THE ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ACT, 1986

INTRODUCTION..
In 1980, the Deptt. of Environment was established in India. Later on it became the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 1985. EPA,1986 came into force soon after the Bhopal Gas Tragedy.

OBJECTIVE
to provide the protection and improvement of environment. In EPA, article 48A, specify that the State shall protect and improve the environment. Also, to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country. Acc. to sec 51(A) every citizen shall protect the environment. EPA is applicable to whole India, including J&K.

IMPORTANT TERMINOLOGY
Environment It includes water, air, and land and the interrelationship which exists among and between water, air and land and human beings, other living creatures, plants, microorganism and property. Environmental pollutant means any solid, liquid or gaseous substances present in such concentration as may be or tend to be injurious to environment and human being.

Environmental pollution means imbalance in environment. The materials or substances when after mixing in air, water or land alters their properties in such manner, that the very use of all or any of the air water and land by man and any other living organism becomes lethal and dangerous for health.

Occupier It means a person who has control over the affairs of the factory or the premises, and includes, in relation to any substance, the person in possession of the substance.

Environmental Pollutants

Hazardous substance means any substance or preparation which, by reason of its chemical or physico-chemical properties or handling, is liable to cause harm to human beings, other living creatures, plant, micro-organism, property or the environment.

Water
The objectives of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act are to provide for the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution and the maintenance or restoration of the wholesomeness of water for the establishment, with a view to carrying out the purposes aforesaid, of Boards for the prevention and control of water pollution, for conferring on and assigning to such Boards powers and functions relating thereto and for matters connected therewith.

Prevention of deterioration of quality of Air

The Air act deals with the control of emission of noxious substances from industries and automobiles. Applies only to specified industrial processes, in notified areas

Conflicting provisions in constitution between state and center

Until the enactment of the EPA, pollution control was an administrative responsibility of the State Pollution Control Boards and the Central Board. EPA has vested broad powers with the Central Govt.

Role of courts in pollution control

The Judiciary has come up with the judgedriven implementation of environmental administration in India. It has isolated specific environmental law principles upon interpretation of Indian Statutes and Constitution. Public Interest Litigations (PILs) which is the result of the relaxation of the locus standi rules by the judiciary, is the characteristic feature of the environmental litigation in India.

 Disputes relating to environment are treated as cases related to violation of fundamental rights, rather than claims under law of torts.

It has been held that the Supreme Court and the High Courts can be directly approached under Article 32 and Article 226 of the Constitution of India in case of matters relating to environment.

 The orders of the Supreme Court and the High Courts cover a wide range of areas including air, water, solid waste, hazardous wastes, forests, mining activities, and architectural treasures. Policy Statements of the government, which otherwise are not enforceable in Courts, have been used as aids by the Judges for interpreting environmental statutes and for spelling out obligations of the Government.

State govt.s role in spreading the awareness

The Court also required every State Government and education board to take steps for environmental education. It is also to be noted that in tune with these directions, various authorities have taken up meaningful schemes of environmental education.

Role of central government.

Take measures Co-ordination and planning Laying down standards, restrictions and procedures Examination, inspection and investigations

Meaning of Environment Impact assessment statement

There are two types of EIA models-

The statutory model which makes the assessment of impact

compulsory under an enacted law, or a Delegated legislation, and the administrative model under

which an administration exercises its discretion to find out

whether an impact study is necessary. Till 1992, India was following the administrative model of EIA.

Paul Bigelow Sears said, How far must suffering and misery go before we see that even in the day of vast cities and powerful machines, the good earth is our mother and that if we destroy her, we destroy ourselves. So we should act today for a better tomorrow for our children.