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The industry was visited by officers of the Board on 01.09.2023 and the industry was in operation and thick black smoke was found emitting from the furnace into the atmosphere and the hazardous waste storage room was not accessible due to non-availability of key. Further, record of the same was not available.
Accordingly, the industry was issued notice to issue directions u/s 31-A of the Air Act, 1981 alongwith show cause notice for violation of provisions of the Hazardous and other Waste Rules, 2016 as well as notice for imposition of EC with hearing before Chairman of the Board on 25.09.2023, wherein it was decided that:
1. Consent to operate granted under Air Act, 1981 and authorization under Hazardous & Other Wastes Rules, 2016 be revoked.
2. Directions u/s 31-A of the Air Act, 1981 be issued for closure of the industry and for disconnection of its electric connection.
3. The Environmental Engineer, Regional Office shall calculate the environmental compensation to be imposed to the industry for the damage caused by it to the environment.
4. The Environmental Engineer, Regional Office shall ensure the compliance of the directions issued and shall intimate the status within 15 days.
In light of decisions of the personal hearing consent under the Air Act, 1981 was revoked and the PSPCL Authorities were issued directions u/s 31-A of the Air Act, 1981 on 20.10.2023 for disconnection of power supply available to the industry. Accordingly, the electric connection of the industry was disconnected by the PSPCL authorities vide TDCO No.1806 dated 31.10.2023.
Thereafter, the industry had applied for consent to operate under the Water Act, 1974 and the Air Act, 1981 alongwith request for restoration of electric connection through OCMMS.
In the meantime, the industry has also filed an appeal before Hon’ble Appellate Authority-cum-Secretary, Govt. to Punjab, Department of Science, Technology and Environment against the proceedings/orders dated 17.10.2023 passed by the Board. The appeal case was fixed for hearing on 06.11.2023, which was attended by the Environmental Engineer and the Hon’ble Appellate Authority directed to visit the industry, verify the compliance of the observations observed during visit on 01.09.2023 and process the consent application on merit.
Accordingly, the site of the industry was visited by RO on 07.11.2023 and it was observed as under:-
1. The industry was not in operation during the visit as the electric connection was lying disconnected from the electric pole. The industry has submitted copy of TDCO issued by PSPCL Authorities.
2. The industry has installed one induction furnace of capacity 6 TPH and now the APCD and stack has been connected properly. The industry has installed side hood alongwith APCD as per technology provided by PSCST.
3. There is no discharge of trade effluent and domestic effluent is discharged onto land for plantation/gardening through septic tank.
4. The industry has installed one D.G set of capacity 250 KVA, with canopy and adequate stack height.
5. The industry has provided hazardous waste storage room of size 8’*6’*10’ with Lock and Key facility. Hazardous waste of category 35.1 (i.e APCD dust) @ 671 kg was lying stored in HDPE bags. The industry has maintained the record regarding generation/lifting of hazardous waste.
Accordingly, consent to operate under the Water Act, 1974 and Air Act, 1981 were granted for six months and directions u/s 31-A of the Air Act, 1981 were issued for restoration of electric connection of the industry for six months i.e. upto 14.05.2024.
The industry has again applied for extension in validity of consent to operate under the Water Act, 1974 , Air Act, 1981 and authorization under Hazardous and other Waste Rules, 2016 alongwith restoration of electric connection.
Vide e-office file no. 189490, the Environmental Compensation amounting to Rs. 5,31,250/- was calculated by RO for the period from 01.09.2023 to 07.11.2023 and same was forwarded to EC verification committee (copy enclosed). The EC verification committee has raised following observations:- 1. The decision for imposition of EC was taken during hearing held before Chairman of the Board on 25.09.2023. But, the industry has filed appeal before the Appellate Authority against the decisions. The RO / ZO has not clarified what decision has been taken by the Appellate Authority w.r.t. imposition of EC. 2. The time period for which the EC is proposed to be imposed has not been get approved from the Competent Authority. The RO has taken time period bevond date of hearing i.e. 25.09.2023, which also needs clarification. 3. The industry is a small scale orange category unit, but value of R has been taken 250, which is required to be rechecked.
RO further reported that the period of EC has been taken from the day of visit of dated 01.09.2023 (on which violations were observed) to 07.11.2023 (till the comply with the violations) 3. In this regard, it is submitted that R has been taken 250, in light of Report of the CPCB In-house Committee on Methodology for Assessing Environmental Compensation which is re-produced as under:- "R is a factor in Rupees, which may be a minimum of 100 and maximum of 500. It is suggested to consider R as 250, as the Environmental Compensation in cases of violation."
The concerned e-office file no. 189490 is pending with Er. Rubal Goyal, AEE Regional Office-2, Ludhiana. The amount of EC to be imposed on the industry has not been finalized yet and RO has not submitted any reply of observations to Verification Committee.
If approved, RO may be requested to submit the reply to EC verification committee through above mentioned e-office file for imposition of EC as per matter discussed with CEE Sir, please.
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