The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had recently introduced changes wherein the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) of various states would be scored and ranked based on the amount of time they take for clearing proposals.

While the government has clarified that the ranking is only to improve the speed of governance, environmentalists and critics say that it would lead to environmentally-damaging projects being cleared.

What is the star rating system?

The ranking system is based on the provisions of the EIA (Environment Impact Assessment) Notification 2006 and various guidelines issued by the ministry from time to time, which are designed to encourage the SEIAAs to increase their efficiency in decision-making strictly as per provisions of the EIA Notification 2006 without diluting any regulatory safeguards, at least according to the ministry.

“It is pertinent to note that the EIA Notification already provides timelines for all EC processes,” the Ministry has added as a clarification in the past.

Under the proposed changes, SEIAAs will be ranked for average time taken to clear proposals. If agencies, on an average, clear proposals within 80 days, they will be awarded two marks. If they take over 105 days, they are awarded one mark, if they take 105-120 days, the state authority will be awarded 0.5 mark and if they take more than 120 days, they will get zero. However, the agencies will not be receiving any negative marks no matter the time taken.

The agencies will also not count the time taken after clarifications regarding the proposal have been sought from the respective parties.

Apart from the time taken, agencies will be marked on six other criteria, including the number of site visits, and the percentage of EC proposals disposed of within six months.

The score will be compiled and a rating out of five stars, given.

The government says that this system will incentivise state agencies to process environmental clearances for projects in a fast and efficient manner without diluting any safeguards.

What are the drawbacks?

Critics and environmentalists, however, say that the pressure on state agencies for granting clearances faster will lead to hasty actions and without proper review.

These changes along with the slew of legal amendments that the government has introduced to environmental laws over the past year have threatened to dilute India's already fragile environmental protections.

Easier compliance requirements and faster processing of proposals can create a situation where projects can do considerable harm to the environment, say critics.

“It creates a situation where you are not providing the time needed to make these decisions carefully. It also creates artificial competition between states, which may result in industries locating in states that offer environmental clearance quicker. As it is, if you see the EIA process, there is complete regulatory capture because the consultancies producing environmental impact reports are hired by the businesses themselves," Arpitha Kodiveri, an environmental lawyer and postdoctoral researcher at the New York University School of Law, told The Print.

"This pressure of speed, efficiency and incentivisation is going to skew environmental governance and make it pro-business," she added.

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(Edited by : Thomas Abraham)