Forest (Conservation) 2022 Rules Notified

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

MoEFCC has notified Forest (conservation) Rules 2022, under the Forest (conservation) Act, 1980.

New Rules

• On Monitoring: Constitute an advisory committee, a regional empowered committee and a screening committee at the State/UT
• Integrated Regional Office: It will examine all the linear projects (e.g. roads, highways, etc) involving land up to 40 hectares and the use of forest land up to 0.7 canopy density
• Time Frame: A fixed time for quicker review of each project
• Responsibility to States: States are given the responsibility of settling forest rights of forest dwellers (Forest Rights Act, 2006) and allowing diversion of forest land.
• Allows Compensatory Afforestation (CA) in Other States: If the state already has over two-thirds area under green cover or over one-third area under forest cover, then CA could be taken in other states/UTs where the cover is less than 20%

Previously, the government has started to rank state environment impact assessment authorities (SEIAAs) based on the speed at which they cleared proposals and provided environmental clearance for projects.

MoEF proposes amendments in Environment Protection Act 1986

• Decriminalize provisions: The ministry has proposed the removal of imprisonment as a penalty for the “less severe’’ contraventions and replace it with monetary penalty.
• However, serious violations of EPA which lead to grievous injury or loss of life shall be covered under the provision of Indian Penal Code.
• EPA provisions will be in force for penal provisions of the single use plastic ban which has come into force from today.
• Current Provisions: Under the current provisions of the EPA, the violator can be punished with imprisonment up to five years or with a fine up to Rs 1,00,000, or with both.
• Creation of an “Environmental Protection Fund’’: To remit the amount of penalty

About EPA: Enacted under Article 253 of the Constitution, the EPA came into force in 1986. The Act establishes “the framework for studying, planning, and implementing long-term requirements of environmental safety and laying down a system of speedy and adequate response to situations threatening the environment.”

Three Main Entities Responsible for Environmental Laws in India:

• Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change
• Central Pollution Control Board at the National level
• State Pollution Control Boards at the State level

The Main Environmental Laws in India are: 

• Environmental (Protection) Act 1986
• Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974
• Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981
• Rules made under the above acts