Compliance to Environment Regulations : State Pollution Control Board Context

Dr. D. K. BeheraSr. Env. Scientist, SPCB, Odisha

dk_behera@yahoo.com

International Conference on Env. Governance and EnforcementWBPCB, Kolkota19th, March, 2013

Environmental governance in India

LEGISLATION

IMPLEMENTING INSTITUTIONS

PCB, DOEF, MOEF

EXPERTORGANISATIONS

NEERI, TERI

CITIZEN

JUDICIARY

Policy Making Agency (MoEF) State Govt.

Adoption of Acts Monitoring Agency (CPCB)

Implementing Agency (SPCB)

Project End Project Approval Consent to Establish Project Completion

Detail Assessment (Consent to Operate)

Project Continue

Monitoring Closure

Regulation of Services

Conviction Court Public Suit

Non-Compliance

Compliance with Norms

Pollution Abatement Policy Enforcement Mechanism in India

New Units

Application to SPCB for “CONSENT TO ESTABLISH”

Consent Granted

Project Conception

Stage

Permission for Trial Run

Performance Evaluation by SPCB Not

Satisfactory

Grant Of CONSENT TO OPERATE

Monitoring by SPCB

Construction Stage

Operational Stage

Renewal Of Consent

Change In Process/ Raw

material / Expansion of facility

Compliance Process

REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

Consent to Establish

Public Hearing

CRZ Clearance

Environmental Clearance

Construction Phase

Consent to Operate/Authorization

Operation Phase

Monitoring and Review

Major Functions of SPCBs Command & Control Principles • Formulation of preventive measures • Laying down env. Standards• Consent and authorisation Administration • Env. Friendly technology development • Control of pollution through inspection &

monitoring of industrial units • Regulation of location of industries • Disposal of waste (hazardous, plastic,

municipal, electronic etc.) • Collection and dissemination of information• Advise the State Govt. • Penal action against the violation

Regional Regional Offices Offices

SPCB, Odisha

Issues in functioning of SPCBs Manpower • Inadequate technical manpower – wide

variation in the ratio of technical to non-technical among Boards

• No norm of staffing

• No fulltime Chairman

• Expontial increase in no. of industries and legislations

Result-Env. Performance monitoring inadequate

Resources • Water Cess, consent and authroisation fees,

sample testing fees, bank guarantee, grant-in-aid from Central & State Govt., project based grants etc.

• Many of the SPCBs are self dependent• Wide difference in consent and other fees

among SPCBs • Cess collection from ULBs • Not much expediture towards pollution

prevention, R & D etc.

Inventorisation

• Data base on inventorisation of industries both under consent and authorisation administration still incomplete – addition of number of units, hotels, hot mix plants, HCEs, brick kilns etc etc…

• Data management and periodical updation not standardised

Jurisdiction • Vehicular pollution is beyond the

jurisdiction of SPCB- source proportionate• 50-70% of urban air pollution caused due to

vehicles • EC & consent to establish – almost similar

function• Lack of Multi departmental coordination • Overlapping enforcing agencies

Standards & Compliances• Monitoring frequency stipulated by CPCB

not achieved• Standards do not allow percentage of

deviation – except NAAQS – Impractical • Industries tempted to manipulate • Maintenance of PC equipment – not priority

by industries • By passing – Sponge Iron Plant • Litigation – time consuming – more

emphasis to the process of inspection • Domestic waste treatment – not adequate

Information flow from Regional Offices of SPCBs• Poor linking. MIS is weak• IT based enforcement coming up • Support & accountability of ROs are not

uniform – mechanism not standardized • SOPs are not well documented • SPCBs adopt different procedure of

enforcement

Others• Commutative impact studies (REMP,

Carrying Capacity Studies) are not done as routine – quality of the report

• R & D by SPCB is not a priority • Quantification of pollution load – studies are

sporadic • Health Impact Studies missing

Functional Indicators During 1986-87

During 1996-97

During 2006-07

Increase in 10 years

No. of industries / mines under admn. a.Consent cases b.NOC cases

2650

306172

1199639

4 times3.7 times

No. of misc. industries (stone crusher & brick kiln)

No activity No activity 1200 Additional responsibility

No. of health care units under admn. Nos. of ULBs

No activity0

No activity0

774103

Additional responsibility

No. of public complaints handled Insignificant Insignificant 296 Additional responsibility

No. of inspections conducted 129 1159 4097 3.5 timesNo. of stack & ambient air monitoring 40 711 2590 3.6 timesNo. of public hearings / consultations Not existed Not existed 77 Additional

responsibilityNo. of legal cases 3 3 72 24 times

Amount of cess collected 0 Rs. 1.38 crores

Rs. 5.56 crores

4 times

Amount of consent fees collected Rs. 10.95 lakhs

Rs. 29.52 lakhs

Rs. 866.03 lakhs

29 times

No. of Acts & Rules notified 3 Acts & 3 Rules

4 Acts & 9 Rules

4 Acts & 22 Rules

2.5 times

No. of Regional Offices 0 4 9 2.5 time

No. of external technical projects 0 0 5 5 times

Annual budget of the Board Rs. 28.0 lakhs Rs. 298.96 lakhs

Rs. 839.12 lakhs

3 times

Total Technical Manpower 08 35 55 1.5Nos. of units regulated/person 9.5 13.6 71 5.2

