The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has proposed draft notifications to exempt ‘white category’ industries from requiring prior permissions from state pollution control boards under the Air Act, 1981, and the Water Act, 1974. These permissions, known as ‘consent to establish’ (CTE) and ‘consent to operate’ (CTO), regulate industries that discharge effluents or emit pollutants into the environment.
The draft notifications also propose exempting projects that need prior environmental clearance (EC) from obtaining CTE permits. This exemption will be contingent on obtaining EC from the competent authority and merging CTE compliance conditions with EC conditions.
The ministry has sought comments and objections on these draft notifications within 60 days. These proposed exemptions are in line with the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Act, 2024, and the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023. These laws decriminalized many violations under the Air Act, 1981, and the Water Act, 1974, replacing imprisonment with penalties and fines, and allowing the Centre to exempt certain industrial plants from seeking permits.
‘White category’ industries exempted from the CTO and CTE permit regime would still need to inform the state pollution control boards of their operations through self-declarations. This category was introduced in 2016 when the Central Pollution Control Board re-categorized industries based on their relative pollution potential, considering factors like emissions, effluent discharge, hazardous waste generation, and natural resource consumption. Wind power projects, solar power projects, air cooler assembly, and bicycle assembly are examples of ‘white category’ projects that would be exempt from CTE and CTO permits under the proposed changes.