any industrial plant in an air pollution control area without the consent
of the State Pollution Control Board. The prerequisite of obtaining consent is two-fold:
Consent to establish: Which entitles the project proponent to set up the proposed industry and
start off with its construction and establishment.
Consent to operate: Which entitles the project proponent to commence the production activities,
functioning, working or operation of the industry.

Consent to Establish:
On the grounds of pollution and hazard causing potential of the industries, they have been
categorized into 4 groups, namely, Red, Orange, Green & White, in the decreasing order of the
pollution potential respectively vide order of the Department of Forest & Environment. This
classification has been done for the purpose of charging Application fees from the respective
project proponents. In the year 2015, the Forest & Environment Department exempted the Green
industries from the consent administration of the Pollution Control Board. The Red category has
been further segregated into Red-A & Red-B industries. The first 17 types of industries which
find a mention in the category have been grouped as Red-A and the rest as Red-B.
Application form & Application fees: The project-proponents are to duly fill the online
application form which demands thorough and varied information regarding the project ranging
from the type of industry and the capital investment to area where the project is being proposed
and the various pollution control processes and equipment that the proponent proposes to
establish. The Application fees is to be deposited along with the form which varies depending on
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the type of industry that is being proposed to be established and the category under which it finds
place(i.e., Red, Orange, Green or White). Fees for obtaining consent under the Water Act & Air
Act can be deposited cumulatively to the Pollution Control Board.
Documents: The proponent has to satisfy various document requirements such as:

Project Report containing holistic and nitty-gritty details of every component of the

project including the vicinity map.

Land Documents
Layout Map
Permission from local authorities (if required)

Document Verification: The concerned authority then scrutinizes the availability of all the
aforementioned documents and verified by the concerned authorities to check its veracity and
provide the proponent with the entitlement to receive the requisite consent. At this stage, further
documents can be demanded if required by the authorities.
Technical Verification: Further, the concerned authority verifies the technical aspects of the
proposed project on the basis of the project report submitted by the proponent.
Inspection: This is followed by an inspection to the project site undertaken by the Regional
Officer under whose purview the proposed project falls. He inspects the locality and the other
requirements. It is upon his certification that the project is forwarded to the respective Consent
Committee.
Power Delegation: On the basis of the nature and investment involved in the project, there are
three authorities which grant consent and two committees for the purpose.

Member Secretary: He is the consent granting authority for the Red A category of
industries which involve an investment of over 50 crores and the mining industries
involving Coal, Bauxite, Iron Ore, Limestone, Manganese, Dolomite & Chromite
minerals and Sponge Iron plants. The consent committee which is constituted for this
purpose, scrutinizes in a detailed manner through several presentations the entire account
of the projects proposed and make recommendations to him. Based on these
recommendations, the Member Secretary grants consent.
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Senior Environmental Engineer/ Senior Environmental Scientist: He is the consent

granting authority for the Red A industries which involve an investment of less than 50
crores and Red B & Orange categories of industries which involve an investment upto 50
crores. The recommendations in this case, are provided to him by the Internal Consent
Committee constituted for this purpose which undertakes a similar procedure as followed

by the Consent Committee.

Regional Officer ( R.O.): All other industries which do not fall under the purview of the
aforementioned categories are dealt with by him single-handedly.

Disposal of Applications: Under the Water Act, the State Pollution Control Board is supposed to
dispose of each application of Consent to Establish/Operate in 120 days. But, vide an Order
issued in the year 2015, the expediency required in disposal of the project Applications has been
categorized in terms of the nature & investment involved in the project and this limitation period
has been further reduced.

Applications concerning Red category industries involving an investment of more than

50 crores and mining industries concerning Coal, Bauxite, Iron Ore, Limestone,

Manganese, Dolomite & Chromite are to be disposed within 60 days.

Applications concerning the Red industries involving an investment of more than 5 crores
upto 50 crores, Orange industries involving investment of more than 50 crores and other

mining industries are to be disposed of within 45 days.

Applications concerning the rest of the Orange industries are to be disposed of within 30
days.

Validity of Consent: The consent so granted is to establish the industry as proposed by the
proponent and hence, he should establish the industry and apply for the consent to operate the
industry within 5 years of granting of such consent, after which the consent would expire and he
will have to make a fresh application.

