Assam: Clearance a must for ‘B’ and ‘Orange’ category of projects, says PCBA

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The Pollution Control Board, Assam (PCBA), on Thursday directed all ongoing, upcoming, and existing building and construction projects in category 'B' and the 'Orange category' to obtain prior consents from the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) or the PCBA, as the case may be.

Building and construction projects with a built-up area of 20,000 square metres (sq. m) or above are categorized as 'B' category projects, and therefore, these projects need to obtain prior Environmental Clearance from SEIAA, as per the ELA Notification No. S.O. 1533(E) dated September 14, 2006, by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEF&CC). Besides, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), vide letter dated January 12, 2021, categorized the building and construction projects with a built-up area of less than 20,000 sq. m and wastewater generation of 50 KLD as 'Orange Category,' and as such these projects are required to obtain consent from the State Pollution Control Board or PCBA under Section 25 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974 and Section 21 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. Prior Consent to Establish (CTE) needs to be obtained by these projects before commencement of establishment activities. Consent to Operate (CTO) needs to be obtained by these projects during the construction phase of the project and post-commissioning period.

PCBA observed that several building and construction projects are being set up without obtaining the mandatory prior Environmental Clearance (EC) from SEIAA and CTE/CTO from the PCBA. Therefore, all ongoing, upcoming, and existing building and construction projects have been directed to apply for EC and CTE/CTO at the Parivesh-2 portal of MoEFCC and the OCMMS portal (www.asocmms.nic.in) of PCBA, respectively. The applications are to be submitted before the Board on or before January 31, 2025, to avoid penalty and other legal action, as deemed fit, as per the provisions of the Acts.

Presently, the Board is levying a CTO fee for building and construction projects as per the Assam Government Gazette Notification dated November 12, 2003. As per the prevailing practice, if CTO is granted under the provisions of both the Air Act, 1981, and the Water Act, 1974, to a project, the CTO fee is payable at double the fee notified by the Government of Assam. In a bid to give financial relief to these units, the Board, during its 106th and 107th Board Meetings, decided that the Building and Construction Projects, including the Hospital Projects, would be granted CTO under the Air Act, 1981 [Section 21 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981] during the construction and commissioning phase, and while CTO under the Water Act, 1974 [Section 25 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974] shall be granted in the post commissioning stage of the project. Accordingly, the CTO fee for these projects shall be realised at 50% of the total consent fee payable, as of now, the PCBA stated.

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