The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change on 1st July 2022, has proposed amendments to the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 and has invited comments and suggestions from the public which shall be sent by email in MS-Office Word file to the following ID: diriapolicy-moefcc@gov.in on or before 21st July 2022.
The key amendments proposed in the environment protection act are as follows:
The amendment proposes, creation of an “Environmental Protection Fund’’ in which the amount of penalty will be remitted.
Failure or contravention or non-compliance of the provisions of EPA such as submit reports, furnish information etc. would be dealt through imposing penalty through a duly authorised Adjudicating Officer. However, in case of serious violations which lead to grievous injury or loss of life, they shall be covered under the provision of Indian Penal Code, 1860 read with Section 24 of EP Act.
In case of any non-compliance or contravention of the current provisions of the EPA, or of the rules under this Act, the violator can be punished with imprisonment up to five years or with a fine up to Rs 1,00,000, or with both.
In case of continuation of such violation, an additional fine of up to Rs 5,000 for every day during which such failure or contravention continues after the conviction for the first such failure or contravention will be levied. Further, if the violation continues beyond a period of one year after the date of conviction, the offender shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years.
