A bill to set up a National Environment Protection Agency (NEPA), an independent body of professionals to monitor compliance with green laws in the country, will be tabled in the monsoon session of Parliament.
This was stated by Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh today at a two-day conference on 'Environment Audit: Concerns About Water Pollution', organised by the office of the comptroller and auditor-general of India (CAG) here.
NEPA would be a statutory body, "truly autonomous" of the environment ministry, Ramesh said. It is being set up because the laws pertaining to environment pollution are not being implemented in their true spirit, the minister said.
"The Forest Conservation Act has been able to deliver only because of the intervention of the Supreme Court," he said. "Setting up NEPA would ensure public putting pressure on the executive to deliver."
NEPA will also handle the licensing work of providing no-objection certificates to applicants seeking environmental clearance, thus restricting the environment ministry to being a policy-making body.
It would be broadly on the lines of the US Environment Protection Agency (EPA), having a machinery to monitor compliance, with the existing state pollution control boards becoming part of the agency, he said.
With the National Green Tribunal and NEPA in place, the "polluter pays policy" will be implemented, making developers pay for degrading the environment.
Speaking on the Green Tribunal Bill, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha yesterday, Ramesh asserted that it would ensure speedy and effective disposal of civil cases relating to violation of forest and other environmental laws.
While the BJP has demanded a relook at some of the provisions of the bill, Ramesh was confident that when cleared, it would be a first major step forward in providing judicial remedy to persons, NGOs, and individuals suffering from environmental damage due to non-implementation of laws.
The main opposition party has objected to provisions such as levying of costs on litigants. It would be unconstitutional and would discourage environment-friendly people from coming forward with their issues related to ecology, the BJP said.
Ramesh, however, said the tribunal "ensures a network of specialised environment courts with a central bench and four other benches across the country, which, for the first time, would give citizens civil damages for non-implementation of environment rules and legislations."
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