Appointments to environment body hang in the balance as Centre rejects names sent by State

Reconstitution of SEIAA and SEAC in Bengaluru delayed due to Centre rejecting names not meeting eligibility criteria.

For nearly three months, the appointment of chairman/members of the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) has been hanging in the balance as reconstitution of the panels has not been completed. The Centre has so far refused to accept certain names recommended by the State government on many grounds, including that they do not not meet eligibility criteria.

While on December 27, 2023, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change returned names of six persons who did not meet eligibility criteria, it said that seven others recommended met the criteria. On February 9, 2023, the Union Ministry again returned the nominations of six other persons, asking the government to verify qualifications, eligibility criteria, pending FIRs and adverse comments in service records among others against them. This was based on representations made to the Ministry against the nominated persons. Sources said that names have been repeated again despite being rejected by the Centre.

Those in the know of developments in the government say that this is the repeat of what happened in 2021 when the BJP government recommended names to the panels that did not meet eligibility criteria.

The recommendation followed a communique by the Principal Secretary, Department of Forests and Environment in August, 2023, seeking applications to fill up the posts of the chairman and members of SEIAA and SEAC. The panels are important since prior environmental clearance is mandatory for activities listed in schedule of the EIA Notification of 2006 issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forests under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The environmental clearance for category B projects needs to be approved at the State level by SEAC.

As per the notification, members are to be identified from among experts in the disciplines of environment quality, environment impact assessment process, risk assessment, life science and so on. The qualification for members is 15 years of experience for those without Ph.D and 10 years of experience for those with Ph.D.

However, sources said that the Union government has sent back the list of recommended names for not meeting the criteria.

Among the reasons cited has been a pending Lokayukta enquiry on one chief engineer. In cases of three others, affiliation as full-time members of Congress has been cited, along with qualification and experience not meeting criteria. Three names have been returned due to their association with three big mining companies. In other cases, the nominations of medical doctors, those with MSW degree and B.E, who are not eligible, have not been accepted. Sources also said that names of those who had not met the condition on years of experience have also been returned.