ENVIS Hub: Sikkim
Status of Environment and Related Issues

Reconstitution of State level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and State level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) - Sikkim

The Government of India in consultation with Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEF&CC), in exercise of the powers conferred by Sub-section 3 of Section 3 of Environment (Protection) Act ,1986 (29 of 1986) and in pursuance of the EIA Notification 2006, has reconstituted the SEIAA and SEAC for Sikkim State through Notification# S.O.1100(E) dated 27th April 2015

The reconstituted SEIAA for Sikkim comprise of the following members;

 To assist the authority, SEAC has also been reconstitutedr;

» See the Notification for Details 

Background: Till September 2006, the requirement of an Environment Impact  Assessment (EIA) Study for Environment Clearance (EC) was governed by the EIA Notification of 27^th January 1994, issued under the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 (EPA 1986), and as amended through 4^th  July 2005 (hereafter referred to as the Old EIA Notification ). The Old EIA Notification made EIA a mandatory requirement for 32 different identified activities included in Schedule –I (i.e. the List of projects requiring EC fromthe Central Government). As per the Old EIA Notification, if a specific project was listed under the categories of projects specified in Schedule- I of the Notification, EC was required from the erstwhile Ministry of Environment and Forest (MOEF), Government of India(GOI).

Subsequently, on 14^th September 2006, the MOEF, in exercise of powers conferred to it by EPA 1986, and in supersession of the Old EIA Notification, (as amended) notified the New EIANotification. The New EIA Notification imposes certain restrictions and prohibitions on new projects or activities, Or on the expansion OR modernization of existing projects or activities based on their potential environment impacts as indicated in the Schedule to the Notification, being undertaken in any part of India, unless Prior Environment Clearance (PEC) had been accorded in accordance with the objectives if National Environment Policy (NEP) and the procedures specified in the Notification.

As per the New EIANotification , the Central Government (i.e. MOEF) had directed that, on and from the date of its publication, the construction of new projects/ activities OR the expansion or modernization of existing projects/ activities listed in the Schedule to the Notification entailing capacity addition with change in process and or technology shall be undertaken in any part of India only after the PEC has been obtained from the Central Government OR by the State/ Union Territory (UT) Level EIA Authority [SEIAA/ UTEIAA respectively, duly constituted by the Central Government], in accordance with the procedures specified in this Notification. In pursuance to the New EIA Notification, MOEF had constituted State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) for the State of  West Bengal (WB) on 13^th  April 2007; Karnataka (KA) on 11^th June 2007; Gujarat (GUJ) on 12^th  June 2007; Andhra Pradesh(AP) on 4^th July 2007;  Uttar Pradesh (UP) on 12^th  July 2007; Meghalaya (ML) on 23^rd July 2007; Himachal Pradesh (HP) on 11^th  October 2007; Union Territory of Daman Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli on 11^th October 2007; Punjab (PB) on 19^th  November 2007; Puducherry on 13^th December 2007; Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on 8^th January 2008; Madhaya Pradesh (MP) on 8^thJanuary 2008; Chhattisgarh (CG) on 9^th January 2008; Tamil Nadu (TN) on 3^rd March 2008: Arunachal Pradesh (ArP )on 27^th March 2008 Haryana (HR) on 21^st  April 2008; Maharashtra (MH) 21^st on  April 2008; Sikkim (SK) on 8^th July 2008; Rajasthan (R), Delhi (DL) on 30^th July 2008; Uttarakhand on 22^nd September 2008 Orissa on 17^th November 2008 Chandigarh on 21^st August 2009 and Nagaland on 15^th  April 2010. The SEIAA for these various States/ UTs have been undergoing reconstitution from time to time.

Courtesy of the background note: Envirotrends Regulatory Updates No. 53 of 2015