Why in news?
The Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Bill, 2021, was passed by both Houses.
What is the current practice?
- The monitoring and management of air quality in the Delhi-NCR region has been done in pieces by multiple bodies including -
- Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)
- State Pollution Control Boards
- Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority (EPCA) of the NCR
- State governments in the region, including Delhi, Haryana, U.P. & Rajasthan
- The functions are monitored by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change (MoEF).
- Also, the Supreme Court monitors air pollution as per the judgment in ‘M C Mehta vs Union of India’ case in 1988.
What are the main objectives?
- Creating an overarching body to consolidate all monitoring bodies on one platform i.e Commission for Air Quality Management.
- Relieving the Supreme Court from having to constantly monitor pollution levels.
What is the scope of the commission?
- Concentrate on improving air quality during winter in particular, but also suggest measures to mitigate pollution throughout the year.
- Replace the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA).
What are the powers of the commission?
- The Commission is the most powerful air pollution monitoring body set up by the Centre to date.
- Its rulings / powers will supersede any other law / any other body in matters of pollution.
- The Commission has the powers to do the following:
- take measures, issue directions and entertain complaints
- lay down parameters for air quality and emission or discharge of environmental pollutants
- restrict industries in any area, carry out random inspections, close down an industry or cut its power and water supply in case of noncompliance
- coordinate action taken by states on air pollution, monitor the measures taken by the states to prevent stubble burning
- has penal provisions that the EPCA did now have
What will be the composition of the commission?
- Full-time chairperson - experience of not less than 15 years in the environmental protection and pollution control field, or administrative experience of not less than 25 years
- an official from the Environment Ministry
- five ex-officio members who are either chief secretaries or secretaries from Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan & UP
- one full-time member who is or has been a joint secretary; three full-time independent technical members who are experts in air pollution
- one technical member each from the CPCB and ISRO
- three members from NGOs who deal in air pollution;three members, being stakeholders from various related sectors such as agriculture, industry, transport or construction
- one representative of the NITI Aayog; representatives of several ministries; representatives of any association from the commerce or industry sector
- The commission will have at least 3 sub-committees - Monitoring and identification; Safeguarding and enforcement; Research & development.
What are the contentious provisions?
- Environmental compensation from farmers - The Bill, in its earlier version, proposed penalization of farmers (imprisonment of up to 5 years & a fine of Rs 1 crore) for stubble burning and other polluting practices.
- After opposition, imprisonment is no longer imposed on the farmers(still exists for other sectors and individuals).
- However, the Bill proposes to collect environmental compensation from farmers causing air pollution by stubble burning.
- Many parliamentarians have opposed this move and have demanded that the Ministry should reconsider this provision.
- Concentration of power with Centre - There is an overwhelming number of bureaucrats in the commission, and only a token representation of environmental bodies and NGOs.
- Also, no civil court has the jurisdiction to entertain any proceeding in relation to the actions or directions of the commission.
- The orders of the commission can now only be contested before the National Green Tribunal.
Source: The Indian Express
