Regulatory updates

Regulatory updates

Updates from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

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The Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986, were established under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, which set certain standards for environmental protection in India- this includes specifying standards for the emission or discharge of environmental pollutants from various industries, operations, and processes. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) issued the Environment (Protection) second Amendment Rules, 2024 (Amendment Rules) which implement new standards for Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) that would ensure proper disposal and treatment of industrial effluents. It covers various aspects of waste discharge norms and maintenance of proper waste management practices, some key areas are as follow :

  • Provides new standards for inlet quality standards and treated effluent quality standards
  • Defines roles and responsibilities of State Boards and CETP’s in monitoring of industry, ensuring compliances as well as enforcement and penalizing in cases of non compliance.
  • Defines accountability of member industries to comply with discharge norms and establishing proper waste management practices.
  • Lays out penalties and enforcement in cases of violations and non compliances.

Further it lays down the following roles and responsibilities of member industries of CETP:

  1. Discharge the trade effluent, meeting the outlet norms of their individual PETPs as specified by the State Board or Committee.
  2. Monitor specified quality parameters and flow rates of the effluent, submitting data to the CETP operator on real-time basis and ensure that the quality and quantity of pre-treated effluent discharged to the CETP do not exceed specified limits.
  3. Should have a single discharge point to the conveyance system leading to CETP.
  4. They should pay their share of operation and maintenance costs to CETP in a timely manner.
  5. Ensure regular maintenance of equipment and parts so as to avoid wastage of raw materials and prevent pollution.
  6. Make adequate arrangement for segregation, storage and disposal of the hazardous waste generated from different unit operations and their primary treatment.

Effective date: The amendment rules are effective from 1 September 2025

Action points for auditors

  • The Amendment Rules, 2024 represent a significant step towards environmental sustainability. Industries need to ensure compliance with stringent effluent standards and engage in proactive monitoring to avoid penalties.
  • Auditors should discuss these developments with the industrial units they audit and help them assess whether they have their compliances in place.
  • Auditors should keep cognizance of any penalties, show cause notices or orders against non-compliant industrial units.

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