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Environmental degradation is invariably linked to poor implementation of environmental norms and standards. This is what the new government must remember as it sets out to lead the country at a time when its manufacturing capabilities are significantly expanding. The government would do well to address some key areas of concern that hamper the environmental performance of the country’s industrial sector.
Effective state pollution control boards (SPCBs) play a vital role in environmental management and regulation, as mandated by various laws. However, their performance suffers due to insufficient humanpower, limited financial resources and absence of adequate infrastructure. According to an April 5, 2024 report by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), 6,075, or over 50 per cent, of sanctioned positions across all SPCBs are vacant. In Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Manipur, the vacancy rate is over 60 per cent. Such shortages affect environmental management and regulation. For example, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board has 505 staff against the sanctioned posts of 839 to monitor 111,928 industries, as per the 2022 annual report of the board. Given that only 315 of the 505 staff are technical specialists, each of them are responsible for monitoring 355 industries. Therefore, it is imperative to assess institutional capacity and prioritise filling vacant positions.
Adoption of advanced technologies is imperative for efficient monitoring and compliance. Though SPCBs use technologies like Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (CEMS) for real-time monitoring of industries and industrial areas, the data generated is not being used for regulatory and compliance purposes as it is not an admissible evidence under the Air Act 1981. With the establishment of a certified CEMS, the Air Act, 1981, can be amended to allow for the use of CEMS data for legal and compliance purposes.
As per the performance audit of SPCBs and pollution control committees (PCCs) by CPCB in 2019-20, most boards and PCCs, except those in northeastern states, do not face any financial constraints. However, they are insecure about the availability of funds in the future. To alleviate this apprehension, it is imperative to explore new financial avenues and remove any procedural roadblocks to effectively utilise existing funds.
Data transparency serves as a crucial instrument for enforcing compliance, fostering accountability, encouraging public participation and raising public awareness. This is the reason the Supreme Court in 2017 had asked SPCBs and PCCs to make CEMS data publicly accessible. However, nine SPCBs and PCCs are yet to comply with the order. The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, also requires SPCBs and PCCs to disclose their activities in annual reports. However, 11 SPCBs and PCCs do not make their annual reports publicly accessible. Reports that are publicly accessible show an inconsistency in data, which defeats the purpose. All SPCBs and PCCs should, therefore, follow a common format for providing data in annual reports.
The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006, is the governing legal instrument to grant green clearance for establishment or expansion of an industry on the basis of its potential environmental impact. The notification is dynamic and can accommodate changes in its provisions and processes as per the requirement of the changing times. However, this characteristic of the legal instrument seems to have been exploited. Instead of ensuring stricter implementation, governments, over the years, have made concerted efforts to dilute the processes and norms to ease establishment and expansion of even heavily polluting industries.
Records of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) show that in the past five years, some 110 changes have been introduced in the 2006 EIA notification simply through office memoranda, which do not involve public consultation. Some of these changes have been challenged in the National Green Tribunal. Some changes were also introduced as provisions in the draft 2020 EIA notification that was heavily criticised for weakening environmental norms.
The government must ensure that the EIA notification is not changed every now and then. Instead, it is pertinent to replace the EIA notification with an EIA Act to ensure its meaningful implementation.
The new government also needs to foster transparency regarding how environmental clearance (EC) conditions are implemented once a project is commissioned. Currently, project developers submit a six-monthly compliance report, which is uploaded on MOEFCC’s website or on the state portals. However, this information is hardly available in the public domain. The quality of these reports is also questionable and they are often incomplete. This defeats the purpose of submitting compliance reports for EC. Sometimes, environmental conditions in the Consent to Operate to a project are stricter than what is granted or permitted in the EC letter and may have additional environmental standards to comply with. In that case, the project may be in compliance with the EC but may still be flouting the environmental parameters set by SPCBs. It is important for the new government to ensure that all environment-related information is available on a single portal, irrespective of it being under the jurisdiction of the state or the Centre.
ACTION POINTS • Over 50 per cent of sanctioned positions across all state pollution control boards are vacant. Assess institutional capacity and prioritise filling vacant positions • Replace the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006 with a stricter law and ensure proper implementation • Foster transparency in implementation of environmental clearance conditions
Industries are always under scanner for air pollution. Industries emit two major types of emissions. First, stack-based emissions that are usually emitted due to combustion of fuels. The path ahead to combat stack emissions is to ensure that industries switch to cleaner fuels, adopt cleaner and efficient technologies and set up and maintain appropriate pollution-control devices. Technology-based standards should be set for small- and medium-scale industries that are difficult to monitor because of their size and sheer number. Another option is to introduce common combustion facilities like a common boiler to reduce the compliance load on both regulators and industry. Individual sectoral plans can be designed for energy-intensive sectors like metal, chemicals, cement, fertiliser, pulp and paper, and brick kilns, which are majorly responsible for stack-based emissions.
