Delhi HC stays Notifications delegating Centre’s powers under Environment Protection Act to Local Authorities

The Delhi High Court yesterday stayed two Central Government notifications, one delegating the powers held by it under the Environment Protection Act, 1986 to local authorities and district panchayats and the other exempting buildings and construction projects upto 50,000 sq. m from requiring mandatory Environmental clearance..The order staying the notifications was passed by a Division Bench comprising Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Prateek Jalan in a petition preferred by NGO Social Action For Forest and Environment, seeking to quash the two Notifications..One notification is dated November 14, 2018 and it delegates all the powers of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) to local authorities and District Panchayats with respect to buildings and construction projects having a built-up area of 20,000-50,000 sq. m, and Industrial sheds, educational institutions, hospitals, hostels, educational institutions having a built up area of 20,000-1,50,000 sq. m..The second notification of November 15 exempts building and construction projects upto 50,000 sq m (earlier 20,000 sq m) from requiring mandatory Environmental clearance from the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA)..It is the Petitioner’s case that the two Notifications issued by the MoEF “suffer from serious laxities and infirmities” as they are ultra vires the provisions of the Sec. 3(1) of EPA Act read with Rule 5 of EP Rules 1986..The petition filed through Advocate Vanshdeep Dalmia claims that the issuance of the Notifications was grossly unreasonable and an arbitrary exercise of power, thus falling foul of the test of reasonableness propounded under Article 14 of the Constitution of India..Stressing on the lack of technical expertise or competence of the local bodies to either evaluate, impact or to ensure compliance with environmental conditions, the petition states that the Notifications were issued “without conducting any study, literature, evaluation of the reasons for taking such a backward and retrograde decision to go back to a pre-2004 situation wherein the failure of local bodies was considered to be the primary reason for bringing building and construction activity within the EIA framework.”.Further, it has been asserted that environmental concerns like groundwater depletion, environmental pollution during the construction phase of construction projects, impact on traffic volume and pattern change due to the project and impact of the change in environmental conditions etc. have been totally ignored by the Central Government while issuing the Notifications under challenge..It, thus, violates the fundamental rights to clean and safe environment guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India..The Petitioners were represented by Senior Advocates Paramjeet Singh Patwalia and Sacchin Puri and Advocates Vanshdeep Dalmia and Avishkar Singhvi..Read the Petition: