during mining operations. For conservation and development of oil and natural gas resources, a similar legislation was enacted in 1959.
2.13.4 Hazardous Wastes
There are several legislations that directly or indirectly deal with hazardous waste. The relevant legislations are the Factories Act, 1948, the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991, the National Environment Tribunal Act, 1995, and some notifications under the Environmental Protection Act of 1986. A brief description of each of these is given in the following.
Under the USEPA 1986, the MOEF has issued several notifications to tackle the problem of hazardous waste management. These include the following:
Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989, which brought out a guide for manufacture, storage, and import of hazardous chemicals and for management of hazardous wastes.
Biomedical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998, were formulated along parallel lines, for proper disposal, segregation, transport, etc. of infectious wastes.
Municipal Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000, whose aim was to enable municipalities to dispose municipal solid waste in a scientific manner.
Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Amendment Rules, 2000, a recent notification issued with the view to providing guidelines for the import and export of hazardous waste in the country.
2.13.4.1 Factories Act, 1948 and Its Amendment in 1987
The Factories Act, 1948 was a postindependence statute that explicitly showed concern for the environment. The primary aim of the 1948 Act has been to ensure the welfare of workers not only in their working conditions in the factories but also their employment benefits. While ensuring the safety and health of the workers, the Act contributes to environmental protection. The Act contains a comprehensive list of 29 categories of industries involving hazardous processes, which are defined as a process or activity where unless special care is taken, raw materials used therein or the intermediate or the finished products, by‐products, wastes, or effluents would
cause material impairment to health of the persons engaged
result in the pollution of the general environment
2.13.4.2 Public Liability Insurance Act (PLIA), 1991
The Act covers accidents involving hazardous substances and insurance coverage for these. Where death or injury results from an accident, this Act makes the owner liable to provide relief as is specified in the Schedule of the Act. The PLIA was amended in 1992, and the Central Government was authorized to establish the Environmental Relief Fund, for making relief payments.
2.13.4.3 National Environment Tribunal Act, 1995
The Act provided strict liability for damages arising out of any accident occurring while handling any hazardous substance and for the establishment of a National Environment Tribunal for effective and expeditious disposal of cases arising from such accident, with a view to give relief and compensation for damages to persons, property, and the environment and for the matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
2.13.5 International Agreements on Environmental Issues
India is signatory to a number of multilateral environment agreements (MEA) and conventions. An overview of some of the major MEAs and India's obligations under these is presented below. This issue is discussed in the Section 2.9.4 in Chapter 2.
2.13.5.1 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), of Wild Fauna and Flora, 1973
The aim of CITES is to control or prevent international commercial trade in endangered species or products derived from them. CITES does not seek to directly protect endangered species or curtail development practices that destroy their habitats. Rather, it seeks to reduce the economic incentive to poach endangered species and destroy their habitat by closing off the international market. India became a party to the CITES in 1976. International trade in all wild flora and fauna in general and species covered under CITES is regulated jointly through the provisions of The Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, the Import/Export policy of Government of India, and the Customs Act 1962 (Bajaj 1996).
2.13.5.2 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer), 1987
The Montreal Protocol to the Vienna Convention on Substances that deplete the Ozone Layer, came into force in 1989. The protocol set targets for reducing the consumption and production of a range of ozone depleting substances (ODS). In a major innovation, the Protocol recognized that all nations should not be treated equally. The agreement acknowledges that certain countries have contributed to ozone depletion more than others. It also recognizes that a nation's obligation to reduce current emissions should reflect its technological and financial ability to do so. Because of this, the agreement sets more stringent standards and accelerated phase‐out timetables to countries that have contributed most to ozone depletion (Divan and Rosencranz 2002).
India acceded to the Montreal Protocol along with its London Amendment in September 1992. The MOEF has established an Ozone Cell and a steering committee on the Montreal Protocol to facilitate implementation of the India Country Program, for phasing out ODS production by 2010.
To meet India's commitments under the Montreal Protocol, the Government of India has also taken certain policy decisions:
Goods required to implement ODS phase‐out projects funded by the Multilateral Fund are fully exempt from duties. This benefit has been also extended to new investments with non‐ODS technologies.
Commercial banks are prohibited from financing or refinancing investments with ODS technologies.
The Gazette of India on 19 July 2000 notified rules for regulation of ODS phase‐out called the Ozone Depleting Substances (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000. They were notified under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. These rules were drafted by the MOEF following consultations with industries and related government departments.
2.13.5.3 Basel Convention on Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes, 1989
Basel Convention, which entered into force in 1992, has three key objectives:
1 To reduce transboundary movements of hazardous wastes
2 To minimize the creation of such wastes
3 To prohibit their shipment to countries lacking the capacity to dispose hazardous wastes in an environmentally sound manner
India ratified the Basel Convention in 1992, shortly after it came into force. The Indian Hazardous Wastes Management Rules Act, 1989 encompasses some of the Basel provisions related to the notification of import and export of hazardous waste, illegal traffic, and liability.
2.13.5.4 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
