Critical Review of Legislature Of Environmental Health in India

July 12th, 2009 at 10:37pm Under Environmental Law

Critical Review of Legislature Of  Environmental Health in India

Submitted By Dr Nihar Ranjan ray

                                                                                                                          Dr Rajnikant Patel                                                                          

PREAMBLE: There are number of laws to prevent the environmental pollution in India. But they are hardly focused or practiced in maintaining and protecting the environment. It is very important to revisit those legislature files when the world is most worried for the global warming, particulate suspensions in the air and loss of flora and fauna on the earth. Though the law is made by the law makers and maintained by the judiciary institutions but it is the common people who really need to be sensitized and aware of the law for its effective implementation of the law. The important environmental laws were discussed here under in nutshell.

IMPORTANT ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS IN THE COUNTRY

Water Act (Prevention and Control of Pollution) , 1974; Air Act (Prevention and Control of Pollution) , 1981, Cess Act, 1977, Environment Act (Protection) , 1986  Rules there under  Public Liability  Insurance Act,  1981,  National Environmental Tribunal Act- 1995, National Environment Appellate Authority Act 1997 Laws enforced by of the Pollution Control Boards

Hazardous Waste Rules (Management & Handling) 1989. Manufacture, storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989  Bio-medical Waste Rules (Management & Handling), 1998 

Municipal Solid Waste Rules (Management & Handling), 2000. Plastics wastes Rules, 1999

Coastal Regulation Zone Rules, 1991 Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 

SOURCES OF WATER POLLUTION AND WASTEWATER GENERATION SCENARIO

It is estimated that 75% to 80% of water pollution by volume is caused by domestic sewage.

The major industries causing water pollution include: distilleries, sugar, textile, electroplating, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, pulp & paper mills, tanneries, dyes and dye intermediates, petro-chemicals, steel plants etc. Non-point sources such as fertilizer and pesticide run-offs in rural areas also cause pollution. Only 60% of chemical fertilizers are utilized in soils and the balance is leached into soil polluting the ground water. Sources of water pollution and wastewater generation scenario

CASE STUDY  – THE GANGA

The river Ganga occupies a unique position in the cultural ethos of India. But gradually in recent years this holy river gets polluted. Why The Ganges is the focus of discussion…as…

The densely populated Gang basin is inhabited by 37 per cent of India’s population.

Exploitation:

The principal sources of pollution of the Ganga River can be characterized as follows:

Domestic wastewater and 0.26 × 106 m3 d-1 of industrial sewage are going into the river.

Pesticides and fertilizers.

The Ganga Action Plan was the tool for the survival of the Ganges.finaly. It was a learning experience to conduct this type of work to save the river spreading across the states and cities of importance.

Lessons Learned:

AIR POLLUTION

 Workers’ Rights and Pollution Control in Delhi

Human Rights Dialogue: “Environmental Rights” (Spring 2004)   Kelly D. Alley, Daniel Meadows April 23, 2004

Within India’s judicial interpretation of constitutional rights there exists a close link between environmental values and human rights. Yet in some instances court cases defending the right to a clean environment have actually jeopardized the job security of India’s poorest laborers and have led to abuses of human rights. One such example is the 1995 Supreme Court case MC Meheta Vs GoI, which ordered the closure and relocation of polluting industries in Delhi. In the 1995 case cited above, environmental lawyer M. C. Mehta argued that Delhi industries and government agencies were not abiding by the city’s zoning regulations spelled out in the Delhi Master Plan. Specifically, the justices ordered the Central Pollution Control Board and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee to identify all hazardous and non-conforming industries operating in the city. With little supporting data, the control boards drew up a series of lists, ultimately identifying 168 hazardous units targeted for closure. The court had also directed that all relocating industries retain their workers at the new location, pay them their full wages, and pay one year’s wages as a “shifting bonus.” There are a few cases like these which describes that if the common people out speak for the justice than the court gets a plea for acting.

GAPS IN LEGISLATION FOUND TO BE LIKE THE FOLLOWING

When Do you Need Environmental Insurance

July 12th, 2009 at 04:37pm Under Environmental Law

If you are currently in the market to buy, or currently own, any commercial real estate site, you should have it checked for pollution or possible contamination. The possible pollution could be from contaminated soil, ground water or structures; it can even potentially cause environmental damage to neighboring properties. In these cases, the property owners may find themselves facing clean-up costs that can sometimes exceed the value of the property. They might also end up paying for hidden costs associated with complying with environmental statutes and laws.

As the owner (or former owner), you could be responsible for contaminants that migrate to the neighboring properties. This includes personal injury and property damage that is caused by the release of pollutants (including emissions). So how do you ensure that your company is protected?