Environmental Clearance:
Obtaining the consent to establish solely, cannot entitle the project proponent to establish the
industry, unless he has obtained the Environmental Clearance (EC) for his project.
For the purposes of granting EC, the industries have been divided into 3 categories, i.e., A, B &
C. on the basis of the spatial extent of the pollution and impact on human as well as
environmental resources. Category A consists of industries which are highly impactful and have
to obtain the Clearance from the Central Government, i.e., the Ministry of Environment &
Forests on the recommendations of Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) constituted for this
purpose. On the other hand, the industries in Category B and Category C (Minor mineral
industries) are required to obtain Clearance from the State level Environment Impact Assessment
Authority (SIEAA) and District level Impact Assessment Authority (DIAA) respectively. The
SIEAA grants EC on the recommendations of the State level Expert Appraisal Committee
(SEAC). Any activity specified under Category B can be regarded as Category A activity if it is
located within 10 kms of protected areas, critically polluted areas and notified eco-sensitive
areas.
The project proponent is to make an Application for obtaining EC by filling Form I and
Supplementary Form IA. Thereafter, there are 4 stages which the Environmental Clearance
procedure comprises of. These are undertaken to be performed by the EAC and the SEAC for the
Central Government and SIEAA respectively. These four stages are:

Screening
Scoping
Public Hearing
Appraisal

Screening: This stage is solely for Category B industries, where they are further categorized into
B1 & B2. The industries in Category B which require a detailed study are grouped under B1 and
which do not are grouped under B2. The B1 industries then, undergo the rest of the stages.
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Scoping: In this stage, the EAC for Category A industries and SEAC for Category B1 industries
determined the holistic and comprehensive Terms of Reference for the concerned industries so as
to address all the environmental concerns arising from the project so proposed on the basis of the
information furnished in Application I/IA. These Terms of Reference are to be communicated to
the Project proponent within 30 days of the date of receipt of Application. If the TOR are not
communicated within 30 days, the proponent can proceed with the deemed consent to undertake
a detailed EIA study. After preparing a draft EIA report based on the TOR provided to the
proponent, he can then apply for Public Hearing.
Public Consultation: All the A & B1 industries have to undertake public consultation, which
comprise of 2 components: public hearing & obtaining of responses. Public Consultation is the
process of ascertaining the grievances and responses of the stake holders due to the
environmental impact emerging out of the project. The Public Hearing in all cases, in conducted
by the State Pollution Control Board. The Member Secretary of the Board fixes the date for
conducting such proceedings within 7 days of receiving the draft EIA Report prepared by the
proponent on the basis of the TOR outlined by the respective Appraisal Committee. The date
would be published in a national daily and a regional vernacular daily and a minimum of 30 days
would be provided to the stake-holders to file their responses. The Public Hearing would require
no quorum and would be presided by the District Magistrate. It should be completed within 45
days and a copy of the entire proceedings has to be forwarded to the Regulatory Authority. A
video recording of the proceeding can also be enclosed. The issues that arise in the course of
public hearing can be incorporated by the proponent in the EIA report and he can make amends
on the basis of that.
Appraisal: After the submission of the final Environmental Impact Assessment Report, the EAC
and the SEAC evaluate the report and the other relevant documents considering the public
hearing proceedings as well. After thorough analysis the inadequacies noted with reference to the
TORs prescribed is communicated to the proponent within 30 days of receipt of the final EIA
report. The recommendations are then placed on the table of the Central Government or the
SEIAA within 60 days. The concerned authority then proceeds to grant clearance.

On obtaining the Environmental Clearance, it would be mandatory for the project management to
submit half yearly reports of the compliance of the terms and conditions of the Clearance so
obtained. These reports would be public documents.

Consent to Operate:
After an industry in established, the proponent is mandated to obtain consent to commence the
operation of the industry or production activities. The consent has to be obtained within 5 years
after the consent to establish has been granted. The procedure of obtaining consent to establish is
as follows:
Application: The proponent has to submit a duly filled Application Form I for the Air Act &
Form IV for the Water Act along with the scrutiny fees as prescribed.
Documentation: The proponent is required to furnish the Environmental Clearance, No
Objection Certificate (Consent to Establish) and Forest Clearance. The State Pollution Control
Board can also demand the proponent to furnish any other additional information of the project
as required. Mining industries are required to furnish the Approved Mining Plan from the IBM.
Surface Plan is also to be submitted.
Document Verification: The aforementioned documents submitted are then verified to ensure
the veracity, authenticity and presence of all the requisite documents.
Inspection: The Regional Officer is then required to inspect the project so established to check
its compliance with the terms outlined in the Consent to Establish and the general and specific
conditions imposed by the Board. He is then required to prepare an Inspection Report, based on
which the Board deliberates on granting the Consent to Operate.
Power Delegation: For the smooth functioning of the Board and the disposal of the Applications
in appropriate time, the power of granting consent to operate has been delegated depending on
the nature of the industry and amount of investment involved.

