The Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. of India has issued notification No. 1533 (E) dated 14.9.2006 under the Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986 and as per the said notification, it is mandatory for the project/activities covered under the Schedule appended with the said notification, to obtain environmental clearance from Ministry of Environment & Forests/State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority.
As per said EIA notification, category 'A' projects fall in the competency of Govt. of India, Ministry of Environment & Forests, New Delhi and category 'B' projects fall in the competency of State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority. In case, where the 'General Condition' is applicable for category 'B' projects and such project is located within a radius of 10 km from the boundary of the following, then the project is treated as category 'A' and falls in the competency of Ministry of Environment & Forests:
(i) Protected area notified under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
(ii) Critically polluted areas as notified by the Central Pollution Control Board from time to time.
(iii) Notified Eco-sensitive areas as notified u/s 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
(iv) Inter-State Boundaries & International Boundaries.
As per clause no. 3 of the EIA Notification dated 14.09.2006 a State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) is constituted by the Central Government under sub-section (3) of section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The State Government or Union territory Administration forwards the names of the Members and the Chairman for constitution of SEIAA to the Central Government and the Central Government constitutes the SEIAA as an authority for the purposes of the EIA notification dated 14.09.2006.
To assist the Authority, the Central Government, in consultation with the State Government of Punjab, constitutes a State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC).
Govt. of Punjab, Deptt. of Science, Technology & Environment, has vide notification no. 3/121/05-STE (4)/432 dated 28.02.2011 has declared Punjab Pollution Control Board as a Nodal Agency to act as a Secretariat for the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and State Level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC). The Punjab Pollution Control Board also provides all secretarial, financial and logistic support including accommodation, transportation and such other facilities to the Committee (s) for performing all statutory functions.
Presently, the SEIAA/SEAC is non-functional w.e.f. 06.02.2014 as the term of SEIAA/SEAC expired on 06.02.2014. The status regarding re-constitution of SEIAA/SEAC will be updated on the website as and when the same is re-constituted by Ministry of Environment & Forests and necessary notifications are issued by the Central/State Govt.
The complete details on the functioning of SEIAA/SEAC are available on website of SEIAA i.e. www.seiaapunjab.co.in A web link of the site has also been provided below on this page.
Office Address for communication with SEIAA/ SEAC, Punjab (as per Letter No. DECC/SEIAA/2019/358 dtd. 02.04.2019)
The Chairman (SEIAA/ SEAC) / The Member Secretary (SEIAA),
Directorate of Environment and Climate Change,
C/o Punjab State Council for Science & Technology,
MGSIPA Complex, Sector-26,
Chandigarh - 160019