Many local, state, and federal environmental laws are in their infancy, most less than 20 years old. As the new laws are passed the “old” laws are continually amended. This will sometimes overwhelm a potential buyer: Don’t let this happen to you. With the hundred of laws out there, only a few are vital to improving your understanding of environmental liabilities.

One of the most well-known and important laws is CERCLA, which stands for Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, where it is passed as an official law in the year 1980. Another revised and improved version of CERCLA is SARA, which stands for Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act) where it was authorized in the year 1986. There are currently a few active funds in the world today where the money is intended to help pay for the clean-up costs of deserted commercial sites that are too contaminated to be used and to cover the liability costs of the owner of the property.

A way to protect yourself from taking on the risks is to purchase an insurance policy which covers these damages and claims. You might feel that getting another new policy is too expensive and not feasible. If that is the case, you need to check your old Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance policy to see if environmental damages are covered as some of them still do cover them. But take note that most CGL policies today do not cover for damages arising from pollution as a result of escalating lawsuits recently involving penalties for environmental issues.

Within the last few years, insurance companies have begun developing policies specifically designed to provide environmental coverage in regards to pollution or contamination. Some of these policies include: Providing coverage for certain types of on-site clean-ups, Property damage to personal property of third parties and bodily injuries, Clean-up costs for third party claims beyond the boundaries of the insured site and coverage for non-owned site cleanup costs, and third party claims arising from transportation of product or waste by vendors causing pollution conditions.

Insurance companies are also offering policies covering the potential risks of businesses wanting to purchase and further develop brownfields, which refers to commercial sites or areas which are abandoned halfway during their developments because of problems of environmental harm or pollution. Without insurance policies taking up the risks of these abandoned sites they will be left there for good since it is considered too risky for development and investment companies as possible lawsuits may cause severe financial drain later.

To prevent from taking on too much business risk, go over your country and local state’s law regarding pollution and environment. Take into account the amount you might have to pay and the general responsibility if you are found guilty of causing pollution harm and damage to the estates and properties located near you. If the laws are written in terms that you find hard to understand, you should look for help from lawyers who are knowledgeable in the field of environmental and pollution laws. You will then be able to decide if you need environmental insurance policies to help you in case of lawsuits in these areas.

California’s Water Bank and the Drought in California – a California Water Law Attorney Conclusion – We’re Dry Out Here

July 12th, 2009 at 10:37am Under Environmental Law

Here in the desert cities of Palm Springs, CA, Joshua Tree, Palm Desert, Cathedral City, Indian Wells, Yucca Valley, Rancho Mirage, Desert Hot Springs, Twentynine Palms, Thermal, Indio, Coachella, La Quinta, Victorville, Hesperia, Apple Valley or Barstow, in the somewhat greener areas of Southern California such as Newport Beach, Buena Park, Anaheim, Irvine, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Carlsbad, Mission Viejo and in other cities in San Diego,Orange County, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Cambria, agricultural areas such as the central valley of Fresno and the Imperial Valley, the drought in California is a serious problem for all of us in this State.

 

After the driest spring in 88 years, in June 2008 Governor Schwarzenegger formally declared California to be in a drought and nine counties in the Central Valley to be in a state of emergency after two years of below-average rainfall and six dry years that have killed off fish populations, driven down agricultural land values and required severe reductions in water usage in the Central Valley. The declaration, while bad enough, still stops short of a statewide water emergency which, if declared, will likely carry with it mandatory water rationing.

 

Efforts to capture water have been hampered by evaporation of snow packs due to climate change, but snowpack water content this winter was only 67 percent of average. California’s water shortage was compounded by a federal court order limiting the pumping of water from the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta to protect a species of fish.

 

And so in June 2008 the State of California formed a Water Bank to buy water from farmers upstream from the Delta and from local water agencies and to make it available for sale to public water systems and private water systems who may otherwise run short of water next year. Agencies buying the water will have to agree to a 20 percent reduction overall in water usage. It is believed that the Water Bank will stave off mandatory water rationing.

 

Under the plan, water purchased from northern farmers and water agencies will be shipped south via the State’s canals.

 

Currently, there is no end in sight to California’s dry conditions. While there is a $9.3 billion plan in the State legislature to address the state’s delta environmental problems and expand the state’s water works, it has been tied up while the legislators haggled over a budget.

 

A bill to require Californian’s to cut water usage by 20 percent recently passed the Assembly and the bill puts the onus on residents as opposed to farmers.

 

In the midst of this water crisis, an amazing 100 facilities are bottling water in California, using California’s precious water supply. An Assembly Bill to measure the amount of water being bottled is an attempt to learn just how bad the abuse of these water supplies is on top of the pollution and harm to the environment caused by these facilities and the plastic water bottles, most of which are not recycled.

