The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006 is issued under:

Question

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006 is issued under:

1. A. Water (P&CP) Act, 1974
2. B. Air (P&CP) Act, 1981
3. C. Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (Correct answer)
4. D. Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991

Correct Answer

Option C — Environment (Protection) Act, 1986

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

Key Points

• The EIA Notification, 2006 is a subordinate instrument issued under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, which is precisely what makes that Act an umbrella statute — the substantive regulation lives in notifications made under it.
• The Water Act, 1974 and Air Act, 1981 create and empower the pollution control boards for their respective media, and the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 provides no-fault compensation for accidents involving hazardous substances. None of them is the parent of the EIA Notification.

Additional Information

• The 2006 notification replaced the original EIA Notification of 1994, and its central change was decentralisation: projects were split into Category A, appraised by the MoEFCC at national level, and Category B, appraised by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA).
• Category B is further divided into B1, which requires an EIA report, and B2, which generally does not.
• The notification prescribes the four-stage process — screening, scoping, public consultation and appraisal — and makes prior environmental clearance mandatory, before construction begins.
• The general rule to carry: environmental rules and notifications in India are almost always made under the EPA 1986, whatever medium they address.