The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986

Before 1986 India had separate laws on water (1974), air (1981) and forests (1980), but no single law that could deal with all environmental problems, fill gaps between those laws, and give the Central Government wide powers to act quickly. The Bhopal gas tragedy of December 1984, in which methyl isocyanate leaked from a pesticide plant, exposed these gaps. The Environment (Protection) Act (EPA) was enacted in 1986 to implement the decisions taken at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm, 1972), under Article 253 of the Constitution, which lets Parliament legislate to implement international decisions. It extends to the whole of India and is often described as an umbrella or enabling legislation, because it authorizes the Central Government to make rules, issue directions and set standards on almost any aspect of environmental protection, rather than listing detailed technical limits itself. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is the administering ministry.

The Act is short (26 sections) and has four chapters: Preliminary (sections 1 and 2), General Powers of the Central Government (sections 3 to 6), Prevention, Control and Abatement of Environmental Pollution (sections 7 to 17), and Miscellaneous (sections 18 to 26). Its central idea is that the Central Government may take all measures it considers necessary or expedient to protect and improve the quality of the environment and to prevent, control and abate environmental pollution.

• Environment includes water, air and land and the inter-relationship which exists among and between water, air and land, and human beings, other living creatures, plants, micro-organisms and property

• Environmental pollutant is any solid, liquid or gaseous substance present in such concentration as may be, or tend to be, injurious to the environment

• Environmental pollution is the presence in the environment of any environmental pollutant

• Hazardous substance is 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, plants, micro-organisms, property or the environment

• Handling, in relation to any substance, includes manufacture, processing, treatment, package, storage, transportation, use, collection, destruction, conversion, offering for sale, transfer or the like

On penalties, the original Section 15 prescribed imprisonment up to five years or fine up to one lakh rupees or both, an additional fine up to five thousand rupees per day for continuing contravention, and imprisonment up to seven years if contravention continued beyond one year. The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 later replaced criminal penalties with monetary penalties imposed through an adjudicating officer; exam questions generally follow the original structure, but check the latest bare act if a question refers to current penalties. Under the original text of Section 19, a court takes cognizance of an offence on a complaint by the Central Government or an authorized authority or officer, or by any person who has given not less than sixty days' notice of the alleged offence, which is how citizens can approach the courts.

• Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986: standards for emission and discharge of pollutants and procedures; Environmental Statement (Form V) to be filed by industries by 30 September each year

• Environmental Impact Assessment notification: 1994, replaced by the EIA Notification, 2006 (projects in Category A and B, screening, scoping, public hearing, appraisal)

• Coastal Regulation Zone notification: 1991, revised in 2011 and 2019

• Eco-sensitive zones around protected areas are notified under the Act; Environment (Siting for Industrial Projects) Rules, 1999; Wetlands Rules, 2010 (revised 2017)

• Hazardous waste: Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989, now the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016; Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical Rules, 1989; Chemical Accidents (Emergency Planning, Preparedness and Response) Rules, 1996

• Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000; Ozone Depleting Substances (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000

• Waste rules (all 2016 versions in force, with later amendments): Solid Waste Management, Plastic Waste Management, E-Waste (Management), Bio-medical Waste Management, Construction and Demolition Waste; Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022

• Authorities under Section 3(3): the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority for the NCR (EPCA, 1998), and later the statutory Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (Act of 2021)

• Article 48A (Directive Principle): the State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and safeguard forests and wildlife; Article 51A(g) (Fundamental Duty): citizens must protect and improve the natural environment; both were inserted by the 42nd Amendment, 1976, which also moved forests and wild animals and birds to the Concurrent List

• Article 21: the Supreme Court has held that the right to a wholesome environment is part of the right to life (Subhash Kumar v. State of Bihar, 1991)

• 73rd and 74th Amendments: Eleventh and Twelfth Schedules give panchayats and municipalities roles in environment-related matters

The National Green Tribunal has its principal bench in New Delhi, deals with substantial questions relating to the environment, and endeavours to dispose of cases within six months. Schedule I of the NGT Act covers the Water Act, Water Cess Act, Forest (Conservation) Act, Air Act, EP Act, Public Liability Insurance Act and Biological Diversity Act, but not the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 or the Indian Forest Act, 1927.