Environmental Impact Assessment

Dr. Aneesh Mathew

Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
NIT Tiruchirappalli
Post Audit activities

 EIA - series of steps, leading from screening

through scoping and EIS preparation, to
consultation and decision making.

 Much focus has been given on pre-decision

stages of EIA, and the neglect of post-decision
monitoring and post-auditing stages, has
severely constrained the maturation of EIA
systems world-wide.
Post-Audit Activities

Objectives

 To produce an audit report with audit findings

 To contribute towards formulation of an Action

Plan for continual performance improvement
 Actions
1. Collate Information and Follow Up
Outstanding Issues

Information to be organised should include:

 Completed pre-audit questionnaire, operational document
checklists
 Completed on-site survey questionnaires, on-site audit
protocols
 All relevant correspondence, memoranda, reports, diagrams
and drawings
 Copies of records, photographs, and other information
collected during the site visit
 Detailed inspection and interview notes and summaries
2. Prepare the Audit Report

The Audit Report should include:

 An Executive Summary
 Introduction and background to the audit
 Audit scope and objectives
 Description of audit approach and methodology
 Summary of audit findings and recommendations
 Conclusions
In particular, the findings summary should comprise the
followings:

 Status of compliance with environmental legislative

requirements
 Status of conformity with internal environmental policies,
procedures and guidelines
 Status of good environmental practices implementation
 Level of staff awareness of operational issues relating to
environmental performance
 Overall status of environmental performance
 Recommendations for environmental performance
improvement
3. Circulate Draft Audit
Report For Comments
Include the following parties on the circulation list:

 The Audit Management Committee

 Senior audit site management
 Site Facilitator(s)
 Site personnel with responsibilities for implementing
the major recommendations
 Other parties included on the agreed circulation list
4. Final Reporting
 Incorporate or resolve all comments received before
producing the Final Report
 Issue the report to the Audit Management Committee
and site senior management for endorsement

Output
 Final Audit Report addressing
 Environmental Legislation compliance status
 Departmental environmental policies, procedures and
guide lines conformity status
 Status of current environmental performance
 Recommendations for performance improvement
Wild life act
 The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 is an Act of
the Parliament of India enacted for protection of plants
and animal species.

 It extends to the whole of India, except the State

of Jammu and Kashmir which has its own wildlife act.

 It has six schedules which give varying degrees of

protection.

 Schedule I and part II of Schedule II provide absolute

protection - offences under these are prescribed the
highest penalties.
 Species listed in Schedule III and Schedule IV are also
protected, but the penalties are much lower.

 Schedule V includes the animals which may be

hunted.

 The specified endemic plants in Schedule VI are

prohibited from cultivation and planting.

 This act has been amended seven times – 1982, 1986,

1991, 1993, 2002, 2006 & 2013.

 Enforcement authorities have the power to compound

offences under this Schedule (i.e. they impose fines on
the offenders).
Definitions under the Act (Section 2)

 Animal - includes amphibians, birds, mammals,

and reptiles, and their young ones, and also includes, in
the cases of birds and reptiles, their eggs.

 Animal article - An article made from any captive or

wild animal, other than vermin, and includes an article
or object in which the whole or any part of such animal
has been used and an article made therefrom

 Wildlife - includes any animal, bees, butterflies,

crustacean, fish and moths; and aquatic or land
vegetation which forms part of any habitat
 Hunting includes
(a) capturing, killing, poisoning, snaring, or trapping any
wild animal, and every attempt to do so

(b) driving any wild animal for any of the purposes specified
in sub clause

(c) injuring, destroying or taking any body part of any such

animal, or in the case of wild birds or reptiles, disturbing or
damaging the eggs or nests of such birds or reptiles.

 Taxidermy means the curing, preparation or

preservation of trophies.

 Vermin means any wild animal specified in Schedule V.

Trophy means the whole or any part of any captive or
wild animal (other than vermin) which has been kept or
preserved by any means, whether artificial or natural. This
includes:

(a) rugs, skins, and specimens of such animals mounted in

whole or in part through a process of taxidermy

(b) antler, horn, rhinoceros horn, feather, nail, tooth, musk,

eggs, and nests and shells

Uncured trophy means the whole or any part of any

captive animal (other than vermin) which has not
undergone a process of taxidermy. This includes a freshly
killed wild animal, ambergris, musk and other animal
products.
MOTA Act
 MOTA stands for “Ministry of Tribal Affairs”

 History of MOTA acts & rules:

 Forest Rights Act 2006

 Protection of Civil Rights Act

 Protection of Civil Right Rules

 The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

(Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995
 The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989

 SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989

 SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995

 Panchayats Extension to the Scheduled Areas

(PESA) Act 1996
Forest Right Act 2006 (Under MOTA)

 Right to hold and live in the forest land under the individual
or common occupation for habitation or for self-cultivation
for livelihood by a member or members of a forest dwelling
Scheduled Tribe or other traditional forest dwellers;

 Community rights such as nistar, including those used in

erstwhile Princely states, Zamindari or such intermediary
regimes;

 Right of ownership, access to collect, use, and dispose of

minor forest produce (includes all non-timber forest produce
of plant origin) which has been traditionally collected within
or outside village boundaries;
Cont …
 Other community rights of uses of entitlements such as fish
and other products of water bodies, grazing and traditional
seasonal resource access of nomadic or pastoralist
communities;

 Rights including community tenures of habitat and habitation

for primitive tribal groups and pre-agriculture communities;

 Rights in or over disputed lands under any nomenclature in

any State where claims are disputed;

 Rights for conversion of Pattas or leases or grants issued by

any local council or any State Govt. on forest lands to titles;
Cont …
 Rights of settlement and conversion of all forest villages,
old habitation, unsurveyed villages and other villages in
forest, whether recorded, notified or not into revenue
villages;

 Right to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage any

community forest resource which they have been
traditionally protecting and conserving for sustainable use;

 Rights which are recognised under any State law or laws of

any Autonomous Dist. Council or Autonomous Regional
Council or which are accepted as rights of tribals under any
traditional or customary law of the concerned tribes of any
State;
Cont …

 Right of access to biodiversity and community right to

intellectual property and traditional knowledge related to
biodiversity and cultural diversity;

 Any other traditional right customarily enjoyed by the forest

dwelling Scheduled Tribes or other traditional forest
dwellers, as the case may be, which are not mentioned in
clauses-1 to 11, but excluding the traditional right of hunting
or trapping extracting a part of the body of any species of
wild animal
Summary of Rights
 Title rights - i.e. ownership - to land that is being farmed by
tribals or forest dwellers as on 13 December 2005, subject
to a maximum of 4 hectares;

 Ownership is only for land that is actually being cultivated

by the concerned family as on that date, meaning that no
new lands are granted

 Use rights - to minor forest produce (also including

ownership), to grazing areas, to pastoralist routes, etc.

 Relief and development rights - to rehabilitation in case of

illegal eviction or forced displacement; and to basic
amenities, subject to restrictions for forest protection

 Forest management rights - to protect forests and wildlife