Chairman: He is the Consent granting authority for projects involving Red A industries
which have an investment of over 50 crores and all Sponge Iron Plants.

Member Secretary: He grants consent for Red A industries involving investment of less
than 50 crores and mining industries involving Coal, Bauxite, Iron Ore, Limestone,
Manganese, Dolomite & Chromite with lease hold area of more than 25 Ha, on

recommendation of the Consent Committee constituted for this purpose.

Senior Environmental Engineer/ Senior Environmental Scientist: He grants consent for
the Red B, Orange industries involving more than 50 crores and mining industries
involving Coal, Bauxite, Iron Ore, Limestone, Manganese, Dolomite & Chromite with
lease hold area of less than 25 Ha, on recommendation of the Consent Committee

constituted for this purpose.

Regional Officer: He grants consent single handedly for the Red B, Orange industries
involving investment of less than 50 crores and other mining industries.

Disposal of Applications: Vide an Order issued in the year 2015, the expediency required in
disposal of the project Applications has been categorized in terms of the nature & investment
involved in the project.

Applications concerning Red category industries involving an investment of more than

50 crores and mining industries concerning Coal, Bauxite, Iron Ore, Limestone,
Manganese, Dolomite & Chromite are to be disposed within 60 days.

Applications concerning the Red industries involving an investment of more than 5 crores
upto 50 crores, Orange industries involving investment of more than 50 crores and other
mining industries are to be disposed of within 45 days.

Applications concerning the rest of the Orange industries are to be disposed of within 30
days.

The Consent to Operate is provided for a period varying up to 5 years depending on the type of
industry and the discretion of the board. Before 90 days of expiry of the Consent to Operate so
granted, the proponent has to apply for the renewal of the consent which involves a similar
procedure after which consent is granted for a period depending on the compliance history of the

proponent. A system of Auto-Renewal of Consent to Operate of the industries has also been
devised in the recent times.

Inspection: After the CTO is granted further inspections are held to check the compliance of the
General & Specific conditions outlined while granting of CTO and the various conditions
imposed during the granting of CTE. If the proponent flouts any of the conditions, the Board
issue a Show Cause notice and mandate him to fulfill all the conditions within a time frame.
After an inspection undertaken by the RO, in case of further non-compliance, the Board can
issue directions under Section 33A of Water Act & 31A of the Air Act. The Board can also
proceed for prosecution of the proponent.
To prevent the harassment of the management of the industries by the Regional Officers through
untimely inspections, an auto-generated system for ensuring inspections has been developed in
the form of Central Inspection Coordination Group. The concerned industry would be notified
3 months prior to the date on which the inspection is scheduled. The inspection would be
undertaken by a member of the Labour Board, Factory Board and Pollution Control Board, each.
The Industry would be aprised of the Inspection report within 48 hours of the inspection so
conducted.

Instruments of Economic Coercion:

Bank-Guarantee is a very effective economic tool for pollution control. This has been

even upheld as an efficacious tool by the NGT in February, 2016.

Pollution Costs are also levied, based on the Polluter-Pays principle to cause the
polluter to restore the environment that has suffered damage on account of his activities.

Technological Inventions by the Odisha State Pollution Control Board:

Online Real Time Monitoring: As the process of physical monitoring is cumbersome

and fallacious quite a number of times, Online Real Time Monitoring has been devised
by the Pollution Control Board to monitor the pollution generating activities and the
pollution control processes undertaken by the industries through GPRS with much

convenience and without any hassles.

High Alert SMS- Through a 24x7 surveillance or online monitoring system, constant
records are maintained of the standard of emissions generated by the industries. If such
emissions cross the permissible limits a high-alert SMS is generated automatically
apprising the Pollution Control Board of such occurrences, helping the Board to take
appropriate steps expeditiously.

Suggestions:

The Process of Public Hearing should be simplified and should be completed in a shorter
time period to expedite the Environmental Clearance procedure. Considering the massive
population of the country and the presence of dwelling units everywhere, it would be
impossible to undertake imperative public interest projects if the problems encountered
by the people residing in the vicinity of such areas are given considerable weightage. In
such circumstances, the viability and necessity of the project has to be weighed against

the public grievances and an appropriate decision is to be made.

The delay in granting Environmetal Clearance.