The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has proposed new rules to address the issue of land contamination by hazardous substances.
The proposed ‘Remediation of Contaminated Sites Rules, 2024’ aims to fill the existing gaps in the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the various schedules of the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management & Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016, and the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991, according to a draft notification released on August 21.
These new rules were published in The Gazette of India on Thursday and are set to take effect after 60 days.
The National Environment Policy, 2006, identifies industrial and municipal waste as significant sources of pollution and highlights the challenges in implementing remediation measures for cleaning up toxic and hazardous waste, especially in industrial zones and abandoned mining sites.
The notification states that several probable and confirmed contaminated sites have already been identified, and there is a need for the remediation of all confirmed contaminated sites under the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986.
If hazardous substances are found mixed with mining waste, bio-medical waste, or municipal solid waste at any location and the contamination levels exceed the specified thresholds, those sites will require remediation under the new rules.
However, these rules will not apply to sites contaminated by radioactive waste, as governed by the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, the rehabilitation of abandoned mines, contamination from mining waste, environmental damage from mining as per the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2015, and oil spills covered by the Merchant Shipping Act of 1958, the Marine Insurance Act of 1963, and the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil) Rules, 1974, according to the notification.
