Consent/Authorization Management

Granting Consent under the provisions of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and Authorization under Biomedical Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 1998, the Hazardous Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 1989 and the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 are some of the important functions of the Board. A brief note / guidelines for obtaining the Consent / Authorization for the entrepreneurs are illustrated below:

• CATEGORIZATION OF INDUSTRIES:

For the purpose of consent management, the categorizations of industries are categorized into Special Red, Ordinary Red, Orange and Green categories, depending on the polluting nature of industry.

The classification of Special Red and Ordinary Red category has been made only for administrative convenience. The consent fees for Special Red and Ordinary Red will be that of consent fees mentioned for Red category industries. The consent fees for Consent to Establish and Consent to Operate for all categories will be depending on capital investment on land, building, plant and machinery.

The lists of Special Red, Ordinary Red, Orange, Green and Exempted category of industries are not exhaustive and these are subject to modifications under environmental conditions.

The industries which do not fall under any of the five classes, decision with regard to their classification will be taken by a committee to be nominated by the Chairman comprising of the Member Secretary and two senior officers of the Board.

The validity of the consent to operate of different groups of industries will be as follows:

• CONSENT TO ESTABLISH / OPERATE:

Consent to Establish/Operate Any industry under the provisions of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and Authorization under the Hazardous Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 1989 is to be obtained from the Board. The Board issues consent to regulate the quality and quantity of pollutants and stipulate the frequency for monitoring of pollutants.

Consent under the Water Act / Air Act and the Hazardous Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 1989 needs to be obtained in two phases:

Consent to Establish is to be obtained prior to carrying out any work at the site proposed for the project. The validity of Consent to Establish is one year. Consent to Establish should be renewed if the unit is not commissioned by then. If renewal is not sought within the validity period fresh application has to be made to the Board. However, Consent to Establish is issued even if construction work of the unit has been started provided:

• The site is suitable.
• The application for Consent to Establish is accompanied by prescribed fees.
• The required pollution control measures are provided.

Once the industry or process plant is established along the required pollution control systems, the entrepreneur is required to obtain Consent to Operate the unit. The consent to operate is given for a period of 1 year, which is mandatory to be renewed regularly.

The application form for Consent to Establish / Operate under the Water Act / Air Act and Authorization under the Hazardous Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 1989 is to be submitted in duplicate to the NPCB. The application form is available at the NPCB office or can be downloaded from the Website. Those who have obtained Consent to Establish need not submit application again in the above forms while obtaining Consent to Operate.

• DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED:

The documents to be submitted along with the application form for processing of the application are:

1. Demand Draft towards Consent / Authorization fee.
2. Undertaking or affidavit or statement from Annual Report or Certificate from Chartered Accountant in support of gross fixed capital investment.
3. Site plan / location map (Compulsory for all new applications and for expansions).
4. Declaration regarding the distance of the Unit from the bank of the main river or high tide mark of creek/ estuary (declared under the Act) and in respect of stone crusher, for distance from highways and habitations.
5. Layout plan showing the location of stacks (chimneys), effluent treatment plant, effluent disposal areas, air pollution control devices, hazardous waste treatment and disposal areas.
6. Manufacturing process flow sheets, with descriptive note on the manufacturing process for each product.
7. Copies of latest Consent / Authorization / Environmental Impact Assessment clearance.
8. Copy of Small Scale Industries registration certificate, if applicable.
9. Copies of Letter of Intent / Industrial Licenses, clearance from the Department or any other relevant document (Please state).
10. Copies of planning permission certificate issued by the local bodies / District, Town & Country Planning / Metropolitan Development Authorities.

Note:  The document at Sl. No. 2 to 10 are necessary for first application. For application for Consent to Operate (Renewal) only document at Sl. No. 7 is required.

• RENEWAL OF CONSENT TO OPERATE

Application for Consent to Operate (Renewal) is to be submitted one month before the expiry of the Consent order. If application is made after expiry of the validity period an action is to be taken as per Section 25/26 of Water Act & Section 21 of Air Act.

The application form for Consent to Operate (Renewal) should be submitted in triplicate. The application form is available at the office of the NPCB or can be downloaded from the Website.

While scrutinizing the application the Board may call for clarification/information and all such applications will be deemed to have been made only from the date on which such clarification/information is received by the Board.