For major accident hazard units, on-site and off-site emergency plans are typically required under:

Question

For major accident hazard units, on-site and off-site emergency plans are typically required under:

1. A. Only internal-policy manuals
2. B. State-level disaster-management / pollution-control-board guidelines (Correct answer)
3. C. Only EIA-Notification-2006
4. D. Only ISO-9001 certification

Correct Answer

Option B — State-level disaster-management / pollution-control-board guidelines

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is State-level disaster-management / pollution-control-board guidelines.

Key Points

• For Major Accident Hazard units, the requirement for on-site and off-site emergency plans flows from statutory rules administered at State level — the State Disaster Management Authority and the State Pollution Control Board, working with the district administration.
• The obligation therefore has legal force, which is why the option confining it to internal-policy manuals is wrong. Nor does it arise from the EIA Notification alone, and it has nothing to do with ISO 9001, a voluntary quality-management standard.

Additional Information

• The underlying instruments are the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical Rules, 1989 and the Chemical Accidents (Emergency Planning, Preparedness and Response) Rules, 1996, both made under the EPA 1986, together with Section 41-B of the Factories Act.
• The 1996 Rules create a four-tier crisis-management structure — central, state, district and local — with the District Crisis Group responsible for the off-site plan.
• ISO 9001 governs quality, ISO 14001 environment, and ISO 45001 occupational health and safety — a distinction examiners test, since only the last two touch this subject and none of them is a legal mandate.
• A unit qualifies as MAH by holding hazardous chemicals above threshold quantities listed in the schedules to the 1989 Rules.