The other major type of emission from industries is fugitive emissions. Sectors like stone crushers, mineral grinding and brick kilns are major sources of fugitive emissions. Since these emissions are not from a point source (a single point such as a pipe or chimney), it is important to prepare detailed sectoral process-wise guidelines of pollution abatement, which are strictly implemented on the ground. Weaknesses in existing guidelines and their poor implementation has made the situation quite worse on the ground. Apart from these two types, certain sectors like chemical and refinery emit volatile organic compounds, such as ether, which require added attention.
The Third National Communication by MoEFCC to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2023, shows that the industrial sector through its energy- and process-based emissions had contributed around 22 per cent of the country’s total emissions. Sectors like steel, cement and aluminium are major contributors to this load of industrial emissions. A large part of the discussions around decarbonising emission-intensive sectors has revolved around steel sector, which is under a dedicated ministry. It is time the government planned dedicated ministries or bodies for other crucial emission-intensive sectors like cement, aluminium and fertiliser.
Additionally, the government must focus on the following strategies to decarbonise the industrial sector. First, switch to cleaner sources of energy or fuel and use the latest efficient technologies. Second, increase the use of alternate cleaner raw materials and identify how these materials and fuels may be sourced from a circular value chain. This means identifying how the waste of one industry could become a boon for another. These pathways will also clean our air and water and manage the waste streams.
Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are a huge source of employment in India and also contribute significantly to the economic growth of the country. However, a majority of these industries use dirty fuels. To decarbonise MSMEs in a just and equitable manner, the government must launch a national mission to collect authentic and detailed data on these industries and prepare a plan based on it.
India is setting up its own carbon markets which will see industry as the main stakeholder. The proposed market is based on the perform, achieve and trade (PAT) scheme, which has been operational since 2012 and has had its own set challenges like low price, excess supply of energy certificates in the market, unambitious targets, non-imposition of penalties on non-compliance and marginal carbon dioxide reductions. It will be crucial to prevent the upcoming carbon markets from the same challenges and many more. It is also essential to ensure that these markets cover a substantial share of the country’s emissions.
ACTION POINTS • Plan dedicated ministries, bodies for emission-intensive sectors like cement, fertiliser • Thermal power plants must comply with 2015 emission norms without further delay and become energy efficient with ambitious renewable energy mandates • Provision of common facilities, suitable location away from habitable areas can improve sustainability of industries
MoEFCC introduced new emission standards for coal-fired thermal power plants in 2015. Eight years later, only a handful of power plants, which account for 5 per cent of the country’s total installed capacity, are complying with the norms. This delay is the result of several extensions given to the plants by MoEFCC, with the latest extension deferring the deadline until 2026. We would urge the government to not delay the deadlines further as emissions from coal-fired power plants have a huge impact on public health. Besides, it is futile for the plants to meet emission standards almost a decade after they were introduced.
The government must ensure its thermal power plants become more energy efficient. Inefficient old plants must be retired and replaced with an efficient fleet of supercritical and ultra-super critical plants, if required to meet the rising demand. Co-firing of biomass needs to be ramped up. An ambitious renewable generation obligation for thermal power plants can also play a crucial role in their transitioning.
Time has come when India’s industrial development agencies begin to look at industrial areas from beyond an economic lens. As India plans to increase its manufacturing manifold, it is important that these new and upcoming industries are provided with the right kind of infrastructure which enables them to produce in a clean manner. Currently, Indian industrial areas grapple with poor road conditions, lack of a management system for non-hazardous industrial waste, inadequate parking spaces, absence of greenery and of other common amenities.
One idea central to a sustainable infrastructure is the provision of common facilities. This would include a common boiler, effluent treatment plant, waste management facility, parking facility for heavy vehicles, dignified housing for workers, markets, green areas and more such facilities as required. Upcoming industrial areas should be planned in locations at a distance from habitable areas—with a buffer zone—with availability of cleaner fuel sources, air quality monitoring facility, well-designed roads and sidewalks with plantations.
Changes should not just be considered for new and upcoming areas; a larger challenge is to improve existing industrial areas. Without well-developed sustainable infrastructure, deterioration of our environment will go beyond our control.
This was first published in the 1-15 June, 2024 print edition of Down To Earth