 

The Department of Public Resources estimates that more than 1 billion gallons of bottled water are sold in California each year. 

 

If you have a water law issue in San Diego, Newport Beach, Irvine, Orange County, La Jolla, in the Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Palm Springs or anywhere in Southern California, we have the knowledge and resources to be your California Water Lawyer and your Santa Barbara Environmental Attorney. Be sure to hire a California law firm with environmental law experience who can serve areas such as Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Anaheim, Irvine, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Newport Beach, Carlsbad, Corona del Mar, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Fullerton, Del Mar, San Diego, Orange County, San Luis Obispo, Buena Park, La Jolla, Oxnard, Ventura, La Quinta, and Santa Barbara so you are properly represented.

 

If you have a water law or environmental dispute of any kind, call the Law Offices of R. Sebastian Gibson, or visit our website at http://www.sebastiangibsonlaw.com  and learn how we can assist you.

Environmental Law

July 12th, 2009 at 04:37am Under Environmental Law

         ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

                             Environment comes as a basic necessity in the day-to-day life. The existence a better than good atmosphere is quite needful in the present existing era. Environment in itself contains regime-law of public nuisance, conservation of forest and various other important resources. Environment comes as a basic backbone for every single living being.

                            Environment plays a pivotal role in human life as well as in the development of society. With growing technological advancement and industrialization, the purity of the environment has been threatened to an appalling extent. The need to protect and improve the environment is so compelling for the peaceful survival of mankind and other life forms on planet Earth that right to environment has emerged as a human right.

                            The word “Environment” is of broad spectrum, which brings within its ambit, Hygienic atmosphere and Ecological balance. It is therefore not only the duty of the State but also the duty of every citizen to maintain hygienic environment. Many are the noteworthy judicial decisions that touched upon the various aspects environmental pollution and degradation and all these development have found an echo in India too.

                            The world has always been ruled by the formula of “might is right”, but in today’s modern democratic and so called civilized society there comes in the legislation of those ‘laws’. All the democratic societies of 21st century has drafted and setup some codified norms over the protection of rights of the common man in regards to the environment. Such law is said to be known as the Environmental Law.

                            “Environmental Law is perceived as one of the most important tools of environmental management. Until very recently, it was a part of various civil and criminal laws specifying rights of individuals groups of people and the state over the nature (land, water, air, plants, wild life, etc.)”

                            “With the emergence of environmental destruction as a major threat to human survival, the development scope of environmental law has emerged as the most important tool of promoting development without destruction. The volume aims at focussing on global environmental concerns and the Indian response as evident from legal measures attempted to meet the growing demand for economic development without sacrificing the environmental goals and objectives.”

                                 In the Constitution of India it is clearly stated that it is the duty of the state to ‘protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country’. It imposes a duty on every citizen ‘to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, and wildlife’. Reference to the environment has also been made in the Directive Principles of State Policy as well as the Fundamental Rights. The Department of Environment was established in India in 1980 to ensure a healthy environment for the country. This later became the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 1985.

                            Article 21 of the Constitution of India envisages right to life as a fundamental right and therefore enjoyment of life and its attainment including the right to life with human dignity encompasses within its ambits. The protection and preservation of environment, ecological balance free from pollution of air and water, sanitation without which life cannot be enjoyed. Pollution of environment, ecological, air, and water regarded as violation of Article 21. Therefore hygienic environment is an integral facet of right to healthy life. Recently, Supreme Court had made many land mark judgments for the preservation of environment, ecology, wildlife, forests, etc.

                            The constitutional provisions are backed by a number of laws – acts, rules, and notifications. The EPA (Environment Protection Act), 1986 came into force soon after the Bhopal Gas Tragedy and is considered umbrella legislation as it fills many gaps in the existing laws. Thereafter a large number of laws came into existence as the problems began arising, for example, Handling and Management of Hazardous Waste Rules in 1989.

Environmental Law Monthly – Bharatbook.com

July 11th, 2009 at 04:37pm Under Environmental Law

The research report “Environmental Law Monthly” (http://www.bharatbook.com/detail.asp?id=1494) provides the…..

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Contaminated Land, health and safety, environmental offences, hazardous substances, pollution, environmental taxes, waste management and water are all areas where ELM will bring you informed analysis and comment every month. But that’s not all. Another ongoing feature of this newsletter is that it also provides you with the essential facts on current and forthcoming legislation, statutes, EU Directives, court rulings and industry news. Which means that you are not only aware of your current liabilities, but can also plan future strategies based on what is being developed in legal circles today.

If you operate in a business which needs to keep abreast of environmental issues – or are representing clients who have environmental responsibilities – make sure that you keep up to date with the law, and avoid the penalties of non-compliance.

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