INCREASE IN WORK LOAD in OSPCB

Recommendation, Planning Commission, Govt. of India

• To levy spot fines in case of violation (5-10 times operational cost of running ETP for the period the last visit) (Quaci – Judicial Power)

• For arrest / detention of persons responsible for toxic waste pollution

• Scientific & technical documentation of pollution

• Record statement • Stepping up of institutional arrangement

for creating env. awareness • Benchmarking of frequency of monitoring • Detail performance study of ETP & PC

equipment• Transparency in Consent & Authorisation

administration

Strength of SPCBs

Experienced subject specific man powerInfrastructure in terms of laboratories for

field investigationCompetent technically qualified pool of

Scientists and EngineersExposure and updating on env. Sound

technologiesPromote clean technologyDeveloping real time monitoring data

managementAwareness creation

Status of Pollution in India

Trends in pollution•Levels of SO2 and lead in ambient air : decreasing •PM10 beyond norms in majority of cities and NOx is the emerging pollutant•Medium level cities are front runners in air pollution•Number of polluted river stretches increasing

Database Issues• 43 Critically Polluted Industrial Clusters

Identified :REFINEMENT• 17 categories of highly polluting industries & grossly

polluting industries shortlisted: GAPS IN DOCUMENTATION & REPORTING

• Red/Orange/Green categories : NEED FOR HARMONISATION

Status of Compliance• 17 categories: compliance 71%; GPI: compliance 68%

- INTEGRITY OF DATA TO BE ENSURED• SSI Compliance-- STATUS NOT ASSESSED: 70% of

pollution load

CAG Audit Findings on Water Pollution

• Legislative & Policy framework– Water pollution has not been adequately addressed in any policy

in India, both, at the federal & provincial level

• Planning for control of pollution in rivers, lakes & ground water– Inadequate planning

– No complete inventory of rivers/lakes and keystone species associated with them

– no identification of existing pollution levels in rivers and lakes in terms of biological indicators etc

Audit findings • Implementation of programmes for control of pollution

– Projects for pollution control of rivers was unsatisfactory 82 % were completed after the scheduled date of completion

– 28 projects costing ` 251.27 crore were constructed but not utilised as yet

– States implementing the projects faced problems in land acquisition, forest clearances, technical problems, problems from contractors etc.

– Programme to prevent pollution of lakes also ineffective as only 2 of the sampled 22 projects had been completed and the rest were either continuing beyond the sanction date of completion or had been abandoned

Audit Findings • Monitoring of programmes

– Inspection and monitoring was inadequate at all three levels, i.e., local level, provincial/State level and federal/Central level.

– There was paucity of network for tracking pollution of rivers, lakes and ground water as there were inadequate number of monitoring stations, no real- time monitoring of water quality and the data on water quality had not been disseminated adequately.

Audit Findings• Results of programmes for control of pollution in India

– Data on the results of programmes not very encouraging as majority of rivers remain polluted and continue to be plagued by high levels of organic pollution, low level of oxygen availability for aquatic organisms and bacteria, protozoa and viruses which have faecal-origin and which cause illnesses

– Most lakes are under threat from nutrient overloading which is causing their eutrophication and their eventual choking up from the weeds proliferating in the nutrient-rich water.

• Implementation programmes for preventing pollution of these lakes has had no discernible effect

1.Environmental Planning(a) Development of standards and guidelines(b) Development of laws, rules and regulations

2. Environmental Monitoring(a) Environment surveillance (General)(b) Ambient Monitoring(c) Maintenance of data base

Pollution Management-SPCBs

3. Environment Impact Assessment/Audit(a) Identification and inventory of source of pollutant(b) Impact Assessment on different components of environment (air, water, land and other natural resources)

4. Laboratory Management(a) Quality control(b) Research and development

5. Pollution Control Enforcement (Facility Specific)

(a) Inspection(b) Prosecution(c) Direction

6. Technological Intervention(a) Design and development of appropriate technology(b) Dissemination of appropriate technology

7. Environmental Awareness/Information(a) Support to NGOs/Education Institutions(b) Capacity building through training programs(c) Mass awareness through media

Vision of SPCBs Strategic Planning- Broad Institutional goal, assesses the performance and develop overall strategyOperational Planning- Framework of implementing strategy derived from Strategic planningUniform staffing and enforcement mechanismLaboratory- Nucleus of SPCs- More credibleComprehensive monitoring planning and executionDevelopment of industry specific pollution control guideline and inspection protocolIT Based functioning

THANK YOUTHANK YOU